What is an atheist?

[Whateverist]

I don't like merely asserting definitions, or seeing people that like to merely assert their own definitions.

It is regrettable but completely common within the normal evolution of English usage. "Atheist" is the go-to word for lots of people with a variety of stances toward religious believe. It isn't even the only word whose usage is causing the problem.

What counts as a "belief"? Are we only talking about considered beliefs or are implicit beliefs also part of the discussion?

Whether and to what degree knowledge plays into it also varies. Some scarcely think about it epistemologically. For those of us who do, atheism as the presence or absence of belief in gods is really the only way we can discuss it at all.

At the heart of the problem is the murky definition of gods themselves. "Ignosticism" has been coined for those who are agnostic and would just as soon pass on the discussion of 'gods'.

Throw into the mix such descriptors as "divine" and "supernatural", and you have even more ways for us to diverge in what we mean by what we say.

So I disagree. When it comes to discussing atheism, the only hope is to pinpoint what you mean on a number of fronts .. and that won't be easy.