braces_for_impact

I'm constantly tired of hearing "Oh, you're an an atheist, so you worship the devil and believe in the big bang?"

RogerLeeCooke

You are right that "atheist" is in bad odor publicly these days. Pat Robertson and his ilk have made it so by explaining any bad behavior by an atheist as the natural consequence of their atheism. It's up to us to push for social acceptability. I'm happy to say I'm both an agnostic *and* an atheist. I'm agnostic, because I don't think anybody knows anything about any transcendent reality, and even studying the question is basically futile. I'm atheist because I don't worship any gods and don't consider the possibility of the existence of a god to be plausible enough to merit more than a cursory inspection.

So why do I post here? Because nothing is as enjoyable to me as putting my thoughts in order and leaving them out for others to read and debate.

missus_gumby

Even though these so-called sins don't constitute the one supposedly unforgivable sin?

Oh BTW, atheist, and not afraid to broadcast the fact. Mind you, where I live hardly anyone openly admits to being a christian. They must be in a minority of at least 50 to 1, maybe 60 or 70 to 1.

Martin

Samsa

I'll call myself an atheist without flinching. To me, it means "without god". So by being an atheist, I'm conducting my life without God - whether he doesn't exist or skulks amongst the antimatter.

Here in New Zealand, outspokenly passionate belief is fairly uncommon. Mostly the attitude is "I believe in God, you don't, Bob does, Jill doesn't, now can we talk about something else - like the rugby?"

There's really no negative connotation to 'atheist' here. So I'm comfortable with using it.

Sephiroth

I'm happy with the word.

David Mathews

Hello missus_gumby,

I am aware of the state of religion in the UK and Europe. Considering the European habit of engaging in religious wars and conflicts, I suspect that they have a good reason for their disdain for religion.

Sincerely,

David Mathews

missus_gumby

DM, there are areas of the United kingdom where devout christianity is in the opposite proportion to where I live. Northern Ireland being the major case.

Funnily, where I live, insurance premiums (for property and private vehicles) are very low - indeed, my immediate locality has the lowest insurance premiums for the area of the county (Suffolk) I live in. Again, I suspect the exact opposite for Northern Ireland, Belfast in particular. Of course, it would be pure speculation on my part to suggest any correlation between devout religious belief and violence in the UK. But it does make one think.

Martin

Novowels

Gosh, you all are making me feel like marching down the street chanting:

"I'm here! I'm atheist! Get used to it!"

So basically it's business as usual for me.

seanie

People use differing definitions of 'atheist'.

Some use it to mean 'the absence of belief in God' (akin to the non-theist position if I understand correctly.)

Others, such as myself, use it in 'the belief that God does not exist' sense.

That's what I mean when I describe myself as an atheist and that's all I mean.

That I also happen to be an evil, immoral, leftwing ultraliberal, god-hating, anti-family, unpatriotic, communist is entirely coincidental.