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By definition, an atheist is one who has no belief in any gods. Any person who says they are atheist and yet believe in some sort of god is confused as to the definitions of the words being used.

Now, understanding what a belief in a god is, or having a memory of actually believing in a god at some earlier point in life - that's a different story.

And as for your second point, there probably are some non-believers who want to believe, or who wish they believed. Without doubt there are some who will change their minds and start to believe later in life. There is scientific evidence that humans have minds that make religious ideas easy to accept.

What that might mean in an objective sense would have to be a matter of some extensive debate.

The religious tolerance being touted today by the media is simply another word for ignorance. Few Christians today have much dogmatic savvy; knowing little about the Scriptures or systematic theology. They couldn't debate thier way out of a paper bag with a smart atheist. So it is little wonder they have little or no commitment to the veracity of Christian doctrine or the uniqueness of Christ's atonement.

I agree, Namtac. Any ahtheist who accepts the idea of any sort of god is not an atheist, but more likely an agnostic. I guess there are ignorant and imprecise atheists out there as well.

Ignorance and imprecision in language is so common as to be the norm. Most of the time, I try to concentrate on gleaning the meaning of what is said, rather than spending my time looking for "gotchas."

But in a situation where it is evident that the basic meaning of words that are being used are misunderstood, one MUST point it out. Otherwise meaningful communication is more or less impossible.

namtac, now you've "rained on the party" being presented!

Shalom

Very strange. Yes. 6% of self-identified atheists surveyed are reported to believe in a personal god. That's a definite confusion on their part. Another 12% say it's an impersonal force. If they believe in sheer physics of the universe (or mulitverses) as composed of impersonal force(s), I could see how they could certainly claim to be atheists, but calling it god, or even agreeing with an interviewer that it could be called god negates the atheist moninker. The final 3% begging off with "don't know" could easily fall into the agnostic category, much better fit than atheist.