It was very late (my time) when I made my last post and something occurred to me overnight. Words are human inventions and they can change meaning over time. There are a lot of articles on this subject such as this blog on the Oxford Dictionaries site. I'll just pick one example from it.
Whatis the strangest change in meaning that any word has undergone?
In this forum we insist that atheism means nothing more than a lack of belief in deities. It's a very useful definition here because it covers everyone who rates themselves as 6 or 7 on the Scale Of Theistic probability. Outside this forum, however, we've had the New Atheist movement which was eventually referred to as New Atheism
A simple lack of belief in deities can't be any kind of ideology but a social and political movement can be turned into one. Some atheists associated the movement as being part of atheism itself and tried to invent Atheism The Ideology.
Having intellectual/philosophical discussions about atheism in this forum keeps us amused. When it comes to the outside world, however, we can only hope that some atheist nutcase doesn't decide to go on a 'religious people killing spree' and declare that they did it in the name of atheism.
Whatis the strangest change in meaning that any word has undergone?
Quote:To call someone a bully was, in the sixteenth century, to effectively say ‘good fellow’ or ‘darling’: it was a term of endearment that could be used to either sex. It was only in the seventeenth century that this mate became someone who showed off his good deeds, and a century later the intimidating tyrant of the weak.
In this forum we insist that atheism means nothing more than a lack of belief in deities. It's a very useful definition here because it covers everyone who rates themselves as 6 or 7 on the Scale Of Theistic probability. Outside this forum, however, we've had the New Atheist movement which was eventually referred to as New Atheism
Quote:New Atheism is a social and political movement in favour of atheism and secularism promoted by a collection of modern atheist writers who have advocated the view that "religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises."[1]
A simple lack of belief in deities can't be any kind of ideology but a social and political movement can be turned into one. Some atheists associated the movement as being part of atheism itself and tried to invent Atheism The Ideology.
Having intellectual/philosophical discussions about atheism in this forum keeps us amused. When it comes to the outside world, however, we can only hope that some atheist nutcase doesn't decide to go on a 'religious people killing spree' and declare that they did it in the name of atheism.
Where are the snake and mushroom smilies?