Is That the Right Word?

[Cinjin]

It's rare that anyone asks me what I believe because most assume that I'm an atheist. I sound like an atheist. My best friends are atheists. I loath nearly all religions and what they do to the world. It all adds up to a fair assumption.

Very recently -
The christian god came up in conversation at a bar I was performing at. The portion of the conversation I'm referencing went like this:

Christian (at least on some level): A bunch of atheists bitching about god. (laughs jokingly)
Me: Actually, I'm a Deist ... of sorts.
Christian: Whats that mean?
Me: Well very basically, the term "god" is just man's term for some kind of intelligent creative being or force and it certainly has nothing to do with ancient books written by fucktards.
Christian: But you do believe in god.


And this is where I cringe. What do you mean by "BELIEVE?" What does anyone mean when they say the words, "do you believe?" Is believe the right word?
Does a person believe in aliens? Does a person believe in Bigfoot? Atlantis? Ghosts? Because I KNOW children do indeed believe in Santa Clause.
What does that tell you?
For me, it says that anyone who believes in anything is automatically a bit of an idiot. Why? Because the only reason you need to believe in something is when you don't have evidence of it's existence.

I don't know if it's the right word. My outlook regarding god doesn't feel like a belief to me. It feels like a theory that I'm biased towards. I don't claim it as fact so therefore, how can I possibly "believe" in god??

Is that when belief becomes the correct word? When you can't prove something exists but still claim it to be fact??? If that's the case, than no, I do not believe in god. My deistic views only allow me to favor the idea without proof.

Thoughts?
Is believe a dirty word? Maybe?