So I am not an "atheist", I am a scientist. Not educated as one, but a scientific thinker. I am a realist. I live in reality, not in the realm of imagination. I am a rationalist, I believe in rational thinking, not imaginary thinking.
Sometimes I do call myself an "atheist," but only to observe the reaction I get from believers.
The fact is, we live in the real world, but imagine ourselves in the imaginary world.

BRAVO RoHo, that's it in a nutshell, this is the top post using the least words, that I have viewed on this site !!!

For the same reason that we have labels for lots of other things.

It saves time.

Labels are a convenient way of communicating. Not all labels are 'one size fits all' and not all labels are accurate, but they are a good starting point.

If you don't like the label because it desn't fit, then don't use it.

Personally, depending on the definition, I don't think the definition of atheist is weak. If there wasn't a significant number of people out there who believe in some sort of god, then there wouldn't be a need for anyone to say they don't believe in god.

I am an atheist. I don't generally run around bragging about it and I rarely tell people about it in general conversation. But the label does accurately reflect my position - I don't believe the claims of theists that gods exist. That's it.

No other word accurately reflects my position on the god claim. And that's all it is. It doesn't say anything about my politics, the way I think, my sexuality or my morality.

I hate labels. I refuse to identify with any of them. When anyone asks me questions like are you a feminist ,liberal ,atheist, vegetarian, foodie, Christian or any of the millions of labels we give individuals I know it's a bear trap and I'm getting ready to lose a limb.

I just tell people I'm an Atheist, explain it if needed, and get on with my day. It's a shortcut way of saying that I don't swallow crap and call it a cookie.

Dont do labels.

Good question. Anymore, if necessary, I describe myself as ‘not religious.’ What needs explaining? But, around here, when referring to ‘myself,’ I’ll generally write ‘atheist.’ ...as I assume there are some of those ‘agnostics’ around

Because labels are a way of understanding by talking to other people.

Dude, there is so much b.s. out there. I have no label. There's no club with dues and a card that I belong to. But thumpers arguments are tedious and at 70 I don't waste time on convincing some moron the error of they're ways. Not pertinent to my life. But shit like pence holding bible studies in the fuckn Whitehouse will cause me to get nasty pissed.

Hmmm, non christian, non muslim, non jain, non zoroastran,
I will stick to atheist, it is shorter.
I get your point, and agree,
but I think the label is necessary, otherwise people will assume we believe as they do.

is that a double negative ?

I use freethinker.

I guess as long as we're in the minority, we have to be labeled.

Simple, we don't. But, how would any of us have found this wonderful website if it didn't have a "label" that attracted our attention?