Antitheism

[drfuzzy]

I haven't read all 25 pages of this thread - just enough to know that it got a little heated.  
I also waited because I didn't quite know how to respond to the OP.  
Am I an atheist?  Yes.  I find the existence of a Deity highly unlikely.  
But I am not an anti-theist.  I do not object to other people believing in a deity.

I am anti-deistic judgement, which is administered through human followers without any verifiable communication from said deity. 
I am anti-heaven and anti-hell, which are concepts that are a subset of that judgement, and are blatantly illogical and unreasonable.
I am anti-priest (or preacher, rabbi, imam) because they presume to speak for a deity and bilk sheeple of their time and money, usually by promises of heaven and threats of hell.

So, I am anti-RELIGION, but even that is qualified.  I think that we can find religions that do not proselytize and do not judge.  (Most of the Wiccans I have met fit this description.)
I am against any religion that tries to force its beliefs on others, and tries to control others using those beliefs. 

I am, to a lesser degree, anti-dogma.  I have seen beliefs in unverifiable woo cause harm.  But so far, not as much harm as organized religion.  

Thank you for letting me sort out my own thought processes.  That data file needed a little tidying up.

[robvalue]

Anti-dogma, I can get on board with that. Any ideas that are to be held beyond question are unhealthy, in my opinion.

[FatAndFaithless]

I hope nobody got the impression that I'm somehow anti-other people believing in god or having their own ideas about the subject. I just think that on a societal level, religion does more harm than good, and when it comes to things like public policy, education, etc. I'm anti-theist in the sense that I'm anti-theism not in the sense that I'm anti-people-who-believe-in-god.

[drfuzzy]

Anti-dogma, I can get on board with that. Any ideas that are to be held beyond question are unhealthy, in my opinion.

That might be the crux of it, robvalue!  (I'm still trying to sort this out.)  It's holding on to unverifiable beliefs that one isn't allowed to question.  And one isn't allowed to question because of fear of ___ (fill in the blank).   A combination of enforced "faith" (which believers think is a virtue) and enforced "fear" (which believers will claim doesn't exist).

[robvalue]

I hope nobody got the impression that I'm somehow anti-other people believing in god or having their own ideas about the subject. I just think that on a societal level, religion does more harm than good, and when it comes to things like public policy, education, etc. I'm anti-theist in the sense that I'm anti-theism not in the sense that I'm anti-people-who-believe-in-god.

I doubt anyone thought of you, it's not your vibe. I totally agree, religion should be a private thing. It has no place being mixed up in public matters. Of course you can "practice" it in a public place, as long as you're not annoying everyone, but you don't get to force others to join in or to expect anyone else to live by your arbitrary rules. Secular law must always trump religion.

That's my take on it, anyway. As soon as you let one religion pull some crap, to be consistent you have to let them all do it. And a religion can be literally anything.

If any of them turn out to be true, you'd think a god could overcome secular law anyway without needing whining douche nozzles to do his dirty work.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm anti-theist in the sense that I'm anti-theism not in the sense that I'm anti-people-who-believe-in-god.

Perfect summation.

[robvalue]

I think being anti-dogma is really important. I feel no subject should be off the table.

If you want to talk to me about why something I think is disgusting like slavery or rape is actually a good thing, we can talk about it. If you want to discuss why you think the scientific method is totally flawed and you have a better method, we can talk about that too.

Of course, there's no guarantee you're going to change my mind about anything. That depends on the strength of the case you make. But I'd never want to stop someone putting forward what they have to say, or to decide beforehand rather than afterwards whether they have a good point.

[Excited Penguin]

But I am not an anti-theist.  I do not object to other people believing in a deity.

That's not what it means.

[Mister Agenda]

Can someone help me out here... Antitheist just means that I don't want theism to be true, correct? I've seen Hitchens say this a bunch of times (in videos) but I don't think people are on the same page as me.

An antitheist actively opposes theism. It may refer to being opposed to organized religion or it may be opposition to any belief in any deity. It's a little ambiguous, Excited Penguin seems to take it in the sense of being opposed to any religion, but not all religions are theistic, so anti-religionist would seem to be the more appropriate term for that. For instance I could see a religious humanist being an anti-theist in the sense of being actively opposed to people believing in any version of a God or gods while still technically being religious themselves without any contradiction.

[Excited Penguin]

Ok, I don't care anymore. Call yourselves whatever you like.