Right on the money!

I agree. When come into this world free from any religion, and then the vast majority of people that end up religious are indoctrinated by our community,parents or environment. Only when we become smarter do we begin to question the asinine belief structure of religion, and free ourselves from it.

The smarter we become, the less we need religion

@Crazycurlz.... As usual, speaking for myself here.... I don't even consider myself as an atheist. I am more like an apathetic. In other words, I don't really care about beliefs of any kind. Is there a God, he can go mess with someone else (I could've worded this one more blunt but no need to be that rude anyhow......wait, wait... No, no lightning coming down on me from an angry God trying to vaporize me....so still here...). I was saying.....Was Christianity or Islam spreaded doing whatever? I don't care and sure enough I didn't have anything to do with it.....

I am an atheist. But that does not make me anything else. I am an atheist because I am a skeptic -- or at least I aim to always be. Some may come to the same conclusion about gods by other means, good or bad.

Even though I am an atheist, I try to avoid the term because it has come to mean way too many different things for people. Sometimes I feel like I risk running out of words one day, because I have also eliminated truth and faith from my vocabulary, and I'm also considering removing gender. Where does that stop?!

Finally, as for the original post, I use that only as a joke because you cannot tell much about the intelligence of a person just because one is atheist.

@IamNobody agnostic, then? or prefer 'nonbeliever'? no label works, too, of course

@hlfsousa oh...now I see it was under 'random fun'. Man I don't see violence as fun. Anyway, thanks for answering. The way you define Atheist makes me think you are a skeptic and not an Atheist. Is that possible? Atheists have a hard line, god does not exist. A skeptic is...skeptical. And, yes, I'd agree, intelligence is a variable in any group. Thanks for pointing out this was 'Fun'!

@CrazyCurlz..... No, not agnostic or non believer... As I said, I am apathetic. I don't approve or deny any believe system, I just don't care and don't care either what people believe or don't believe.

@IamNobody I may start calling myself that if forced to choose a label

@IamNobody got it! I only need to be told...well, more than once, anyway! LOL

@crazycurlz I am an atheist. Not only do I reject belief in any god (enough to make anyone an atheist), I also claim no god that depends on souls or disembodied mind exist.

And that is as a skeptic. For skepticism, as I see it, does not mean rejecting belief in the unknown but mainly embracing and seeking knowledge.

But again, labels only confuse things. Do I believe any god? No. Do I claim to know a set of gods which includes all past and present religious definitions cannot exist? Yes. Will I make fun of childish beliefs in the supernatural? Increasingly, yes. Call that what you will.

@hlfsousa it's all so interesting and only opens the door to more discussion. I certainly can't tell you what to believe. In challenging others, we help define ourselves. Thanks for engaging with me.
This is the definition I found of skepticism, btw.

skep·tic
/ˈskeptik/

1. a person inclined to question or doubt all accepted opinions. synonyms: cynic, doubter, pessimist, prophet of doom
2. an ancient or modern philosopher who denies the possibility of knowledge, or even rational belief, in some sphere.

@crazycurlz does it mean, to you, that a person who rejects things that are demonstrable can be called a skeptic?

@hlfsousa it's not about what it means to me, that's why I posted the definition.

@crazycurlz I know, don't get me wrong... I am just trying to understand how each person uses the word so that I can communicate properly. Despite the controversy around terms like atheist or agnostic, I always thought that the way I used the word skeptic was uncontroversial. And though I think it fits the definition (inclination to doubt is not doubt in spite of evidence), I just might be wrong. Or in terms of language, being a minority would be just the same.

If we cannot agree on what words mean in a conversation, it becomes that much harder to have one. And that is not even my first language (and there's no third one haha).

@hlfsousa thank you for offering an olive branch. I agree. using the same definitions matters. I didn't grow up with these definitions. I grew up with an Atheist and a cultural Jewish mother. We just were a non-believing household. I assumed too much joining this community...there are definitions here that I have to become familiar with. So, I am learning too. I don't have the energy to retrace my steps today...my household is showing signs of sickness. If you post another comment and I don't get back right away...I will return.

Is sousa then a Middle Eastern city or do you play brass? lol I grew up in a mixed, predominantly immigrant community. You have a moniker that provokes examination. (I just read your profile...you can also keep this to yourself! But, know this: some of us grew up in very mixed communities, with friends from all corners of the world. Variety IS the spice of life.)

Anyone I don't piss off and who engages with me with compassion, I like to follow, btw.

Education --> more perspectives
More perspectives --> independent thought
Independent thought --> critical thought
Critical thought --> skepticism
Skepticism --> atheism

The problem is that many people tend to see intelligence and education as synonyms. They are not. A person is born -or not- intelligent...No college is going to make a wise person out of a dude with an IQ of 65. Now, to succeed in getting a degree indeed we need a "decent IQ"...150+?. Additionally, education (college +) teach you a given discipline...it doesn't mean also provides you with common sense.

you go girl!!!

@SeeCanU Woot!!

Spot on .. Bullies... Very paranoid people.. They act upon a neurosis caused by fictional events and beings .. That is pretty much a major definition of delusional lol.. Scares the fuck out of me when I think how many guns these people have.