Why do some people not understand what the word atheist means?

Question

An atheist is someone who doesnt believe in any kind of God....correct?

I asked a question about 30mins ago about ouijia boards, and that i believe in them (sometimes) because of many weird things that have happened, and someone answerd with ' i guess that means you are no longer an atheist'

You can be an atheist and still believe in ghosts, h**l you can believe in pink unicorns if you want 2!!! People need to read up on what certain terms mean!

I always see words being mis-used on R&S does anyone else?

Answer 1

What you say is true, but most atheists I know reject the supernatural.

Answer 2

Colette makes a good point.  The underlying assumption of atheism is that we live in a material universe that has always existed.  Further, the atheist usually rejects anything for which there is no scientific evidence.  I am not trying to speak for every atheist because there will be exceptions to every rule.  But the point made by Colette is that believing in Ouija Boards, ghosts, etc., is not consistent with most atheists' belief systems.  I was a philosophy major in college and thinking about your question from that perspective leads me to wonder if you have really thought through your position or, perhaps you say you are an atheist because it "sounds cool," or perhaps you think that if you claim to be an atheist, then you are freed from some of the moral absolutes demanded by a belief in a moral supreme being.  I am not very impressed by the validity of ypur claim to be an atheist based on your question.

Answer 3

yes and no. technically you can believe in spirits and not believe in any god (which is by the way what atheism is)...but it's probably a lot harder to put into practice then it sounds.

Answer 4

I think people are confusing atheist, with secular naturalist. You can believe in ghost and be and atheist, but you can not be a secular naturalist and believe in ghost. Since all secular naturalist are atheist the two are easy to confuse.

Answer 5

Because most of the people are ignorant. They prefer to hold on blindly to their faiths and talk trash about someone else's opinions and ideas.

Answer 6

Ignorance and unwilling to learn about others

Christians, Atheists HAVE a meaning in life, Atheists HAVE morals...

Answer 7

In my book if you believe in spirits and spooks you're not an atheist.

atheist

Main Entry: athe·ist

Pronunciation: \ˈā-thē-ist\

atheist

n.

freethinker, nonbeliever, disbeliever, unbeliever, agnostic, infidel, heathen, irreligionist, materialist, nihilist, nullifidian; see also skeptic.

an atheist rejects all religious belief and denies the existence of God; an agnostic questions the existence of God, heaven, etc. in the absence of material proof and in unwillingness to accept supernatural revelation; deist, a historical term, was applied to 18th-century rationalists who believed in God as a creative, moving force but who otherwise rejected formal religion and its doctrines of revelation, divine authority, etc.; freethinker, the current parallel term, similarly implies rejection of the tenets and traditions of formal religion as incompatible with reason; unbeliever is a more negative term, simply designating, without further qualification, one who does not accept any religious belief; infidel is applied to a person not believing in a certain religion, the prevailing religion, or any religion.

Answer 8

I was with you on your thoughts that it was an unfair assessment.  I completely agreed with your views on the issue...but then you had to go ahead and attack my belief system, saying that I apparently do not have half a brain cell because I believe in God.

So, even though I did agree with you, I would like to say:  If you had half a brain cell, you might be able to learn the correct usage of the words "their, there, and they're."  Thank you.

Answer 9

You can believe in anything you like as long as you enjoy it... there is nothing wrong with that... the day we will be ruled as a Nation by a Pentecostal Holy Roller lady we will be in serious problems!  

Answer 10

Yeah I know, I think there are a three kinds. 1.Believes in No God but other supernatural things. 2. Believes in nothing supernatural

3. Has a complete hatred of all things religion and is constantly attacking the religious.

Answer 11

There's two kinds of atheists. Weak atheists, of which you are one, who don't believe in a god, but can believe in anything else, and strong atheists, of which I am one, who believe in nothing super natural, period. Both are accurate definitions, and, when referring to atheism in general, it is usually understood that it represents strong atheism.

To be understood as a weak atheist, you would usually have to explicitly announce it.

If you only say you are atheist, typically it's taken to mean you are a strong atheist.

Atheistically yours,

JM Gendron.

Answer 12

I am an atheist. I don't believe in a deity. I have a limited belief in the supernatural and it only goes as far as possibilities. I believe in energy. I believe in the possibility of what are called residual haunting. They are basically a replay of an event on the atmosphere. Same thing over and over when the conditions are right. I don't believe in sentient ghosts. I do believe that some people can manipulate energy. I've seen too many experiments where people were able to beat random chance. None of these require the belief in a deity. Only a belief in the abilities of nature and man.

Answer 13

Believe in what ever you want, words are always miss used and everyone has an opinion and atheist don't believe in any thing except what they want to believe in  So you are all right to jest keep believing what ever you feel inside and the experiences you have are things that you know by experiencing them and no one else can tell you how you feel inside.

Answer 14

you should go to sikhnet.com i know it not related but just look at the website or type sikh on google ok just do it plz when you have the time plz for thousand of poeple who lost their lives just take the time to see it ok  

Answer 15

no god to guide them

Answer 16

I think some people who call themselves atheists are merely cynical or skeptical or plainly rebels, and not atheists at all.

So there's that.

And I think that some people who define atheism are not correctly educated.

You will see a lot of words being misused in  R&S.  Par for the course.

Answer 17

apparently, people think atheists are biologists and cosmologists too.

Answer 18

U are confused as to what u believe...and honestly, u don't know what ur getting urself into. An atheist believes that there is NO god, no spirits, no demons, no angels, nada....if u believe in "ghosts," u are not atheist. Oijia boards are a form of witchcraft, and the Devil uses them to bind u up. It was will be very difficult to leave that once u start. If u don't want to listen to me, fine. I'm just trying to help u. I've known people who thought that was cool and started doing it. They didn't know what they were really doing. U think its a joke. Once u start doing it and try to leave it, u will see that its not a funny thing...it will be hard. Please accept Jesus Christ into ur life and leave that junk.