Is atheism a belief system in someway?

[Ben Davis]

I'm only partially agnostic. There are certain god claims that we could expect evidence for.

I know exactly what you mean. In terms of pure intellectual honesty, I have to admit that I don't know (and probably can never know) that there is/are absolutely no god/s so in principle, I'm an agnostic atheist.

However when it comes to specific god-claims, that's when I let loose my antitheism. So far, I've never been offered a god-claim which is anything other than mythology, the evidence for which has been of such a low standard that it shouldn't even be called evidence. Under those circumstances, I'm happy to wear the label 'antitheist' but that shouldn't be confused with my generic atheism.

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Perhaps, the atheist members would understand this frustration if Christians demanded denominational specificity. Do Frodo, Drich, GodsChild, Rondee, or I insist that everyone define Christianity as merely the belief that “Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior?” We share that essential belief, even if we disagree on particulars...

Quite the opposite for me. I can't speak for everyone else but I have a sneaking suspicion that the common vaguaries of 'christianity' are likely more irksome to most than a demand for accuracy. That said, I don't mind defining beliefs at a high level if we're having high-level discussions. Horses for courses. If I were criticising a specific denomination (like on the recent 'catholicism' thread), I would expect to have to adhere to very strict definitions of christianity.

The main problem is in using atheism as a label because it has no content, no explanatory power, it tells you nothing of the actual values held by the individual to whom you apply the term. So I (and many others, I anticipate) would actually find it useful if anti-atheists were to address specific values or sub-sets of atheists rather than simply dumping whatever they think relevant in to 'atheism'.

Even still, I have to say that a small number of prominent atheists take advantage of the words ambiguity purely for debate.(If the shoe fits, wear it!) In one thread these sophists will take clearly antitheistic stances and on another thread retreat into agnostic atheism to avoid a critique that clearly applies to their brand of atheism. And that should piss off everyone, atheist and believer alike.

Depends on the circumstances (please see my response to Coffee Jesus, above). If someone is using ambiguity to inveigle their position and avoid criticism, yes that would piss me off.