RE: What do you call a non follower of neither atheism or theism
January 17, 2014 at 8:00 pm
(This post was last modified: January 17, 2014 at 8:02 pm by Simon Moon.)
(January 17, 2014 at 7:30 pm)It Is i Wrote: If I call myself an 'atheist' you'll assign to me that I reject the claims of theism, and the opposite ]if I call myself a 'theist'
No, the disbelief in gods comes first, 'atheist' describes that position.
If you are 7' tall, you will be labeled as a tall person. If you face Mecca 5 times a day and pray to Allah, that behavior will define you as a Muslim.
You can say all day long that you don't want to be labeled as a tall person, or a Muslim, but your attributes will still define you as a tall Muslim.
And, if one of your attributes is that you do not currently have an active belief in at least one god, that attribute is called....wait for it....atheism.
[quote If I avoid the label, then you're left with seeing me for what I am, and not for what your label 'says' I am according to that label. You may later label me as a result of your observations, but the label is something YOU create for me, and is not a necessarily an accurate descriptor of me.
[/quote]
You will still be seen as what you are.
And if one of the many attributes that define who you are is that you do not a belief in at least one god, you are an atheist. Atheist defines only one attribute of every attribute that make you up as a person, it does not define your entirety as a person.
You sound way to hung up on the baggage that the atheist label may have attached. Get over it.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
