Someone who refuses to bow to the alleged power of any alleged
supernatural entity, however great that power is alleged to be. One of a group of people far wiser and more common than they are usually given credit for. Someone who thinks in terms of
reason rather than
fear. In particular, someone who refuses to let their perfectly natural fear of
death overwhelm their reason. Someone who accepts that even if there were a
god worth worshipping, which cannot be proved, the divinity would be worth worshipping precisely because it supports or represents such things as
justice,
truth,
love and
compassion, which are universal human ideals and are not, contrary to the propaganda, derived from any religion. Someone who accepts that, as guides to the good life, such ideals therefore come before all else. A
humanist. Atheists are often accused, by religionists who have found support in
postmodernist relativism, that atheism is a religion like any other. If
anorexia could be considered a favourite food, these postmodernist types might have a point ... but I'm doubting it.
Someone once said there are no atheists in foxholes. Firstly, oh yes there are: and secondly, even if it were true, that would be more an argument against foxholes than against atheism.
