False perceptions about Atheism and Agnosticism

[pocaracas]

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Stat, I consider myself an atheist. Here's why.

I do not believe in the existence of any god.
I lead my life in accordance with that... as if there is no god whatsoever.

In practical terms, I assume no god.
Mentally, I leave that option some wiggle room, just in case some god does present itself. Until then, I assume no god.

This does not equal belief in the absence of gods... but I admit it does look a lot like it.

Now, I'm no philosopher, but this is how I describe myself concerning gods. If other philosophers define atheist as something else, I couldn't care less. Maybe they're christians like you and want their opinions to stick, so atheists are seen under a bad light... or something. Human ulterior motives go over my head...

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Hey bud,

I still do not think that makes you an atheist since philosopher s define atheism as a position of certainty and you have admitted to allowing for wiggle room. I think philosophers would define your position more of agnosticism, practical atheism, or non-theism. I personally have no issues with calling you whatever you wish to be called, but if we were debating the existence of God I’d have to pin you down on your position and call it what it really is. Would you not agree that it is important to define our terms correctly? You’re a fair minded guy, I am sure you agree with at least that. What irks me is atheists starting these threads pretending as if theists’ are always ignorant on such matters when obviously on this matter the theists are being more true to the traditionally accepted definition of the position.

Well, I go by the dictionary, not what some philosopher or group of philosophers think a given word means.
And the dictionary I tend to use these past few years is dictionary.com
It gives us two possible meanings for the word atheist. I fit in one of them, so I call myself atheist.

noun
a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.
Origin:
1565–75; < Greek áthe ( os ) godless + -ist

Note the "OR" in there.

Attached to this atheist label, I may have other labels, like agnostic, or practical, like you mentioned.... Those help narrow down my stance on the subject. Some will go with weak atheist, others constructed a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is strong theist or gnostic theist and 7 is strong atheist or gnostic atheist, but there are some shades in between where most people fit.
You don't see many gnostic/strong atheists out there...
Sadly, you do see a lot of gnostic/strong theists... some even get violent


Also, bonus material!

1570s, from French athéiste (16c.), from Greek atheos "without god, denying the gods; abandoned of the gods; godless, ungodly," from a- "without" + theos "a god" (see Thea).