the only thing that bothers me is sometimes people have a negative opinion of it cause of how some people act, i try not to associate with the word as much cuz of it

I love it since it still provokes a perplexed and concerned look from most.

Yes! It is a little uncomfortable using the word with me at times. I think it can be ambiguous equivocal in its meaning. Also is the word the person's "Choice" or is it just what is Rational Result about it? When I use the word "Atheist" is not my Life's "Choice" It is how I see it as a rational "Fact" When Religious people say they don't like Atheist, I think it comes to them that people want that as a "Choice" in someone's Life. If I am to assume a God (?) and it was someone's "Choice" then I would not like my Outcome, because we will get our "Choice" for what we want in this Life. What others might be concerned about. I would use the word as this is the Outcome of things as a Fact. That I see about what is among us. But? I like "Agnostic" for which I am not that Determined about such a claim. I did once use the word "Agnostic" in the Hospital and then they put my choice under "Atheist" in the paper work. I was not that Determined to deny a God. I just didn't know for sure. I had no religious beliefs I wanted in the Hospital. That was all I was concerned about.

I don't say that I am atheist or agnostic when describing my beliefs. I don't want to have to explain agnostic, either. I just say, "I am not religious, at all." This works for me. Somtimes I have to repeat the phrase, but it usually works.

I'm fine with the term/label atheist, as I see it as literally 'anti-theist', meaning I don't believe in religion, or any of their gods. I just don't use the word much, because here in the bible-belt, it seems to make other people uncomfortable.

i like non believer way better...atheist sounds like a satanic term for some reason but what ever ..i just know dating sucks when i confess my non belief and im kind of tired of the label put on a person who values question and the freedom to be skeptical

I don't like the word, as the root meaning infers non-belief in a god that does exist. Agnostic works better for me, as I can tell people who want to argue about the existence of any gods that I'm happy to believe in their god if they can prove that god's existence. So far, no one has provided proof.

Totally comfortable. Gives me a chance to engage with people and educate them. I don't blare it out like proselytizers do with their idiocies, but I don't avoid it either.

I agonized over the word atheist for years. After all, a-theist presupposes that one considers the question of the existence of God to be worth addressing, and while I believe there is a God in the sense of a social construct humans have invented and used to justify killing, abusing and controlling each other for many centuries, I don't believe there is such a thing as God to accept or deny. But, atheism is as much a social construct as God, and as such is a term that at least conveys to others my stance with respect to theistic institutions. I am also a-yeti, a-unicorn, and a-cylon, though I would sooner believe that we are the latest iteration of a non-ending war between humans and cylons, before I would believe in a God. Thankfully, right now I don't need to assert any of these other stances very often to find people I could get along with.

I am completely fine with the word atheist and I have no problem stating that it defines certain of my beliefs - or lack thereof. One can't prove a negative, so in that sense I guess I am an agnostic. But I don't expect to someday fine god in the CERN collider.

Very.

Quite. <<<There it is, succinctly.

I prefer Antitheist. Makes people ask me what it means.

Doesn't bother me. It's just a word.

I'm perfectly fine with it.

50 years ago, if not longer, that word would have gotten anyone in a world of trouble. I live in a rather progressive part of the U.S. where being a non-believer is fine. As I see from many of the comments in certain threads, it's unfortunate that so many have to be closeted non-believers because they live in the Bible Belt.

Have nothing against the word but the definition used for the word by those who believe is wrong. There is no way to prove the non-existence of a god or for that matter the existence of a god. I call myself an Atheist because I have seen no evidence of any god. I am 99.999999% sure that no gods exist. Should that 0.000001% prove to be true I would have to ask god why he/she/it didn't provide evidence to base a belief on.

More and more so. I think we need to take back the word as much as we can.

Very comfortable. My father was as well.

I'm not always comfortable with it, in part because it doesn't adequately define me, but also because many "atheist" groups seem to use their forum to aggressively attack religious people, and I don't want to be associated with that mentality.

I use it all of the time. I'm a proud Atheist. I also have a necklace and T-Shirt that I wear on the weekends so not to offend my co workers...LOL

If you view the word Atheist as an inadequate description of your beliefs or perceive it as a hostile attack against believers you have many other ways of communicating your disbelief when the situation arises. I would use the term non-believer or secularist or just say I don't believe in God because of the lack of evidence. But remember this, I call myself a Democrat, but there are significant aspects of this party I loathe. In many ways, I'm a conservative. I'm not for higher taxes. I'm for fair taxation, but I don't think of other ways to describe my political party. What I do is voice my concerns. If what you see in any group that represents you as being in some way harmful be that voice that says, this should stop, just as you have in this post. Get descriptive with examples and post something about how you feel and ask others what they think.

A history search would be interesting. Was this word first coined with intent of using it as an insult or to label a group in a negative way or did it come about just to have reference word. This is one reason why we do not like the N word because we know it was meant as a put down.

I love the word atheist, take pride in being one. I grew up in and currently live dead center bible belt so religion has spent a lifetime trying to drown me in it. I was in my early 20s before I was able to officially break away from church. Saying, "Yes, I'm an atheist." despite the backlash from those around me makes me realize exactly how strong I am.

I agree with you. It is unfortunate that the word Atheist has such a negative connotation to so many. It really does mean...A theist or the opposite of being a theist, thus why I think it is negative to many. I like to call myself an humanist because as you say non belief in a mystical being in this age is denying reality imho and thus it is the natural order of things. There are so many people in the community I would like to meet and make friends and living where I do it is very hard and I think many give in to Religion for the comfort of having more friends. For me, due to my conviction of the facts, I have to stand by what I know to be factual even if it means just having cyber friends like on here. Still not optimal, maybe that will change one day Tyssina.

I just don't believe but if other people do I don't knock them their choice