Reply #1: Details

[Az]

First off this is not the Religion and Spirituality group. This is the Religion and Theology group. Not trying to split hairs but this particular group was set up amongst other reasons as a place for theists and atheists (and any other selflabeled individuals) to engage in the more heated topics that sometimes arise between such groups. There have been atheists in this group since it was set up.

The word atheist gets beaten around a bit. There is a practice on the part of some theists to insist that a person that does not believe in god has made a choice to do so. As if they were rejecting god. Thus they say that an atheist believes there is no god.

But this is not the case. An atheist simply does not believe in a god or gods. Its not a choice. Its simply a recognition of what one happens to believe or not believe. An atheist can no more choose to believe in god than a theist can choose not to.

So using the definition that is applied to us typically by those that do not agree with us seems disengenuous. We define ourselves as individuals who simply do not happen to believe in god or gods. Beyond that you have to talk to us to see whether our position takes an aggressive stance including an insistance that there are no gods or simply one of a lack of belief or refutation of claims of god we have run into.

We live in a god soaked society. People that believe in gods have an effect on our society. They sit in positions of power over us. Some even sit in judgement of us in courts of law. It is in our interest to take an interest in what these beliefs may lead to and what impact they have on our lives. And it is quite definately in our best interest to represent our views and if possible expose others to them in an effort to show the sense of it to them. Thus we debate and discuss such matters with people of belief. Hopefully in a civil and reasonable manner.