(February 27, 2010 at 7:17 am)tackattack Wrote: Person believes she is an XAs leo already pointed out, atheism doesn't mandate that anyone act in a certain way, so atheism cannot be 'X'. I'd also like to point out that similar de-conversion stories does not imply similar actions, i.e. that these people will react in the same way to different scenarios. There are plenty of atheists who despise religion, there are plenty of atheists who just don't care, there are plenty of atheists who respect it, etc.
X mandates that she act in a certain way
P acts in that way and Y is a consequence
Therefore society label X is (at least partly) responsible for Y
I contend that people are far more likely to act in a certain way due to a political or idealogical belief, rather than a lack of belief. A lack of belief in a god no more mandates a way to behave than a lack of a belief in unicorns. A belief in a god might very well do that though, given that something is believed.