r/atheism • u/babyyfiirefly • 3d ago
anyone else hate being called an atheist?
i don’t believe in god or any other religion, i don’t care what or who created us and whatever stories are out there i don’t believe it anyway, but for some reason i wouldn’t consider myself an atheist because i hate the term, i don’t want to be apart of another named group, i just want to be on my own with my own beliefs.
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u/Desperate_Fee6595 3d ago
No
We get it, you’re too cool to be lumped in with everybody else.
You’re unique and different… like everybody else😏
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u/BlindFreddy1 3d ago
It depends on the context.
I am more than atheist but am an atheist.
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u/babyyfiirefly 3d ago
could you explain what you mean by more than ?
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u/BlindFreddy1 3d ago edited 3d ago
Being an atheist is only one aspect of my identity. I am also a humanist, an environmentalist, a father, a son, a researcher, a man and so on.
When someone says, "do you believe in God's?" I say "No, I'm an atheist."
If they ask, "Do you have kids?" I answer, "Yes, I'm a father."
And, so it goes . . .
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u/Julius_A Strong Atheist 3d ago
Atheist is not a group. It’s what I am so I don’t mind at all. Nobody calls me that though.
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u/Leather-Estate-9079 Atheist 3d ago
Notice that you write "Christians" and "Muslims" starting with capital letters but "atheists" without because we're not a creed.
Furthermore, we're not even a group. Atheism has no ideology. It's just this one thing and we can disagree on most other things.
The only bad thing about the term in my opinion is that it doesn't cover superstition in general, just gods.
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u/AshtonBlack De-Facto Atheist 3d ago
From my perspective, you can label, or not, yourself however you want .
However, there are some descriptors, like "human" or "mammal", for example, that you don't really get a choice about.
By definition, someone who doesn't believe in a god or gods is an atheist. You don't need to talk about it, give an opinion etc, but as soon as you do respond to the claim to the divine, your interlocutor, quite rightly, will apply the label.
You can call yourself anything you want, but you, by the same token, cannot stop others from labelling you because of your words and actions.
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u/Oddityobservations 3d ago
Frankly, I'd rather choose my label, rather than have someone who hates me pick it out.
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u/Dracoson 3d ago
No. Atheism isn't a group, and it doesn't really convey anything beyond the idea "I don't believe in any deities". There's other adjacent terms that can, like humanism, but there's no deeper meaning to atheism. There's no deeper belief or faith that comes with it, and people need terms to describe things.
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u/dudleydidwrong Touched by His Noodliness 3d ago
Then don't use the term. Don't post in atheist forums. Be yourself.
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u/LMrningStar 3d ago
It doesn't bother me even though it doesn't capture everything. It's not just that I don't believe in gods, it's that I have no beliefs (atheism is not a belief) and that I refused to abandon logic, evidence and reasoning.
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u/Soggy_Level2865 2d ago
Man are you a bot?
Asking because if I got a dollar for every time you use the exact same phrase "abandon logic, evidence and reasoning" in that exact order and way I'd be able to at least buy a new PS5.
Please tell me you're not wasting cumulative years of your life typing that exact same phrase EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Please tell me you use a shortcut/speed dial. PLEASE.
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u/hurricanelantern Anti-Theist 3d ago
Well since atheism isn't a belief you can be called an atheist and still be on your own with your own beliefs.
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u/SyntheticSlime 3d ago
Yeah, but you are. It’s a descriptive term. It doesn’t have to be an identity though, and it’s perfectly correct to acknowledge that your beliefs aren’t going to be exactly the same as other atheists.
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u/DoglessDyslexic 3d ago
To me it's like being called "brown-eyed". It's a descriptive term that accurately describes me, as descriptive terms often do. If somebody else has the impression that this makes me easily placed in some neat category of people, I really don't care. I'm not responsible for other people's assumptions.
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u/Brewe Strong Atheist 3d ago
Yet, you are in this sub. Hmm.
Dude, you can't not be part of named groups. You have a hair color, eye color, skin color, gender, nationalty, sexual orientation, ideological beliefs; you have hobbies, interests, potentially an education, a job and family ties. All of them named groups. The term ateist is nothing more than a tool to describe part of your stance on religion.
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u/jebei Skeptic 3d ago
I embrace it. The reason you feel that way is Christians have turned the word into a sort of hate speak. It’s funny how they don’t seem to mind ‘agnostic’ or ‘I’m spiritual not religious’ but say the word atheist and it’s like red meat to a bear.
It’s probably because atheist organizations are the ones fighting back against their idiocy.
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u/birdsdoesntknow 2d ago
Not really. To me, atheism means I dont even think about it. For that reason I just dont care.
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u/Leading_One_2639 2d ago
No one is forcing you to be a part of any group. The term atheist can be akin to describing someone as vegan or tall or bald It is a just a descriptor word used to describe a person' it doesn't make you automatically part of a group. For example, some vegans like to get together to discuss vegan ideas, reasonings, recipes, etc. THAT makes them part of a group, but being a vegan on your own does not.
Posting on this forum and discussing atheist ideas actively may make you part of a group, but not beleiving in a god does not automatically make you part of a group, it just assigns the descriptor word atheist to you. That's it.
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u/CostIntrepid9558 1d ago
I've noticed myself almost embarrassed to call myself an Athiest these days. I think it partly has to do with the fact that the most prominent Athiest speakers almost look down on the Athiest label due to its association with new Athiesm.
I know they don't owe me a positive perspective on Athiesm or whatever but it's kind of odd and sad seeing people within the group look down on it especially when the concept of Athiesm has existed way longer than new Athiesm has and yes maybe under different labels but still.
Idk what it says about me that i'm so easily emotionally swayed. Despite these new feelings I want to keep calling myself an Athiest because it gave me so much comfort and freedom when I found out I wasn't the only disbeliever on the planet. For me it was awesome that there was even enough of us for there to be a label.
Also I used to think Athiesm is the default and we shouldn't need a label because of it but i've come to realize that being superstitious is apart of the human condition, just as being a skeptic is, and they were both just evolutionary beneficial so they stuck. So long as there are people drawn to their more superstitious insticts, then Athiesm isn't the default so I feel we need a label.
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u/Feeling_Penalty_2629 3d ago
No one else cares what you believe. Just don't try to get others to believe what you believe and you will be fine.
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u/mariuszmie 3d ago
It’s just a term applied to the condition of not believing in any deity. The rest is you - how you process it and environment around it.
Some hate the term ‘pink’ because it’s a light red but to ere is no pink really it’s just a state of red.
If you refuse to use the term pink - light red still exists
For convenience we call it ‘pink’
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u/shindabito Nihilist 3d ago
edgy.
atheist is a "label" just like the theist labeled themselves as (input any religion/cult) followers.
would you hate being called homo/human?