Call me an atheist

From the former War on Faith site, comes this gem from Christopher, the original author:

Don't call me a Secular Humanist.  Don't call me an Agnostic.   Free-thinker has a nice ring to it, but still it's not accurate enough.  Call me what I am.  Call me an Atheist.

Why is it that people are so afraid of being called atheists?    Perhaps it is due to the widespread lies about atheists and the word "atheist" that the thumpers have been so successful in spreading like so much verbal fertilizer.   Perhaps its due to the media's drive to feed the yellow journalism hunger that the general American public seems to be so thoroughly afflicted with.   People want news that is shocking and titillating, so what better than to make every word seem to have a more far reaching meaning and emotional impact so as to stir the souls of the faithful flock.  Whatever it is the word "atheist" just comes with too many negative attachments for most skeptical thinkers.

The popular definitions of atheism such as those found in Webster's define atheism as "Denying the existence of God".   Definitions in such dictionaries are simply popular uses of words.   They are not necessarily the correct way of using those words.    Technical dictionaries list the meanings of words the way they are supposed to be used.   The true definition of atheism comes from its root words.    A=without, the=god, ism=belief.       Theism is "belief in god", and A-theism is "without belief in god".     The difference between the two definitions is significant.

Luckily, I fit into both definitions neatly.   The Christian definition fits because I find no reason to believe Christianity has any validity and so I dismiss "God" as a myth.   I deny the Christian's God for the same reason that I deny the world is flat, and that is because there is no rational reason to believe it's true, and lots of reasons to believe it's not true.     I fit the more accurate definition well because I lack a belief in a god, though I am not positive one does not exist.  If there is a god, I'm pretty damn sure it's not the "God" described in the Christian Wholly Babble.  Are you an agnostic?   Then you are also an atheist.   It all depends on which definition you use.   Semantics- what a pain in the ass.

Why is it in this day and age a person can speak freely of his religious convictions in public places everywhere and is considered normal, yet if a person identifies himself as an atheist, he's called an activist?    Nobody calls Christians extremists for putting "God Listens" bumper stickers on their cars, but you'd certainly be called one if you put an atheist sticker on your car.     No one thinks it is unusual to put up nativity scenes on the court house lawn, yet try to put up a "Winter Solstice - Atheism" sign and see what reaction you get.     In a normal day the average Christian makes countless references to his god and his religion, but if you made even half as many references to your atheism, you would be considered as being pushy.

Do you find yourself ever so gently tip toeing around your lack of belief when people you're talking to bring up religion?   Do you worry about how friends and co-workers will view you if they discover you're a heathen?  Why don't you wear you lack of belief as freely as they wear there faith?  I grew tired of pussy-footing around.   Call me an atheist.

The only way to free ourselves is for enough of us to stand up and simply not bow to the pressure coming from the Borg-like flock.  It's time for us to stop hiding.   We have the ACLU to fight our battles in the courtroom, but we have to fight our own battles in our everyday lives.   We have to be open and honest about our non-belief.   If your acquaintances don't accept you for it, then Fuck Them!  They weren't your friends, anyhow.    If you get strange looks....fuck them!  The strange looks will go away when they become more accustomed to us not letting them walk all over us.

Why should we lay low?   Why should we bite our tongue?    Fuck that.  I just say what I think and let them deal with reality.    If they have the right to spew their religion at me, then I certainly have an equal right to respond.    You may not be motivated to do the same thing, but until you do you'll have to deal with being constantly inundated by bullshit.    You'll have to deal with the fact that not only is this cancer called "faith" still popular, but it is actually put on high as though it were something grand.    Isn't it time to level the playing field?  Atheism is much more respectable than delusions of divine worth.   It's time we stood up and said so.   It's time to remove the myths surrounding faith and the faithful.    Surely we will never be able to rid society of this blight called religion, but at least we can remove the misleading cloak of respectability that the masses have wrapped it in.   Just call me an atheist.

"I have little confidence in any enterprise or business or investment that promises dividends only after the death of the stockholders."
..........Robert Ingersoll  "A Wooden God" letter to the Chicago Times, March 27, 1890