Atheist, Humanist, Non-religious: Do Labels Matter?
By- Makeesha Fisher Following my post on“ the nones” and touching briefly on the idea of atheist communities, I wanted to delve a little deeper into the labels we use and why they are or are not helpful. A theme that continues to pop up in my life lately is that of organized community. I suspect this is the case because my oldest child is inching ever closer to the pre-teen years: a time of constant change, confusion, and personal growth and identity development. I want our family to enjoy like-minded relationships and to be supported in our beliefs and values. However, I am finding this is not as easy outside of religion as it was inside of it.
Not as Easy to Define as You Think
Atheism: a term that is exasperatingly complex in its simplicity. Many people say,“ If you don’ t believe in a divine being / god, then you are an atheist.” Others employ a small variation; saying,“ If you believe there is no divine being / god, then you are an atheist.”( employing a positive belief statement) While others argue atheist isn’ t a term that should exist at all because it’ s basically a label for something that is nothing – arguing that the negative should be the baseline or default and shouldn’ t require a label. Even famous scientists, who many say are clearly atheists, refuse to use the term and even deride it because of its implicit baggage in the social context.
Feminism is a label that shares a similar angst. I suspect much of the frustration about these labels exists because people are far more complex than a series of dictionary definitions. Because of the nuances of human belief, knowledge and expression, there are labels to describe what we don’ t believe, what we do believe, what we know, what we value and how we live out our beliefs, knowledge and values. Humans create classifications and labels for all of these elements. Is your head spinning yet? Ready to throw in the towel and demand we just go back to all being called atheists? If so, you definitely aren’ t alone.
Labels: Necessary Evil?
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