Fundamentalist Christians believe “normal” Protestants, Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Jews, Muslims, and Mormons (not to mention sects like Witnesses etc) are all followers of false gods. They don’t call them atheists, they call them apostates, or heretics, or just plain evil.

I think you’re being too polite with these people, Bowz. They’re just flat ass crazy and no one should waste an atom of etiquette discussing them as if they were just another legitimate variety of religious experience.

Religious fanatics, just like political zealots, fear and hate those who are somewhat different from them much more than those who are totally opposed to them. To the wackofundo, an atheist is just someone who is dead wrong, and can easily be dismissed as the devil incarnate. But someone of the same faith who has slight doctrinal differences is proof that the fanatic’s interpretation of the faith is not the only possible one, that others who are not demonstrably evil can have different but valid opinions. To the fanatic, political or religious, there are no “other opinions”, there is just their truth and their enemies’ lies. The possibility of even any intermediate state is a threat to their self-image.

The Bolsheviks could deal with Nazis, their polar opposites, in matters of convenience (like carving up Poland), but could not tolerate other brands and flavors of Socialism like Trotskyism because they offered genuine Marxist alternatives to the Party line. We’re watching the same dynamic at work in today’s GOP: If you’re not a True Conservative, you are a RINO, or worse, an (ugh) Establishment Moderate. The more extreme a faction gets, the less tolerant it is of even the slightest deviation from its program.

As for your final definition, It is really a bit too restrictive. One can be an atheist (that is, reject the traditional idea of godhead, a divine Boss who gives orders, kicks ass, and takes names) and still concede that intelligence, consciousness and Mind may play some role in the evolution of the cosmos. If natural processes in the universe can produce self-conscious sentient beings, why can’t the universe itself be achieving some form of consciousness and self-awareness?

Sure, its just a speculation. But all discussions about religion are speculations. There is no such thing as theology.

That can be approached from two perspectives. One, from within the ranks of those who do believe in that God, and from outside that group.

The former could well believe a person is an atheist even though there is a strong belief in their own “God”, thinking that belief in a false god is the same as believing in no “God”.

And from outside one might be more tempted to believe that they were not an atheist if they believed in any “God” or “Gods”.

Therefore, atheist is a relative term, at best, and not really definitional unless one clarifies it – “I believe man is the be all and end all, and there is nothing besides man, and other plants and animals.” That would define an atheist clearly. Otherwise it can be murky.

But until we find a fossil T. Rex that shows evidence of feathers, we’ll never know for sure. In fact, we have no way of knowing. That’s the key, we have no way of knowing. We can come up with informed guesswork; we can say that their bone structure and muscle attachments show they were active creatures, which suggests they were warm-blooded, which argues they must have carried some form of insulation to help regulate their body temperature. And if we can make some educated guesses about the climate in T.Rex’s time, we can even say he might have needed feathers, or fur, or something like that. But we simply don’t have enough information to say for sure.

Questions about god are the same kind of question. Even an atheist cannot “proclaim” there is no god, he doesn’t know either, but the opposite certainly cannot be proclaimed. And if we can’t say for sure there is a god, then we certainly can’t make statements about god based solely on our logic or what we think seems reasonable or obvious. What do we know? The kind of precise “facts” about god; what he is, what he did, or what he wants, that the religions preach are simply not believable. In fact, they are really stupid questions. Its like arguing about how many reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh. They are really stupid questions.

You really can’t get through life without making some sort of assumptions. If we waited for full evidence of anything we would be paralyzed into inaction. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, our brains seem to be designed to operate in an environment where information is lacking or untrustworthy. So if things make more sense to you if you have faith in something, then good for you. But you can’t expect anyone to just accept what you believe as obvious. It ain’t.

I have faith in lots of things, I believe the universe can be understood, that by studying how it works we can make our lives safer and more interesting. I also have faith that the universe is not out to get me, or fool me, punish me or tempt me into doing the wrong things if I lack faith. I also have faith that the universe is indifferent to me, it not only does not care about me, it doesn’t even know I’m here. Do I know this for a fact? Of course not, I can’t. But these are the assumptions I have made so that I can fit the observations I have made about the world around me into some kind of program I can follow to make sense of what I see around me and react to it in some form of consistent and reasonable manner.

But do I think the universe expects me to face east when I pray, or whether or not I eat meat on Fridays, or take Sunday off from work, or that I will live forever in perfect happiness, or horrible torture, if I believe or don’t believe stuff in a book written thousands of years ago by some superstitious tribesmen?

I’m sorry. I just can’t take any of that nonsense seriously, and I can’t take people who do believe it seriously either.

I am not threatened or diminished by anyone’s belief system. Except assholes.
I believe in a higher power, I always have but I am fine tuning just what that means, as I age.
The fact that some atheists believe in *nothing* is something. I am an ornery optimist that way.

Did god create the universe?
Does he still manage and supervise all its activities?
Did he construct it to the minutest detail, or only its general outline?
Is he still around?
Is he omniscient, eternal, etc.?
Does he know we are here?
If he knows, does he care?
Does he have a plan for us?
Does he have any plan at all?
Can he be lobbied or persuaded to intervene in our behalf?
Does he communicate with us (scriptures, visions, dreams, funny feelings?
I could go on…

The whole idea of some kind of supreme being cannot be ruled out, but formal religious attempts to specify his attributes and properties are a waste of time, and people who engage in such activities are not to be taken seriously.

I’m a Zen Existentialist, myself.