Don't like saying "I'm an atheist"? Try this instead.

[DLJ]

Well, atheist is a negative term because it describes what one doesn't believe in, instead of what one does believe in. That's why I use the word "Freethinker," it describes what I do believe in: freedom of thought and freedom to reach your own conclusions about things. If I lemming off a cliff, it's only because I followed my nose and not the ass of another lemming, as Dennis Miller once said.

Freethinker is stupid. It could literally mean anything. I think its funny that the "freethinker" reddit page, basically everyone has the same set of ideas. Atheist is accurate, number one, and it's a good word that riles up the religious. A freethinker isn't necessarily an Atheist by definition.  I am an Atheist and I want to let people  know that.

If Mormons show up to your door and you tell them you are a freethinker, they aren't going to know what you mean at all. If you say you are an Atheist, they get the idea right away.

---

Why not just say "I don't believe in God" if and when someone asks?

That is what I say. That or I'm an Atheist. I think there is something about left wing people that makes them want to relabel themselves in unclear ways all the time. Same way liberal, which is a fine word with good connotations got relabeled progressive,  which is a stupid meaningless word. Something about the left likes to change labels all the time.

Atheist is fine. There is nothing wrong with the word.

Sorry to say this but labels are important.

People have gone for 'progressive' because 'liberal' (in the classical, John Stuart Mill sense) has been tainted by what is often now called Neo-Liberal (which is neither Liberal nor Neo and is akin to Reaganism/Thatcherism).

But more seriously, regarding 'freethinker'... this is a term that won't get you killed. It hardly raises an eyebrow in Muslim countries and even commands a modicum of respect (quite possibly because, as you inferred, one could still be delusional on the god question but in an unaffiliated kinda way).

Do you think I would have been allowed into Pakistan had I put Atheist or Jew on my visa application?

I live in a country where a Minister in the Prime Minister's office has official declared that atheists should be hunted down.

I'll still happily identify as an atheist if/when asked but trust me, it's nice to have the option.