An Atheist By Any Other Name . . .

Suggestions:

• unbeliever
• areligiousist (areligious is fine, but areligiousist is unpronounceable and must be rejected on those grounds)
• doubter
• faithless
• seeker
• questioner
• skeptic

Is "bright" really any better than "we're better than you"?--Percy

Yes, if we accept your incorrect definition of "hedging your bets," then atheists who do not unambiguously believe there is no God are hedging their bets.But in reality the term "hedging your bets" has not changed its definition and still, in this context, refers to those who are not sure whether there is a God but devoutly practice a religion anyway just to be safe. Now, which religion to choose. You don't happen to know which is the one, right and true religion, do you?--Percy

Whatever led you to believe that the word "hedge" and the phrase "hedge your bets" are synonyms? They're not unrelated, after all the word is part of the phrase, but you can't look up the word "hedge" and believe you've found the definition of "hedge your bets."But even the word "hedge" by itself is inappropriate in the way you're trying to use it. Refusing to commit on issues of insufficient evidence is a hallmark of good science, not hedging. And refusal to commit is akin to placing no bet at all and would be the furthest thing from hedging your bets. I'm sure you do, as do many other people around the world. You can't all be right. Shouldn't you be hedging your bets and attending the churches of all religions? After all, you don't want to be left behind.--Percy

Hi Shadow,I don't think you're addressing Taq's real point.You reject Hindu beliefs just as atheists do. And you also reject Islamic beliefs, just as atheists do. And you also reject Buddhist beliefs, just as atheists do. In fact, you reject all the same religious beliefs that atheists do, with the exception of Roman Catholicism.Taq's question about whether you would call yourself an Ahinduist or an Azeusist was rhetorical. The key question concerns what reasons you have for rejecting the beliefs of religions not your own? Unless those reasons are trivial ("They're not my religion, therefore I reject them") they'll probably have much in common with the reasons atheists cite.The only difference between you and atheists is that atheists apply that reasoning to all religions, while you apply it to all religions but one.--Percy

A friend of the Bah' faith writes: I wonder if the Bah' faith has any opinions on which of the world's religions have gotten the message. --Percy

Not sure what you're talking about. You were commenting about religion as cultural backdrop and concluded with a rhetorical question about the Bah' faith. I was just offering information about Bah' from someone of that faith.--Percy

Okay, choose your own term, but absent further clarification your question is rendered moot because as my Bah' friend pointed out, "all the religions as one religion" is "oversimplifying the concept quite a bit."If you're asking about the Bah' faith as a cultural backdrop, I'm afraid I don't know enough about them to have an opinion. I wasn't trying to answer your question, just provide more accurate information about Bah'.--Percy

You still don't seem to know what this means.--Percy