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Does the techincal definition of "atheist" matter if no one understands it?

Posted by admin in Atheist Definition | April 16th, 2009

Do you call yourself something other than what you truly feel represents you jsut because people don't get it?

While I was in London the last week (awesome!) I was speaking to some of my fellow classmates. One girl said she was an atheist, and some other girl said it meant she believed in nothing. I explained it only meant deities, people cam believe in reicarnation blah blah blah. She just said "No, athiests beleive in nothing, that is something else". I dropped it because clearly that wasn't going anywhere and there was no reason to fight.

So, while atheism really is just a lack of beleif in dieties, does that matter if most people don't see it that way?

Technically I am an agnostic atheist, but most people outside of this forum would likely just call me agnostic or weird.

What do you do in situations like that?

The best thing to do in situations like that are drop it. If you are hung up about it, you can Google it and e-mail her the correct information.

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4 Responses to “Does the techincal definition of "atheist" matter if no one understands it?”

  1. Everard J Says:

    "does that matter if most people don't see it that way?"
    Nah cos technically a mug can not be educated AND …
    We need some one to make the fish and chips and do the washing up.
    ~
    References :

  2. aglow Says:

    my understanding is that an atheist doesnot belive in the existence of god/gods

    belief in other supernatural isseus (liek afterlife, ghosts and other fairy tales) does not seem to be covered by this term

    agnostics do not deny existence of god but do not accept it either, as in A-Gnosis - No Knoledge, ot "I don' t know"..

    In your situation, I think it is OK to ask the person in question to elaborate if they so chose, so that they canexplain thier views them selvelves
    References :

  3. Ratchet Horror Socks Says:

    I think it matters. I wouldn't call myself anything else pertaining to the matter. If people don't understand what it means, I tell them. If the refuse to believe me on the definition, then whatever- I let them be. I might show them with the enclycopedia, if they REALLY push it. Some people really do get a stick up their ass about it.

    Sometimes people don't accept it anyways. But they're, well, they're just being willfully ignorant. That's their problem, not mine.
    References :
    experience

  4. Bill Q Says:

    The best thing to do in situations like that are drop it. If you are hung up about it, you can Google it and e-mail her the correct information.
    References :
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism

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