This take always bothers me. The word “atheist” only means we don’t believe any theistic claims. That includes both people that just haven’t seen enough evidence and people who actively claim to know that God doesn’t exist. Labeling atheists as anti-church (anti-theist) is like labeling Christians as Catholics. It makes too many assumptions for what the word actually means.
So I think a blank page is a good representation of what “atheism” entails because the only requirement to be an atheist is to not hold any theistic beliefs. If they’re a more specific kind of atheist, like a gnostic atheist or a Satanist, they can put that on the page.
(Also, the term for the “religiously non-religious” people is “anti-theists”. The same way someone who rails against feminism is an anti-feminist.)
This take always bothers me. The word “atheist” only means we don’t believe any theistic claims. That includes both people that just haven’t seen enough evidence and people who actively claim to know that God doesn’t exist. Labeling atheists as anti-church (anti-theist) is like labeling Christians as Catholics. It makes too many assumptions for what the word actually means.
So I think a blank page is a good representation of what “atheism” entails because the only requirement to be an atheist is to not hold any theistic beliefs. If they’re a more specific kind of atheist, like a gnostic atheist or a Satanist, they can put that on the page.
(Also, the term for the “religiously non-religious” people is “anti-theists”. The same way someone who rails against feminism is an anti-feminist.)
Well said actually. Let me rethink.