An Atheist By Any Other Name . . .

To me, "heathen" connotes an adherent of the wrong religion rather than an adherent of no religion."Atheist" is defined in terms of what one is not instead of what one is. I prefer to think of myself as a realist or a rationalist regardless of whether I'm religious or not.

So how do you respond to a stamp collector who claims that non-stamp-collecting is just another hobby?

I think it's entirely possible to "come to" theistic beliefs. In my case, however, study, dedication, introspection and life experiences have taken me continuously away from theistic beliefs.It often seems to be a case of starting at a theistic belief and using one's confirmation bias to convince oneself that one got there progressively.

Sure, it's possible for somebody who started out as an atheist to have confirmation bias. But I'm talking about somebody like me, who started out in a theistic family in a highly theistic society.If you and I used a similar method to arrive at diametrically opposite conclusions, doesn't it seem likely that either the method is flawed or that one of us is using it wrong?