A spectrum of atheism.

[Tank]

I am coming to the conclusion that there is a spectrum of atheism from the rational to the emotional. Let me say that there is no such thing as a good or bad atheist. Neither view is right or wrong. Coming to understand that gods are myths is the point however you reach that point.

The rational end of the spectrum is rooted in the lack of evidence arguments and the understanding of reality and how it actually functions.

The emotional end is rooted in the absurdity of religions, belief and faith. The denial of the ridiculous claims made by religions and the faithful.

These two ends are also not mutually exclusive. One can exist in a state of atheism embracing aspects all across the spectrum.

What should not be done is atheists fighting among themselves over how they reached the understanding that there are no gods.

Your thoughts?

[Asmodean]

Your thoughts?

...Are many, and have mostly been expressed on several occasions.

That said, I think Atheism is to a spectrum what political alignment is to a left-right line. It's not that unidimensional, nor is it necessarily an unbroken continuum throughout.

For example, both rational and emotional atheists can share the opinion that atheism is prescriptive to moral views and even politics at times ("As an atheist, I this and that...") Others think it is merely descriptive. ("This and that, therefore call me an an atheist") Just using that additional dimension gives us a sort of a atheist compass, with x-axis being rational vs emotional and y-axsis being atheism vs. Atheism+.

You can also find new axes within those axes, but my point here is not to invent ahteist intersectionalism - it is merely to try and demonstrate that a unidimensional first degree of approximation to what ahteism means may be a tad simplistic in the multidimentional reality,  within which we have the misfortune of finding ourselves.

My personal view probably falls into a rational-descriptive corner. I am only atheist because the label fits in the sense that I do not believe in gods. I do not believe in them in the sense that what I do and don't believe is actually irrelevant - it's what I can and cannot reasonably demonstrate to be a good approximation of reality that counts. If my model of reality has no room for a particular deity, then I live my life as though that deity did not exist. In specific cases, I can go one step further and state that that particular deity point cannot exist as described - usually because of some self-contradicting lore, or just out-dated lore that contradicts vastly superior models of reality.