No Religion? Here Are 7 Types of Non-Believers (Alternet)
No Religion? Here Are 7 Types of Non-BelieversReligious labels help shore up identity. So what are some of the things non-believers can call themselves?
September 22, 2014
http://www.alternet.org/belief/no-religion-here-are-7-types-non-believers
Catholic, born-again, Reformed, Jew, Muslim, Shiite, Sunni, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist...religions give people labels. The downside can be tribalism, an assumption that insiders are better than outsiders, that they merit more compassion, integrity and generosity or even that violence toward “infidels” is acceptable. But the upside is that religious or spiritual labels offer a way of defining who we are. They remind adherents that our moral sense and quest for meaning are core parts of what it means to be human. They make it easier to convey a subset of our deepest values to other people, and even to ourselves.
For those who have lost their religion or never had one, finding a label can feel important. It can be part of a healing process or, alternately, a way of declaring resistance to a dominant and oppressive paradigm. Finding the right combination of words can be a challenge though. For a label to fit it needs to resonate personally and also communicate what you want to say to the world. Words have definitions, connotations and history, and how people respond to your label will be affected by all three. What does it mean? What emotions does it evoke? Who are you identifying as your intellectual and spiritual forebears and your community? The differences may be subtle but they are important.
If, one way or another, you’ve left religion behind, and if you’ve been unsure what to call yourself, you might try on one of these
The article seemed fairly well written...and even allows for the rejection of any of the labels presented.
= new reply since forum marked as read
This reminds me of our state house candidate. We live in a red zone and she seems to think that if she runs a non-partisa race the Rethugs will like/vote for her. The fatal flaw in this plan is that "
Democrat)" will next to her name on the ballot. Believe me, in the end, that's what matters to the people here in this red zone.
Same holds true for a religious zealot. You either hold their views or you are wrong.
Julie
...non-believers.
However, upon further contemplation, I think a potentially valid criticism of the article is that it seems to be written from a non-global perspective.
I would not be surprised to find a vast number of additional categories if you expanded the evaluation across the global community.
But on a side note, for my part, I detest the word "atheist". 
It is dependent/derived from the state of believing.
I do not wish to be labeled as a "Non-Stamp Collector" (i.e. an Aphilatelist) by those crazy tiny-sticky-paper-hoarding philatelists! 
I'll name my own ship, if you please. 
I'm a g0d-d@med realist, a Gdrealist, if you must have a label, and piss-off if you don't like it. 
Other that that I'm real quiet humble.
A woman said to me, "What a cute little butterfly!"
...I can definitely work with that.
I picked this one up from Freethought 2014 this past weekend in Nacogdoches, Texas. Has anyone read Jerry DeWitt's book "Hope After Faith"? I have added it to my list.
