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There are many different classes or categories of people who call themselves "atheist".

Some are disillusioned. After being brought up in a particular fate they have enough indoctrination to retain their conditioned, unquestioning devotion up to a certain age - or more commonly until a significant emotional event, such as the death of a loved one and no comfort found at the thought of the deity who supposedly "willed" the act.

Successful religious indoctrination leaves little if any room for doubt. It is only the introduction (or re-introduction) of ideas which appease both the rational and intuitive parts of ourselves do new thought patterns and beliefs take hold. Often they are the ones most convenient subconsciously for us to adopt at the time. If we are fortunate enough to have interesting enough lives our belief patterns will change many times during our lives.

Such changes can go up or down. What we accept as truth about our lives and what follows can grow more refined, allowing room to operate at intellectual, emotional and practical levels above, beyond and parallel to those individuals holding more constricted beliefs.

Our conventions can also operate in the reverse...growing more despondent and constricting as our lives respond to our assumptions about it all.

It is paramount to remember that wide-scale belief has always been historically used to control populations. When we speak of a belief in God we may be referring to a Judeo-Christian-Muslim "God" that is roughly similar enough in our heads for us to feel comfortable.

If someone comes along and posits that the intelligence behind creation might not be a "he"....or may be fundamentally different from any historic manifestations of divinity which had appeared on this planet (often with wanton disregard for established society), are they to be called an "atheist"?

Perhaps the real issue is what is to be considered a "theist"? I used to say that faith was the limit of understanding. I generally have refined my definition to mean that faith can be a sort of placeholder until an understanding or validation of a belief is arrived at. A better word for faith is "trust". In these terms belief can be seen as credit.

Agnostics consider that no true knowledge of the divine can be perceived. They have in essence agreed to remain ignorant for comfort's sake and no further argument. True agnosis is a rare thing indeed. Gnostics...on the other hand...well they just read the
clues dropped through the cracks in the organized belief systems, do their own internal investigations and choose a path which may validate or refute their placeholder "beliefs"

It's important to remember that the word "atheist" isn't as apt. a qualifier as it once was.

Learn more about this author, Kirk Stefanski.
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