Are People Afraid Of Being Atheist?

[RedAlert 0]

I've noticing something: people who don't believe in a God tend to say "I have no religion." However, wouldn't the people who state this be Atheist?

According to the Dictionary, an Atheist is

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

Wouldn't this mean that those who state that "I have no religion or God" are Atheist?
I think so, but it seems as in modern times that people do not want to be identified as one. There is a negative image in their view, and would rather just say "I have no God" or "I have no religion." I myself catch me doing this at times. There are just times I would not say Atheist, because no one would take me seriously. "I have no religion" gets the point across, but doesn't have the negatives that the word Atheist has.

Anybody seen this behavior before?
Or
Does anyone do this?

[truefusion 3]

Yes, by definition they are an atheist if they say they have no God or god or gods. But if they say they have no religion, that doesn't make them an atheist. Although they say they have no religion, they mean no "organized" ones; they could very well have their own personal religion, but choose to say, "i have none."

 

I wouldn't say they're "afraid" of claiming they're an atheist. I just think they say such just to avoid any (further) comments from those who do have a religion or believe in God or gods. And also, like mentioned before, if they believe in God or a god or gods, they could still say, "I have no religion," while not being an atheist.

[Mago 0]

Well, I haven't seen this behavior, but I sure can understand it. A heard a lot of people saying that athiest worship the devil. So that can't be too good for them. Athiests can also be easily harassed too. I once read an article that an athiest was expelled from school because he was questioning someone beliefs in lepurchans of all things.

[galexcd 0]

Some people might believe in a God, or even the same ideas of a certain religion, but have such a big difference somewhere in their belief that they don't consider themselves part of that religion. For example, this doesn't really apply to me because I consider myself a catholic, but I don't believe everything in Catholicism. I don't believe the creation story to be anything as it is portrayed, and I don't believe a lot of what scripture says, even in the new testament, really happened. Now of course I believe that Jesus was a messiah, otherwise I couldn't consider myself catholic, it's just little things. But if somebody believed that He wasn't, or who's beliefs really didn't fit in anywhere else, he wouldn't have his own religion but would still wouldn't be an atheist.

[srujanlive 0]

Atheists never started a war. Atheists mind their own business. Be proud to be an atheist. At least your conscience will be clear.

[velma 6]

Hey,I do not think that they are scared in any way of admitting that they are atheists or something, When I was turning into an atheist It was quite confusing for me as everybody around me were all religious people so nobody could help me understand my belief. I was confused because :1. If I became an atheist, again I follow a sort of religion for I am again following something I believe in.2. I wanted to be completely sure of my decisions before announcing officialy that I was an atheist.Sometimes people wmight also avoid announcing it as friends and family around might not agree. My parents and almost damned me to hell as satan's spawn lol just because I chose something the whole family was not ok with.Give them a chance to explain themselves and do not be judgemental for they too are people in the end

[Mich 0]

Let's look at it this way. If one believes in a superior being (or whatever you choose to call it) and it there indeed is none; when they die no harm no foul, right? But if one doesn't believe in in a superior being and there is indeed one; when they die they may have a problem. Using this theorem, perhaps it is better to believe than not.

[sylenzednuke 0]

Well, I haven't really seen this behavior around me and I have always been open about me being an Atheist.But people who say "I have no religion." might not be Atheists, they might believe in a supernatural power, or you can say a "force" or "motivating spirit" as some of my friends say but no organized religion. People who say I don't have a God are definitely Atheists according to me.It wasn't really a piece of cake for me, my parents and school authorities were unsure about Atheism and so they always used to think that I worship the Devil and then I had to bear their simply never-ending lectures on God, religion and stuff like that and how ashamed I should be to say something against all of this. But still, this isn't really much for someone to be scared to be open about their Atheism.And basically I agree to most of what truefusion had to say on this.

[Smack 0]

Atheist is believing in no God. So saying "I have no religion or God" is quite different from saying "I am an Atheist."

 

And also when you live in America there are many self righteous religious ignorant people who like to make comments like "you're going to hell." And when you say something back to them, you lose because America is a theocracy.

[TypoMage 0]

I really do not care of being called an Atheist but then again none of my friends or family members ever ask of my religous beliefs.

[JasperIk 0]

Well, I haven't seen this behavior, but I sure can understand it. A heard a lot of people saying that athiest worship the devil. So that can't be too good for them. Athiests can also be easily harassed too. I once read an article that an athiest was expelled from school because he was questioning someone beliefs in lepurchans of all things.

Wow what such ignorance. Whoever told you atheists worship the devil is ridiculous and ignorant. Atheists do not worship the devil, satanists do. Atheists don't believe in god, or religion so obviously they wouldn't believe in the devil either. That is one common misconception that completely pisses me off when it comes to atheism and what people think about it.

But yeah back to the point of the thread i guess. I think some people are afraid of calling themselves atheists especially since a lot of people seem to be against it. Its like everyone who believes in a god or gods looks down upon those who don't and thats a LOT of people to have hate you. So yeah no one wants to admit they are atheists because people will think you are a bad person, its so stupid.

I don't think that people who say they have no religion or who say they dont have a god are atheist. Sometimes it just means they haven't found the right religion for them. It doesn't mean they are atheist because they dont say they dont believe in god, they just say they dont worship one. If anything it could be considered being agnostic. But agnostic isn't a word a lot of people are familiar with so they don't use it to express their religion.

[truefusion 3]

Atheists never started a war. Atheists mind their own business. [. . .] At least your conscience will be clear.

You might wanna reconsider these three statements.

 

Wow what such ignorance. Whoever told you atheists worship the devil is ridiculous and ignorant. Atheists do not worship the devil, satanists do.

Let me clear up some ignorance: Not all satanists worship the devil. In fact, plenty of them deny that their religion even has anything to do with worshipping satan. I'm sure this is one misconception that gets to them as well.

[mojoman 0]

I'd say its the other round at the moment, to be honest.Good time to remember a quote from the da vinci code: "displaying your faith openly nowadays is like painting a target on your back"Not very far from the truth. Look at the years since 9/11, islamophobia has risen staggeringly, and is still going! As for Catholicism, its been viewed with suspicion that has increased for quite some time now. Atheism is without doubt the fastest growing belief at the moment imo

[galexcd 0]

Atheists never started a war. Atheists mind their own business. Be proud to be an atheist. At least your conscience will be clear.

Well I have a clear conscience. Even though I'm not an atheist, I'd never start a war over my religion. No offense God , but I really wouldn't care enough about my religion to fight somebody over it. I'm quite lazy and if somebody had a different idea than me, I'd just accept it and move on...

[JasperIk 0]

Let me clear up some ignorance: Not all satanists worship the devil. In fact, plenty of them deny that their religion even has anything to do with worshipping satan. I'm sure this is one misconception that gets to them as well.

Perhaps not all Satanists worship the devil, but they at least believe in the devil, unlike Atheists who don't believe in the devil at all.