The Yorkshire Atheist

The Attempt to Redefine The Term Atheist…

I have noticed over the last few months a bizarre anomaly; so many theists seem determined to declare that I’m not an atheist, but instead am agnostic or something of that ilk. I’ve noticed this occurring more and more and it’s got me wondering why, why all of a sudden do theists seem determined to declare atheists as non-atheists? 

i believe I may have an answer, though it is just my personal opinion as to why this has happened. I believe it is a reaction, a retaliation if you will, of the “out campaign” that has sprung up over the last few years. The out campaign has multiple driving forces but the main ones are:

1. To show that we are not a tiny minority as some would have you believe, and therefore, we deserve to be represented in law making, politics, etc.

2. To show people that we are not amoral monsters; it is harder for a man to preach about the evil atheists when he knows his kind, generous, normal son, daughter, brother or sister is an atheist.

I see the attempt to redefine atheism as a reaction to this campaign, if you categorise every intelligent, rational, kind, loving atheist as an agnostic or deist then the campaign loses some of it’s potency; it’s a way to maintain a delusional belief that atheists are evil monsters. A good example of this is the Oprah Winfrey interview with the amazing Diana Nyad about three months ago (we’re still waiting for that apology Oprah!) where Oprah decrees that Diana is not an atheist as she has a sense of awe about the world. I was pretty stunned by this interview, it became so clear that so many people do not understand a thing about atheists.

Unfortunately for the theists however their attempts are doomed to fail, why? because we know who we are, we know what we do or do not believe, and we will not be categorised by anyone but ourselves.