(June 24, 2021 at 2:10 pm)Frank Apisa Wrote:(June 24, 2021 at 2:05 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote: Yes you are.
If you don't currently believe in a god you're an atheist whether you like it or not. You may be an agnostic atheist but agnosticism is a stance on knowledge, atheism is a stance on belief.
I am not an atheist. I realize counting people like me among your numbers would strengthen your group intelligence values, but we are not atheists.
Every atheist lacks a belief in gods, but not every person without a belief in god is an atheist. Some dictionaries indicate that is how the word is used, but some do not. Prior to the 1950's, just about EVERY dictionary had as its primary definition: Someone who denies the existence of gods. That certainly was the case during the days of Thomas Huxley...who wanted to separate himself from the atheists and espouse a more nuanced, logical stance.
But it has been how atheists have defined themselves for centuries. Those dictionaries described atheists differently from how atheists described atheists. It's not a new idea and the dictionary writers not understanding atheists accounts for the definitional discrepancy.
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.