I'm just a lurker

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Achilles
Well, to be fair to Carter, his understanding of the word and mine
mesh.sparkNo wonder, since the definition you used for atheist, that is in the
dictionary, was "a person who believes that there is no God."  That's the narrow
Christian definition for an atheist.  I wonder how useful that definition would be
to a Muslim.  He would probably be a little confused.

Achilles
If Till wants to use "atheist" with the non-standard meaning he ascribes to it,
that's his choice to make.spark
You could probably replace 'non-standard' with 'non-christian.'Achilles
I am no English-snob that will argue the "correct"
meaning of a term - in fact I find those who do to be quite annoying.

spark
Why even bothering arguing then?  If you can't agree on the terms within the
argument before the argument, both your side and the other will be shooting blanks
at one another.  How annoying would it be to argue over 'the best treatments for
disease,' for example, with you defining disease as illness caused by germs, and
your opponent defining disease as illness caused by demons.  You would be
discussing the best medical procedures, while your opponent would be discussing the
best methods of prayer and fasting.

The first step before any sort of argument should be to clarify your terms, snobby
or not.  Just because you think your understanding of a word is 'common,' well, the
whole world isn't like your town.  Consider this variation of an example found in
many Philosophy text books:

"Suppose that a squirrel is clinging to the side of a tree and that you are trying
to see the back of the squirrel.  But as you walk around the tree, the clever
squirrel moves edgewise around the tree on its other side so that you never get a
look at the squirrel (he keeps his back to you the whole time)  Did ou go around
the squirrel?" (Pojman)

Hmm, depends on what you mean by 'going around,' I guess.  I don't think a
dictionary is much help here

Achilles
My point remains, however,
that the usage you, Till, and Smith prefer is not the common usage of the term.
Open up a dictionary and see what they say. They do not agree with your
definition.

spark
Maybe the 'common usage' and/or dictionary definition is wrong, or else seriously
lacking?
Why write entire books on atheism if it is as simple as looking it up in the
dictionary.  I didn't know a dictionary could be so inerrant!  What's the purpose
of an encyclopedia for that matter?  The amount of information in those babies is
bound to 'confuse' the average person, and referencing them for the purpose of
communication would be far too overwhelming.  Why don't we all just consult
children's dictionaries, the simplest of all!

Just a minute, let me look up 'Achilles' in my dictionary...  Oh, my gods!  I can't
believe I just carried on a conversation concerning the definition of atheism, with
a Freakin' tendon!  LOL

Ciao baby!

Spark, the nasty

PS: this is the last time I'll bring up this issue over the 'proper' definition of
atheism, since it's kind of off topic, and I doubt that it will ever be resolved.
Maybe that's why no one else bothered with it...

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