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I have noticed that theists seem to more readily accept "I'm a nonbeliever" than "I'm an atheist." It seems to me that they think a nonbeliever can be converted while an atheist is more hardcore. Just my experience and perception.

tioteo 8 Mar 19
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1

Words carry meaning. Having been raised in a Christian home and community, I was taught that being an atheist was the worst thing one might be. Not a murderer, or a rapist, or a child molester, but an atheist was the crime of crimes! The very word brought looks of horror on the faces of my family members, friends and teachers, and may be why I still prefer to call myself a nullifidian.

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We should always avoid using labels to desribe ourselves, as more than a few people will react to the label and forget about you as a person.

@atheist True, but some nouns carry a lot more baggage with them than others.

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I think athiest just sounds more confident. Like saying I'm a believer or saying I'm a Christian. Same effect

1

What's in a name?

I use A-theist for the exact reason to emphasize the second syllable.

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                                                                                                                The Grace of the Ginkgo
                                                                                                                                    Chapter One

 
“What the devil do you mean to sing to me, priest? You are out of tune.”
— Jean Philippe Rameau

It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I became completely comfortable with my disdain for the concept of a supreme being of any persuasion; God, including Jesus and the Holy Ghost, Allah, the Great Spirit, Shiva, you name him. As an upperclassman at UMass Amherst, I began to pronounce the word atheist with the accent on the second syllable. I rationalized that emphasis focused on the word’s meaning, rather than prompting people to reflexively categorize those of us to whom it applied as either weirdos or pitiable sinners. I must admit, however, that I thought my emphasis gave the word a hint of an intellectual ring, a feature I tended to like in a term that described myself.    
2

I think it's just bullshit stereotyping. Nonbeliever is an underused term, most people don't have preconceptions of a 'non-believer'. Tell people you are Atheist or Jewish or gay etc and in the wrong time and place see what kind of reaction you get. I use non-believer when I want to be true to myself without controversy. It doesn't conjure up ignorant preconceptions...yet. I can't speak for darker skinned people, but, I always think you have to be tough to wear your difference in this increasingly tolerant, traditionally intolerant world.

I mostly use Secular Humanist. That usually confuses them as they are not informed enough to even know what that means.

thanks, @jlynn37 I'll have to keep that in mind. It's got a nice ring to it.

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Atheist is an anti position. Non-believer/agnostic is a neutral one. It's the difference between telling them "Your beliefs are wrong" and telling them "I don't share your beliefs."

People typically don't like being told that they're wrong. You can see that on any Internet forum.

I like "I don't share your beliefs." as a response.

4

Having once been a believer, I was taught that the atheist was allied with Satan—an atheist was one who'd rejected the influence of the 'Holy Spirit,' and had thus committed the unpardonable sin. But that which I once rejected I now proudly accept.

2

Yes, the word itself, to some, conjures up a kind of extremism, a sort of fundamentalism, not to mention negative personal attributes. Nonbeliever and even agnostic seems more neutral and acceptable to many, which is simply silly. But that's how it goes. And if an atheist is quite upfront, clear and assertive about their atheism, then it worries them even more. Part of the so called new atheist movement over the past decade has been to address that, and focus on an awareness that atheists are just like anybody else except we take a clear position on religion.

@irascible well I join you on that. An atheist, of course, can range from someone who simply says that they don't believe in God or Gods, through to those of us who are happy to exhibit strong opinions about religions and religious practices, and openly espouse a world free of, or freer of, religions. Of course we are criticised not only by believers, but also by some of the nonbeliever side, who think we should be nice little polite atheists and avoid a passionate stance against religion, because being passionate is bad. Well, phooey to that I say.

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Some sets of people (you may be surprised how close some may be) seem to think the atheist believes that there is no god(s).

@atheist based on evidence, all you can say is that evidence has not been presented that support the assertions promoting existence of deities.

@atheist sorta. I don’t believe there is no god(s), I just have no evidence supporting claims that there are

An atheist doesn't believe gods or supernatural beings exist. That is what being an atheist is. We don't say there aren't any = we just say there is no evidence of any. So scientifically, they most probably don't exist - therefore, I don't believe in god.

@PEGUS right. I don’t believe in god(s) vs I believe there are no god(s)

@atheist yes. I am an agnostic atheist. I am 99.99999 carried on as far as you want % certain there are no gods. I will not make a definitive 100% reply because there’s always that slim chance of uncertainty. I think it is extremely probable that there are no god(s), however, I will not claim to know with absolute certainty.

@atheist but also, if evidence was presented and a deity did magically appear, I’m still not going to worship it.

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