Jack the Bodiless

I have heard that Hinduism is a family of religions with certain shared parameters, rather than a single religion. I have also heard that some Hindus call themselves atheists.

What's the difference between a Hindu atheist, a "regular" atheist, and a Buddhist atheist?

lpetrich

Which reminds me of a thread in "Feedback Discussions" created by hinduwoman about why Hindu atheists seem less hostile to Hindu gods than Western ones are to the Christian God. Part of this could be that the Western ones are, in a sense, ex-Christians; for some strange reason, self-proclaimed Christian atheists are rare. Also, Western ones' attitude toward Greco-Roman paganism may be more comparable to many Hindu atheists' attitude toward Hindu gods; one does not see much hostility to the deities of Mt. Olympus, which are often viewed as some sort of cute fairy tale.

hinduwoman

I don't think there is any difference between Hindu and regular atheists. It is more that there is no need for the Hindus to junk the whole social system. christianity and Islam is based on belief whether you accept Christ/allah. since anyone it seems can believe practically anything and get away with it, atheists can call themselves Hindus if they like.