'...And I'm an Atheist'

[Ben Davis]

You think I have some kind of ax to grind with regard to discrimination against religious people, and that to this end I've come up with my definition of 'atheism'?

Maybe you do, maybe you don't. You do however regularly misdefine atheism by adding value-attributes. This has allowed you, on a number of occasions, to make negative generalisations about 'atheists' and 'atheism'. I've never seen you develop a discussion based on an accurate definition of the value system(s) actually in-play, instead always substitute 'athesim' for whatever value(s) make-up the other person's position thus misrepresent it.

First, the only reason I even talk about bigotry here is because pretty much since my first post... I was constantly barraged...

So your wilful & deliberate midefinitions & misrepresentations have been a defense mechanism? I assume you've heard the phrase 'Two wrongs don't make a right'?

This kind of response is typical, here... at another debate site... atheists and theists have far more polite debates.

Hardly typical, I've seen many more polite & purposeful discussions than I have impolite & disrupted ones. And to get defensive myself for a moment, I've not seen you put forward any arguments/points which haven't been discussed many times before; given that all it would take is a brief review of the site to understand the common themes and that it's considered good netiquette to familiarise yourself with a site before posting, I don't blame some posters for throwing up their metaphoric arms in disgust and taking their frustrations out on you. I have to say that I don't agree with that approach but I understand it (I sometimes feel that way myself) so I recognise when it happens.

Second, the definition I use for 'atheism' is something I've spent a lot of time thinking about

Well, there's your mistake; you've spent too much time thinking about it. Instead, why don't you try listening to how atheists define themselves or if that becomes too confusing, look up the etymologically accurate definitions of the word. Cogitating & inventing your own definition is the surest way for errant value-attributes to pollute the accuracy of the definition.

...if I were to become an atheist, it would be with that definition in mind

With the amount of different & conflicting values I've seen you attribute to 'atheism', you'd likely never recognise it if you ever became atheistic.

I think it's... useful (gives you a way to compare and contrast properties of belief systems)

Yet here we are again! How many times do you need to be told? Atheism is not a belief system! Atheistic people simply have no theism in their belief/value systems!

Here's something you should practice doing. Any time you find yourself thinking the term 'an atheist', instead substitute it with the term 'non-theist'. It's only a small mental adjustment but many people have told me that it's helped them avoid assignment of erroneous values/assumptions to people's positions.