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the Problem with “A”

Posted by xJane on May 22nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm · 8 Comments

One of my coworkers, in whom I have found a kindred spirit (and who assures me that he is a lurker here), was telling me about his desire to create a space like MoF, where he can create a community that is not defined by what he does not believe in.

This sounds so like my husband’s issues with the word “atheist”. He is, in every way that I can tell, so much more of an atheist than I could ever be: to him, there is no argument; god does not exist, never has existed, why are we still talking about this? Yet he defines himself as “humanist” (my theology professor would insist, “secular humanist”).

And every once in a while, I am reminded of this dilemma: by my father’s definition, I am more of an atheist than my husband. I am a theistic. My husband (and, I would wager, my coworker) is not a anything; both are positively, rather than negatively, inclined. Whereas I rail frequently against religion in its many forms, my husband is blissfully unconcerned with religiosity.

I know this is a subject we have discussed before, but can we come up with a word that does not define by what we are not?

Tags: Atheism · Belief · Dialog · Getting over Religion

8 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Cobwebs // May 22, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    Yeesh. This sounds precisely like my husband and me. He tells me that I’m much more militantly atheistic than he is, but as nearly as I can tell it’s only because I think about the subject more. He’s happy to ignore the whole religion issue entirely, as though it doesn’t affect him. (Needless to say, this drives me up a wall.)

    Maybe it’s a male/female thing?

  • 2 markii // May 22, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    one doesn’t need to call him/herself an “a-fairiest” or something else along those lines, but a label such as atheist is arguably needed because it is a) describes someone of of a minority opinion which is therefore not assumed of someone; b) is a quick way of letting someone know about a general idea of your worldview; c) the more people who use such a label with when describing themselves to friends, families and co-workers, the more it will change previously held pre-conceptions about skeptics.

    that said, i still hypocritically avoid such terms in describing myself, just because of the baggage associated them. i do like “freethinker”, “non-religious”, and “humanist” (my favorite- it shows i do believe in something- humans and their rights).

  • 3 markii // May 22, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    so basically i’m waiting for that change in the collective mind of america to accept any and all “A” labels, but i’m waiting for others to do most of the work. ;)

  • 4 John // May 22, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    I empathize with you. I sometimes grow tired of being defined by what I’m against. I get around the whole thing by defining myself as both atheist and humanist (and much more). :P

    …atheist-Quaker and secular humanist, cultural Shinto-Buddhist-Christian, and former Mormon…

    ‘Atheist’ gets a lot of mileage (and carries much baggage, unfortunately) because we are in the minority. I change my label depending on context–who I’m talking with and what we’re communicating about. I use labels strategically.

    That said, I think there is some value in being against a specific something rather than being for something generic. I get some flak for being a feminist, and my critics will often say that they are for equality for both genders; while I agree with them in principle, I am a feminist precisely because I believe there is deep-rooted sexism against women that needs to be highlighted, and pointing to generic gender equality doesn’t highlight things like domestic violence, eating disorders, and glass ceilings.

  • 5 xJane // May 23, 2008 at 7:15 am

    markii: the fact that I don’t have to say that I’m aunicornist is part of the issue I have. Theism is currently the dominant world view (in this country) but that’s changing. And among people I know, it’s not. So if you’re speaking to an Icelander what would you call yourself?

    I also generally feel that if it’s the dominant position, it’s likely to be wrong, for whatever reasons; and that certainly doesn’t make me sympathetic (as in: “oh, you’re theist, then I’ll describe myself in your terms”). Rejecting ἀ is about defining ourselves for ourselves.

  • 6 Lessie // May 31, 2008 at 11:57 am

    As has been mentioned, part of the problem is that the existence of God has simply been assumed since the beginning of human consciousness. I was looking for a fun Greek word to describe people who have no concept of gods and all I could think of were words that already had been co-opted by believers–agnostic, gnostic (which means knowledge, except that it refers to knowledge about God, not certainty of reality as we see it) etc. I’ll keep looking though. Because really, it is only fair that one be able to believe in a positive, active reality rather than the reverse.

  • 7 xJane // Jun 2, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    Lemmie know if you find any…

  • 8 Zach Alexander // Jun 5, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    I like the term “apatheist,” meaning you don’t even care about the question (or are tired of it).

    Though there’s a performative incoherence in describing oneself that way…

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