Are you comfortable using the "A" word to describe your theological stance? Why or why not?

Good question. I am fine with it. I simply don't care, or pay attention to misconceptions of the word.

It does NOT mean that you outright deny any possible form/forms or any possible god/gods/godess/godess,etc.

It simply means disbelief in God X. You can use any God from any faith to fill in the X.

If you put an apple in front of me, I have no choice wheather or not I am going to believe it exsists.

I must.

The converse is true with god.

I didn't choose to be an atheist. I chose to label myself an atheist, after I realized I was one.

Absolutely. I am not a fan of labels, but that one is pretty cut and dried for me. I don't wear my atheism like a badge, it does not define who I am, merely my stance on a particular issue. Atheists are free of the cookie cutter mentality of "You are a Christian so you believe in Jesus." or "You are a Scientologist so you believe we came from outer space."

And Rasta, here is the definition of the word.

Atheist: a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.*

So yes, being a 'by the definition' atheist, I deny and/or disbelieve in the existence of supreme beings and/or the supernatural. I don't believe in God or Ghosts, Vampires or Valkyries, Dragons or Devils.


*cited source: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

I am comfortable with some people, not with others. I do not use it at work with my individuals EVER to label myself, and I do not share my personal beliefs at work. A few trusted co-workers do know, and I do use the word with some of them.

I had felt comfortable using it amongst friends, until I found out a former friend may be acting a bit nasty toward me because of my beliefs. This is one of the first times I actually feel that someone I trusted has judged me based solely on my beliefs. Not a great feeling.

I feel it is fine to be labeled once in a great while when necessary, and I would never lie to someone. I am an atheist, through and through, and I am proud of that!

I never use to use it, now I do. I decided that I'm not comfortable being friends with anyone that would judge me because of the word "atheist". I try to act friendly and understanding of others, and I can't understand anyone changing their opinion just because of it. It's not the first thing I'll tell anyone because I feel they should get to know me first before I start sharing my beliefs. Though, once you get me going, I can go on for awhile.

If anyone asks I would tell them, but I don't volunteer the information. I guess that makes me at least a little bit uncomfortable with it, although I also don't offer other personal information about my life.

Yeah, I see not offering it up unless asked. I don't think that means you're 'uncomfortable'. I, very often, do not offer it up unless asked.

I feel like it's like any other topic, in that you need to really gauge the situation and decide how comfortable you are with that person, how comfortable they will be with you, and what your interests/ideas are. Even for mundane things, like shoe shopping, it's the same. Some people I'll talk about shoes with, other people wouldn't want to talk about that. Shoes, god, what's the difference?

Calling yourself an atheist in front of a christian can be very annoying. A lot of Christians feel like you telling them is a sign from god that they have to save your should by converting you and that with the power of god by their side they have the strength and patience to enlighten your black doomed soul.

Not labeling yourself saves you from having to hear some circular logic served (t) style.

It can be annoying. I know one person who found out about me who couldn't stop saying 'you're going to burn in hell!'... But, honestly, I was glad she knew and the annoyance was mostly hers, I'd like to think.

Part of the problem is that atheists are seen as being argumentative and obnoxious, which isn't so.

Good question.

When people ask me about my beliefs ( ie: what church i go to as they always assume I am non rational ) I simply tell them I am an atheist and they react as if i told them a black man with a 12 inch penis took their daughter home after doing drugs. Priceless look on their faces.
Normally after that I get asked how can I not believe in god and blah blah blah and then they tell me that they will pray for me. To which I answer : If god has not answered they prayers for kids starving, being abused or all the other horrible things in the world, then why would he convert me to being a christian.

I enjoy the word Atheist yet I dont normally use it.

Calling yourself an atheist in front of a Christian may be annoying. But, admitting to being a Christian in front of an atheist can be pretty irritating as well.

Calling yourself an atheist in front of a Christian may be annoying. But, admitting to being a Christian in front of an atheist can be pretty irritating as well.

A person holding the minority philosophical position in a particular social setting may feel intimidated or annoyed, true, but is that really the issue here?

In practice, there is a stigma attached to atheists that doesn't apply to Christians. Atheism is often equated with immorality, communism, or worse. Even some who are atheists in all but name refuse to so label themselves in an (misguided in my opinion) attempt to avoid these mistaken associations (see Sam Harris for example, although the reasons he gives are somewhat different).

Not that we should whine about it. Besides, it sure seems like it is getting better and in any case it is more productive to simply work to correct the stigma.

I think the point of calling yourself an atheist or a christian is this: It's just good common sense to NOT do those things with people right away.

Much like a person on a first date does not have to disclose an STD (unless they actually plan to get down that evening...), the same is true for your social positions, of which I consider religious or non-religious the same...

I would say what is MOST annoying on both sides of the issue are people who are constantly talking about 'what' they are. I don't feel the need to announce to every person I meet that I'm an atheist, and for the most part, I keep my mouth shut about it, not because I'm embarrassed, but because it is often not the right time or place to share that information. This was my same argument for atheist charities. It's AWESOME to be involved in charity work as an atheist, I would just encourage people to also participate without labeling yourself.

As important as I consider my atheism, it is certainly not the only thing about me that's worthy of sharing, and it's probably not even the most important thing I could share with someone about myself!

I think that works if everyone does it. If everyone were anonymous, than charity is for charity sake. But, the reality is that much charity is done as a form of marketing and promotion. Companies and organizations participate in events to visibly appear to be helping the community. I think there is value in a group of atheists getting together and doing something as a group of atheists. As for individuals, it's tacky to bring your personal philosophy into an event if it isn't asked for, but it can be productive if a group of Christians and atheists came together to work on something.

I call myself an atheist consistently, and publicly. Like being gay, it's important to be VISIBLE. As to the comfort level of other people...well, I don't really care. It's their problem if they're uncomfortable around me, not mine.

So, I embrace the "A" word.

I initially wasn't going to use it because in some contexts it just has a lot of baggage. But then I realized, lots of labels have baggage and the possibility of being misunderstood. So I got over it. I also felt I owed it to the Atheist community to stand strong for our views and values by being "out" and open even if it means being uncomfortable sometimes.

To me, Atheist is only a word that we use because there are others who are Theists. If there were no believers in gods, there would be no word for not believing. No one calls a baby an Atheist yet, technically that's what they would be. And really if you think about it, the first human beings would've been Atheists before coming up with gods, goddesses and other beings in their lore. They may have been in awe of the natural world, maybe even worshiped it. But it was much later that we see deities that are removed from the natural world, personal and not personifications, demanding sacrifices and atonement.

I think most people choose their labels based on what they're *for* not what they don't think/believe or are against. Still, Atheist is a convenient label in some contexts and is more readily understood by people unlike Humanist or Pantheist!

Why does one believe that there is no God?

Why does one reject God and shun His Word?
The world is so accepting of historical documents on ancient civilizations (Greek, Romans, and Egyptians) that the information is included in school text books.
Yet for some strange reason, the Bible, which has supporting archaeological and historical data, is held to a different standard.
The Bible has been dissected and held under a magnifying glass, and still has successfully been proven true.

Ignoring the truth of the Bible makes it easier to validate YOUR immoral behavior.
After all, how dare God tell you how you should live by imposing rules and commandments on your life?

As we live in these terror filled days, one must humble themselves and heed the Word of God. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone.
However, if one has the will to read the most incredible and amazing book in history, comfort and security will follow you all the days of your life.
More than ever, we need to build our lives upon the Bible because we know what is coming.
God has warned us as to what is to come.

Journey to Salvation will guide you along the path in your search for Christ. If you do not believe in the salvation of Christ, I challenge you to give yourself the opportunity to read the evidence, go through the exercises and honestly ask yourself, “Why don’t I believe?” The results may surprise you. What do you have to lose?
EXCEPT YOUR ETERNAL SOUL TO TORMENT IN A LAKE OF FIRE FOR ETERNITY!

Why does one reject God and shun His Word?

The world is so accepting of historical documents on ancient civilizations (Greek, Romans, and Egyptians) that the information is included in school text books.
Yet for some strange reason, the Bible, which has supporting archaeological and historical data, is held to a different standard.
The Bible has been dissected and held under a magnifying glass, and still has successfully been proven true.

Actually Enlightment philosophers picked so many holes in the Bible that many informed Christians don't even bother claiming it is literally true any more. Well, unless you count Fundamentalists in the list of informed Christians (and I don't).


Ignoring the truth of the Bible makes it easier to validate YOUR immoral behavior.
After all, how dare God tell you how you should live by imposing rules and commandments on your life?

What immoral behavior are we engaged in?

Anyway, I guess I dare because I don't believe that God exists and I don't believe that if God existed, it would be the tyrant that you make it out to be. I think that, just like a father preventing his child from walking off a cliff by warning him in no uncertain terms, God would communicate with everyone so effectively that questions about his existence would be ludicrous. After all, your very eternal salvation depends on it! But as it turns out, they are not ludicrous and God, if it exists, is not communicating effectively (ask the approximately 2/3 of the world that doesn't believe Jesus is Lord.)

(Of course, I'm talking about a personal God that cares for humans, not about a God that doesn't know about us, doesn't care, or isn't a person.)


As we live in these terror filled days, one must humble themselves and heed the Word of God. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone.

However, if one has the will to read the most incredible and amazing book in history, comfort and security will follow you all the days of your life.
More than ever, we need to build our lives upon the Bible because we know what is coming.

I've read it and I'm very unimpressed with it. Most of it is bad philosophy. Much of it is immoral in its own right (shall we go back to stoning our children?) Even the good parts need clarification to the point of suffering the death of a thousand qualifications.

Besides, I feel comfortable and secure in my life and I've known many Christians who live downright insecure and uncomfortable lives. That falsifies your claim on the face of it.


God has warned us as to what is to come.

An atheist doesn't believe that God exists so why would they believe a warning is from God? I think that early Christians were afraid of many things. You might say they were overly fond of warnings and superstitions (not to pick only on Christians).



Journey to Salvation will guide you along the path in your search for Christ. If you do not believe in the salvation of Christ, I challenge you to give yourself the opportunity to read the evidence, go through the exercises and honestly ask yourself, “Why don’t I believe?” The results may surprise you. What do you have to lose?

I've plenty to lose; all that time spent reading collections of myths means I spend less time with my family. It means having to put up with terrible writing and specious arguments. If you are wrong, I've wasted precious time that I didn't have on things I don't value.

Besides, isn't this whole idea unstable to someone else, a Scientologist or Mormon, say, approaching me and claiming that I had better read the writings of L. Ron Hubbard or Joseph Smith? They can use your very same arguments or adapt them as needed and I can't tell the difference. What if God doesn't want me to believe that he exists? Then acting to believe just puts me in peril of his wrath. No matter the choice, there's always a risk if we are counting that way.

I don't believe humans quarried/shaped and levitated huge rocks into structures that we would have a hard time making with today's equipment.And those stone balls in Costa Rica.

I'm just as offended being called atheist as I am being called christian.

I realize the people that rule the world believe lucerferian is a true religion.

Hope to live to the day where I'm smashing Secret Illuminati Designs, Masonic Architecture, and Occult Places with a sledge hammer ( like in Texe Marr's book Mysterious Monuments ) that's my focus for now.

Don't you think it's kind of rude to hold a grudge against ancient people just because they were more clever or smarter than you are?