The proselytizing athiest or the advocate of disbelief

Something I find fascinating is the strong objection by some atheists to having their belief system characterized as a belief system. A secondary and related objection is to be described as proselytizing. I'm going to explain why this assertion can accurately describe both these thoughts. If you are fascinated by word usage and definition this post should be entertaining and informative. If not, then your head will probably explode from the emotional reaction to the paradox of how an ideology based on disbelief can be characterized accurately as a belief. It is not my intent to offend anyone, though I probably will, but simply to promote better understanding between myself and others.

First I suppose we should define the terms belief, proselytize, and religious. If you have not clicked  the links and read the full definition and examples of usage I will now explain how I am using the words in brief. This is not because I think you need a lesson on what these words mean, but because how I use them may deviate from common usage you may have experienced. This is a common mistake of perception that we all make based on how our brains typically work.

Belief is a noun and represents something one accepts as true. While often used in conjunction with religious beliefs this is not necessary for something to be a belief. Many believe that climate change is real because we can accept the assertion by most of the worlds scientists. We know there is a mountain of evidence that they have for each of us to look at, but few would take the time to look at it. Hence most of us simply believe the scientists rather than actually formulating our own experiments and collecting and correlating data ourselves.

Proselytize is a verb and represents advocating a belief or opinion. While most often used to describe religious beliefs or opinions it is not necessary for the act of proselytizing. Vegans often proselytize on the subject of eating animals and using animal based products. It can be described as proselytizing because vegans are advocating their opinion that these practices are harmful. I myself am proselytizing right now by advocating my opinion that some atheists advocate disbelief in a deity.

Religious is an adjective describing something of a belief or practice pertaining to one's belief or thoughts about worship of a divine being. It should not be confused with the noun religion, which is a thing. Religious iconography can refer to a picture of a cross  just as archaic can be correctly applied to that same picture if it was made using a process no longer used in the modern era. Neither descriptor in this case changes what the picture is, but simply relates it to other things.

So why use the phrase 'proselytizing atheist'? Well it has to do with the subject matter of the opinion. Because atheism is the belief that a god doesn't exist, it is proper to place it with the words that have connection with religious beliefs. Furthermore it is proper to define it as a religious belief, because it is an opinion about a god like other religious beliefs.

Atheism is unique among religious beliefs, because it starts with 'there is no God.' This does not invalidate that it is about God, and thus subject to classification as both religious and a belief. It is the similarities of subject matter that allows for this, not the subject matter itself.

This seeming paradox of language is what I believe is the source of confusion and conflict over the phrasing of atheism as a belief system and proselytizing atheist. Atheism at its core is a belief in disbelief and superficially seems contradictory, but when you look deeper at it, it can make sense from the various tenants of the perspective of a god not existing. If you want to know more about the ideas themselves I would suggest watching Neil Degras Tyson's presentation in The Atheist. I may disagree with his conclusions, but his reasoning is fascinating intellectually.

Whew, I can still feel the brain sweat from working this post out. I hope you enjoyed reading it and were able to take away something from it. Any arguments or additions to this subject are welcome, but remember I am unlikely to respond unless they are in the comments on this post. 

Thanks for reading and have a good day.