Atheism is commonly defined as the position that there are no deities.
[1] It can also mean the rejection of belief in the existence of
deities.[2] A broader definition is simply the absence of belief that
any deities exist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
This is the Bridge interpretation of atheism and its subclasses.
Atheist: Without a belief in God.
This includes:
Nontheist("What's God?"): I'm redefining this word because I don't see
any logic to how I see it used. A nontheist is someone with no concept
of God. Intellectually speaking, God could be talking to a child and
the child still has no concept. This could be because it's young or
mentally impaired. I'm definitely trying to differentiate between
concepts and reality. The child could interact with God all day.
Unless the child knew what it was interacting with, and had never
heard of God, the child would be a nontheist.
Weak Agnostic("I don't know what I believe."): This is someone who is
undecided.
Strong Agnostic("We can't know."): This is someone who thinks you
can't know.
Weak Atheist("I don't believe in God."): This is someone with a lack
of belief. Every nontheist is a weak atheist. Not every weak atheist
is a nontheist.
Strong Atheist("There is no God."): This is a "denier", someone who
states, "There is no God." It's sorta questionable if strong atheists
are truly atheist. They violate the definition of atheism by having a
belief in God. They believe there isn't one.
Apatheist("I don't care.") OR ("We have more important things to worry
about."): An apatheist believes that it doesn't matter whether God is
real or not. Apatheists can be distinguished two ways:
1. I don't care.
2. If God is real, we're in Him right now. If God is not real, life
itself is an expansive and profound experience, best to stay focused
on the matter at hand. What's for sure is anything that's real whether
God is real or not, is definitely real.
So there'll always at least be love.
Transcendental (Strong) Agnostic(Quote below): These people basically
believe that the fact that we can't know somehow transcends our lives.
"Transcendental Agnostic," although, he added whimsically, "There are
many me's." He recently told an interviewer from a science fiction
magazine: "I'm an initiated witch, an ordained minister in four
churches (or cults) and have various other "credentials" to impress
the gullible. My philosophy remains Transcendental Agnosticism. There
are realities and intelligences greater than conditioned normal
consciousness recognizes, but it is premature to dogmatize about them
at this primitive stage of our evolution. We've hardly begun to crawl
off the surface of the cradle-planet."
Undifferentiated Religionist("I'm on my way to Zen meditation
class."): Zen Buddhists are the best example. They lack a belief in
God but devote themselves to a practice that brings them in contact
with an experiential spiritualism. I think of them as a cross between
apatheists, of the second variety I described, and...
Mystics(No quote): A mystic is someone who searches within themselves.
Mystics, in general, have a disregard for belief based action. This
does not preclude them from taking part in the actions of faith, hope,
or love. That is because these are experiential actions. Mystics
strive to be without beliefs. They want as much concrete experiential
data as they can experience. Detaching from beliefs, in a way, is like
cleaning the, "hard drive of the soul". It allows them to experience
more data in the present moment. This helps them take in a wider view,
but at the same time, a more in-depth view.
Every religion, nay every human, is at heart, a mystic. We all search
for that something inside that will complete us or, to put it another
way, be more completey, us.
Mystics come from every religion, including atheism.
A mystic does best by listening.
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