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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 20, 2013 at 7:08 pm
(This post was last modified: January 20, 2013 at 7:09 pm by NomenMihiNon.)
This is precisely why I prefer to call myself a naturalist. Because what I do believe is that the natural universe is all that exists, since it's the only thing for which thousands of years of scientific research has found evidence. I agree that it's arbitrary to define people on one particular non-belief, since I don't believe in ghosts or psychic abilities or even alien abductions and cryptozoology just as much as I don't believe in a god.
That said, I'm more likely to tell people I'm an atheist simply because that's the term people know. I've even encountered Christians who are unaware that "supernatural" includes mainstream ideas of God and religion and not just, say, New Age ones, so explaining naturalism as a lack of belief in the supernatural is often not enough. And it seems that many people, atheist and non-atheist alike, tend to assume that atheism automatically equals naturalism, even if the latter term is unfamiliar to them.
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 20, 2013 at 7:29 pm
(January 19, 2013 at 8:32 pm)pocaracas Wrote: I don't mind the label.... It's a good way to distinguish me from the believers.... Of course, non-believer would be just as good a label, but would require more letters.
The problem with "atheist" is that it has a double meaning.
1. Person who believes there is no god.
2. Person who does not believe there is a god.
And most atheists fall on the second category.
One thing I hate about the word 'atheist' is the amount of misconceptions. Also when you tell someone you're an atheist, they could suddenly state that you claim there is no god. So you end up adding 'agnostic' in front of the word 'atheist' to make it easier for them, but for some simple minded fools, this is too great a thought for them.
'Secular' is a good word and with fewer misconceptions and seems easier to grasp for the less intelligent. However still too great for the less advanced...*cough*...primitive.
A title is a title, if some people are too stupid to grasp or accept it, they're probably too stupid to talk to. 
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 20, 2013 at 7:34 pm
Quote:Also when you tell someone you're an atheist, they could suddenly state that you claim there is no god.
I am okay with people making this claim, because it is so close to certain that it may as well be.
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 23, 2013 at 7:32 pm
I like the term "Rationalist". But I don't mind being labelled as an Atheist at all.
"I trust my own reason and my own capacities to think and educate myself and to reach greater levels of knowlege and status through learning and work. To me, wishing for a god is like wishing to be a slave, it is like declaring that one is too incompetent to handle one's own affairs." - the germans are coming
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 23, 2013 at 8:35 pm
(January 23, 2013 at 7:32 pm)TromboneAtheist Wrote: I like the term "Rationalist". But I don't mind being labelled as an Atheist at all.
How does 'rationalist' define anyone? Is someone likely to take a position as an irrationalist? 
Please give me a home where cloud buffalo roam
Where the dear and the strangers can play
Where sometimes is heard a discouraging word
But the skies are not stormy all day
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 23, 2013 at 8:37 pm
Of course not! I just like to think I'm rational, and others, namely Theists, aren't.
"I trust my own reason and my own capacities to think and educate myself and to reach greater levels of knowlege and status through learning and work. To me, wishing for a god is like wishing to be a slave, it is like declaring that one is too incompetent to handle one's own affairs." - the germans are coming
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 23, 2013 at 8:43 pm
(January 23, 2013 at 8:37 pm)TromboneAtheist Wrote: Of course not! I just like to think I'm rational, and others, namely Theists, aren't.
How does someone being theistic automatically make them irrational? 
Please give me a home where cloud buffalo roam
Where the dear and the strangers can play
Where sometimes is heard a discouraging word
But the skies are not stormy all day
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 23, 2013 at 8:50 pm
(January 19, 2013 at 8:41 pm)Golbez Wrote: Hmm, interesting linguistic issue. Doesn't one directly imply the other, if not being an explicit agreement exactly?
I don't like any pizza.
I like no pizza.
They are differently phrased, but aren't they nevertheless identical expressions?
It's not a linguistic issue, it is one of logic.
1. Person who believes there is no god.
2. Person who does not believe there is a god
These are 2 different statements. The first is negating 'god'. The second is negating 'believe'.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 23, 2013 at 9:09 pm
Yeah, I worked it out earlier. My mistake.
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RE: Accepting/Rejecting "Atheism" as a label.
January 23, 2013 at 10:04 pm
In my opinion, a Theist is irrational. Feel free to disagree, that's just what I think.
"I trust my own reason and my own capacities to think and educate myself and to reach greater levels of knowlege and status through learning and work. To me, wishing for a god is like wishing to be a slave, it is like declaring that one is too incompetent to handle one's own affairs." - the germans are coming
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