Atheists have belief systems. None of the belief systems atheists have is 'Atheism'. Theists have belief systems. None of the belief systems theists have is 'Theism'. I suppose someone could make a belief system and call it 'Theism', but that would be needlessly confusing, wouldn't it?
[/quote]
On this point I would beg to differ. As a minimum definition, one could surmize that Atheism means disbelief in the God of monotheism. All right, but this definition would surely be too narrow. Atheists rarely believe in paranormal phenomena or the reality out-of-body experiences (which have, on a side-note, been shown to be cognitive illusions). Therefore one cannot restrict atheism to being merely disbelief in God. It is much more than that. It would be disbelief in general. Following this logic, the more general the scope of one's disbelief, the more "atheist" that person would be. This is hard atheism, as opposed to the soft atheism of, say, Richard Dawkins, who believes in gene determinism and the redemptive qualities of science.
[/quote]
On this point I would beg to differ. As a minimum definition, one could surmize that Atheism means disbelief in the God of monotheism. All right, but this definition would surely be too narrow. Atheists rarely believe in paranormal phenomena or the reality out-of-body experiences (which have, on a side-note, been shown to be cognitive illusions). Therefore one cannot restrict atheism to being merely disbelief in God. It is much more than that. It would be disbelief in general. Following this logic, the more general the scope of one's disbelief, the more "atheist" that person would be. This is hard atheism, as opposed to the soft atheism of, say, Richard Dawkins, who believes in gene determinism and the redemptive qualities of science.