Monday, June 18, 2007

Labels

I love labels and categories. I'm not one of those people saying, "I don't like labeling myself, blah blah blah." I find that attitude to be pretentious. Of course you can label people. And there are always gray areas which provide fuel for discussion. (Like the "Jewish atheist", is he still Jewish? Yes, no, maybe?) Anyway, how many labels related to atheism can I apply to myself? If you include the different flavors of atheism, and other euphemistic terms, there are a lot!

  • agnostic atheist
  • weak atheist
  • explicit atheist
  • non-theist
  • anti-theist
  • ignostic
  • skeptic
  • free-thinker
  • secular humanist
  • bright
  • naturalist
  • pastafarian
  • occasional pantheist
  • post-christian
  • lapsed zen buddhist
  • confused monist
  • transhumanist

Yes, I was being silly on some of those, and some only apply in certain contexts. For example, I am only anti-theistic in certain cases. I might have missed some, but if I think of any later I'll update the list.

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