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Gosh, an atheist? That's putting it rather strongly, isn't it?

Well, yeah. But let's talk about that for a second. Atheists aren't really a cohesive group. They don't have any creeds. They can spin it any way they want. They can even follow Jesus if they want to!

A couple of common distinctions:

Strong Atheism: There is not, and cannot be, a god.
Weak Atheism: I don't know, but I suspect there aren't any gods out there.
Strong Agnosticism: It is impossible to know whether or not there is a god.
Weak Agnosticism: It might be possible to know, but I sure as hell don't.
Deism: God exists but doesn't participate. He leaves us alone.
Pantheism: God is everything, everything is god. God is the universe.
Judeo-Christian Theism: God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-benevolent, created the world, and continues to interact with it and will judge the creatures in it.

One of the biggest problems with any discussion between theists and atheists about this topic is that we think we've defined our terms, and we really haven't. What, after all, is a god? Notice how many extra features the Judeo-Christian theist adds to the mix?

For me, a weak atheist, I'm holding out that bit of doubt because there might be some vague force that kicked off the Big Bang and then left us to evolve on our own. Maybe. Probably not as far as I can see it, but we really have very little evidence either way given the extraordinary circumstances at the time. That, however, is a far cry from having a nagging doubt that maybe Jesus/YHWH exists.

Some people think that, because of the afore-mentioned Big Bang-related question, I should qualify myself as an agnostic. I don't, primarily because of the community I come from. The evangelical community, in my experience of it, sees agnostics as people who might believe in Jesus, and who just need a little time and convincing and then they'll come back into the fold. Atheists, on the other hand, are seen as either a) impossible, b) lying, or c) having committed the Unforgiveable Sin, and who are thus not worth witnessing to.

I'll be honest. I'm not worth witnessing to. I know all the stories, I've studied the theology, I've experienced that life, and I'm not coming back. Jesus and me... we broke up and I've moved on. So, for the sake of summing up my potential-conversion-status quickly, I just go by 'atheist'. I'm not out to convince anyone, I'm not on an anti-theist crusade, I'm just not inviting anyone to try to convince me either.

The other thing that makes me shy away from the term 'agnostic' is that it doesn't make any practical difference to me. If I don't know whether or not there's a god, but I live like there isn't one, or if I think there isn't one and live like there isn't one, my life doesn't change. What is the point in holding out the possibility of a god that you can't know anything about or ever interact with? Isn't that the same thing as not existing, as far as you're concerned? Especially if this is a question that you're not really interested in and you don't intend to pursue it? Isn't that being without theism, being a-theist? So, I don't really get it. It works for a lot of people, doesn't particularly work for me.

So that's my version of atheism. It's not so scary after all!

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