Doesn't our language need words to differentiate atheists that don't believe in God from atheists...?

Question

Well thats dictionaries for you - I think the collins is quite fond of including as many variant definitions as possible -- so I reckon atheist should be used to mean disbelief in all gods then - that seems most straightforward -- but in that case what do you call those who believe in gods but don't know if any one God ultimately prevails over the others... I reckon there must be quite a few such polytheists... is it worth giving them a name too?

Answer 1

Your impression is wrong.  Atheist means the person believes god or gods do not exist.  No supernatural.  End of story.

Your additional information is telling.  When atheists tell you what they think, you insist on holding on to your "impression" and say they are wrong.  Evidence right in your face, but you cling to your impression and deny what is being said directly to you.

Answer 2

A person who only singles out one God is not an atheist. They're just a member of some other religion.

Answer 3

You have the wrong impression, buddy. There are no gods. None, as in plural none.

Answer 4

Tim another funny post.

I see atheism as a rejection of the supernatural. The supernatural being: God, Gods, Myths, Ghosts, paranormal phenomena, Spirits,etc.  

Answer 5

Most atheists do not believe in any of the Gods, there are just some they can understand people believing in more than others.

For example, I can understand how the ancients greeks believed in their gods and they had no better explanation at the time.

BTW - my copy of the Collins dictionary purely calls atheism "the belief that there is no God". Your theory seems based on your belief there is only one God. However the root of the word theist is 'theos' which is the greek word for God and of course the greeks were polytheistic. In fact they had 12 main Gods (if I remember my classics) not to mention the other lesser gods. Based on this, I think it's you're definition which is flawed by your belief of 'one' God.

Answer 6

Atheists don't believe in any 'supreme being'. If they believed in the existence of another 'God(s)', then they would be a member of another religion and not atheists.  

Answer 7

My impression is that most atheists believe in no gods whatsoever.

Answer 8

Our language does differentiate between the two. If you don't believe there is a god, you're an athiest. If you believe there might be a god, but are not sure, you are an agnostic. At least that's what I've been taught.

Answer 9

Atheist is, by definition, someone with no belief in any gods... And this is not the 1st time collins dictionary was proven to suck.

Answer 10

Atheist: believes in no god(s). You'd be wrong on your assumption.

Answer 11

You're way off -- you're trying to lump pantheists and pagans in with atheists.

Answer 12

No.  The problem here is with the dictionary you used, not with the word itself.  Let us once again pare things down to etymology.

Theism- belief in god

Atheism- no belief in god

This covers everything.  Saying that an atheist believes in god is a contradiction in terms and horribly wrong on the part of the dictionary.

Answer 13

Well if they believe in god they would be refereed to as Agnostic, Atheists do not believe in a god 100%, but the Agnostic hold hope that there may or may not be a god or a higher power.

Answer 14

We already have the necessary words;

Atheist = Informed and objective

Believers= Childlike, fools

Answer 15

Atheist-a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.  

Anyone else would not be an atheist.

Answer 16

If you ever meet a so called Atheist who believes in Gods yet says there isn't 1 prevailing God slap them in the head for being an idiot. An Atheist does not believe in ANY gods, it doesn't matter if it's 1 or a million, NO gods exist.  

Answer 17

If you believe in any sort of supernatural, mysticism or magic then you are not an atheist in my book.

Answer 18

Atheists who don't believe in gods  = weak/agnostic/implicit atheists

Atheists who believe/state there are no gods = strong/gnostic/explicit atheists

An atheist who doesn't believe in "God" also doesn't believe in any of the other 2,850+ gods ever dreamed up.  It's not like, as so many people seem to think, that we're just having a snit fit against your personal god to be twits.  We are equal opportunity atheists.

I hope that clears things up.

Answer 19

Atheists...don't believe in any gods. That's...the definition of the word.

Answer 20

The answers given show comprehensively that atheists generally view their belief to be that there are no gods at all.  Despite what a dictionary might or might not say.  [A dictionary should only record the meanings of words as used at any one time.]

What amazes me is that atheists do not realize that they have to claim they know everything there is to know to be able to say "there is no god or gods".  And this is manifestly impossible for a limited human being.

Answer 21

I have no belief in any gods. If I did, I wouldn't be called an atheist.  The Christian 'God' (if that's the one you mean) is just one of the 'gods' I don't believe in.

Look up the etymology and definition of the word 'atheist'.

You are describing 'deists' when you talk of people who believe in the existence of god/s but not in a particular one.

*EDIT*  Don't worry, there are loads of arguments about the usage and definition of the word 'atheist'.

Call me what you like, as long as it's not offensive.

*EDIT 2*

"I reckon there must be quite a few such polytheists... is it worth giving them a name too?"

How about ...(TADAAAA!)  'polytheists'?

Just a hunch...

Answer 22

We do not believe in any gods at all.

That is the definition of the word `atheist`.

Answer 23

Why are you trying to complicate things? We don't believe in any Gods, full stop.

Answer 24

It's called positive or negative atheism, or strong/weak atheism. (In regards to your first question.)

Any way you look at it, an atheist is someone who does not hold a belief in one or any god(s).

Edit~

atheism[aith]-ee-iz-zum NOUN the belief that there is no God

Greek a- without + theos god ⋄ atheist  noun

http://www.collinslanguage.com/

a·the·ist      Pronunciation[ey-thee-ist]

–noun

a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/a...

Main Entry:

    athe·ist

Pronunciation:

    \ˈā-thē-ist\

Function:

    noun

Date:

    1551

: one who believes that there is no deity

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar...

Answer 25

Atheists do not believe in ANY gods of any description, that is what the word means, I can't imagine how  or from were you could have gotten that impression:)

Answer 26

I don't believe in any Gods, regardless of what the true definition is.

Answer 27

Atheists lack a belief in god(s)