Words carry meaning. Having been raised in a Christian home and community, I was taught that being an atheist was the worst thing one might be. Not a murderer, or a rapist, or a child molester, but an atheist was the crime of crimes! The very word brought looks of horror on the faces of my family members, friends and teachers, and may be why I still prefer to call myself a nullifidian.

I think athiest just sounds more confident. Like saying I'm a believer or saying I'm a Christian. Same effect

What's in a name?

                                                                                                                The Grace of the Ginkgo
                                                                                                                                    Chapter One

 
“What the devil do you mean to sing to me, priest? You are out of tune.”
— Jean Philippe Rameau

It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I became completely comfortable with my disdain for the concept of a supreme being of any persuasion; God, including Jesus and the Holy Ghost, Allah, the Great Spirit, Shiva, you name him. As an upperclassman at UMass Amherst, I began to pronounce the word atheist with the accent on the second syllable. I rationalized that emphasis focused on the word’s meaning, rather than prompting people to reflexively categorize those of us to whom it applied as either weirdos or pitiable sinners. I must admit, however, that I thought my emphasis gave the word a hint of an intellectual ring, a feature I tended to like in a term that described myself.    

I think it's just bullshit stereotyping. Nonbeliever is an underused term, most people don't have preconceptions of a 'non-believer'. Tell people you are Atheist or Jewish or gay etc and in the wrong time and place see what kind of reaction you get. I use non-believer when I want to be true to myself without controversy. It doesn't conjure up ignorant preconceptions...yet. I can't speak for darker skinned people, but, I always think you have to be tough to wear your difference in this increasingly tolerant, traditionally intolerant world.

Atheist is an anti position. Non-believer/agnostic is a neutral one. It's the difference between telling them "Your beliefs are wrong" and telling them "I don't share your beliefs."

People typically don't like being told that they're wrong. You can see that on any Internet forum.

Having once been a believer, I was taught that the atheist was allied with Satan—an atheist was one who'd rejected the influence of the 'Holy Spirit,' and had thus committed the unpardonable sin. But that which I once rejected I now proudly accept.

Some sets of people (you may be surprised how close some may be) seem to think the atheist believes that there is no god(s).