I'm not an Atheist

[Skeeve]

I'm atheist.

I support atheist activism. I visit atheist websites. I even own one. (And considering it's called Atheists Today, you may find this post hypocritical.)
But I have a hard time calling myself an Atheist, capitalized or not. While some atheists have many things in common, they could have just as many or more things not so.
I understand the united front that is needed to protect our rights, but many times I resent other people speaking for me. I'm atheist. I don't believe in gods or the supernatural. But that's not all I am.

I'm not trying to rant, just wondering if there are others that see atheism this way...?

[lazarus]

1. it is troubling

that we have to define ourselves as what we are not, as if not believing isn't the default position. But given that we're a minority, I think fighting that is a losing battle.

One constant struggle in R/T is the idea the theists have that atheists share some dogma that is universal to all atheists. In the realm of atheism as strictly defined, I don't have a problem with anyone arguing our side. We all share the simple fact of not believing. But if anyone goes beyond that and starts ascribing beliefs or positions other than not believing in a god, they're going too far.

[iris27]

2. Indeed. Even PZ Myers had it rightfully pointed out to him in comments today

that one shouldn't assume that all atheists don't believe in souls. Yeah, most of us don't, but that's really a separate issue from whether or not one believes in a god.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/04/sunday_sacrilege_that_other_th.php#more

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. Or, clarifying a bit, I don't have a problem with anyone arguing ON

our side, but nobody can speak FOR our side. Each atheist can speak only for him or her self. There is no voice of authority for atheists, no matter how much the opposition would claim Sagan or Dawkins or anyone else to be the spokesman FOR atheists.

[dmallind]

3. Well technically I think you are atheistic, but hey

if you prefer using atheist as an adjective it's a damn sight better than pretending agnostic is a middle option so go for it.

Personally I'm fine using atheist as a noun referring to myself (lower case - the upper csse implies a nationality or religion) but I do understand this means we are defining ourselves by an absence of something else. However in a society which assumes the PRESENCE of theism I think atheist is a useful label.

[realisticphish]

4. well

it's not so different from any other label. I'm white, I'm a man, I'm an Ohioan. There are certainly large swaths of those populations that do not speak for me, but I can't help being lumped in with them from time to time.

However, I do feel your pine. I think that often people tend to look at ones religion as the overall defining factor of being, rather than one facet of a personality

[salvorhardin]

5. Actually, not all atheists disbelieve in gods so you can't even say that.

Apparently 21% of the atheists who responded to Pew's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey believe in god.


Source: http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report2religious-landscape-study-key-findings.pdf

It gets even stranger. 12% of atheists believe in heaven, 30% believe in hell.

Personally I can't fathom how someone who self-identifies as an atheist believes in god, but there you have it. Upwards of 30% of atheists are deeply, deeply confused individuals.

[DavidDvorkin]

7. Perhaps they're confused about the word "atheist".

[SkyDaddy7]

8. They probably thought the word was...

"A THEIST" ???? Who knows?

...I find the poll extremely flawed for whatever the reason.

[DavidDvorkin]

9. I have a vague memory of a poll

or study a few years ago, asking people about their religious beliefs and affiliations. It found a large number of people who called themselves atheists but meant by that that they didn't belong to a specific organized religion.

[salvorhardin]

10. I think that's what we're seeing here

There's always going to be a shockingly large minority in polls like this who just don't understand what's being asked of them. And let's face it, atheism as a term has been so misused and abused over the years that we can't even get atheists agreeing on what it means. Far better to use the phrase "don't believe in god" for polls like this, but then I'm sure Pew would get crazy angry mail from someone about that.

[Deep13]

11. Your website name is a proper noun and ought to be capitalized. nt

[Skeeve]

12. It is

But I only mentioned it to show I understand the need/want to use the the word as a noun. My point was I personally feel more comfortable being atheist, instead of an atheist.