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Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
This convinces me of what I thought all along: athiesm needs a symbol as much as theism does. It doesn't make sense to me. If you want to be an atheist and have a cool symbol, you will need to refine your beliefs and choose something less generic than: "I don't believe in deities." Be an atheist who's also a humanist, Marxist, Buddhist, whatever; just choose something that works for you. Blend it if you want. Don't automatically think you have a unique set of values that cannot be defined. It's likely you have beliefs borrowed from one or more philosophy/value system whether they are religious or non-religious. Relate to one of them and bask in their symbol's coolness.
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My dad is a pastor. His belief in god is part of what defines him as a person... a big part. When he puts on his clerics and his big ass Celtic cross on a chain, it's about announcing his life dedication to worship and spreading the word and all that jazz.
I'm an atheist, but it doesn't define me. It's a very small part of a whole. I'm happy being an atheist, but atheism to an atheist isn't necessarily going to be humungus like theism to a theist. I don't pray to Galapagos finches before I eat dinner. I don't spend every Sunday studying for several hours the facets of atheism. They really are apples and oranges, in my mind. Atheists really are only preachy when they're new, maybe the first few years out of theism. Unless you're Richard Dawkins. My own preachyness has died down recently.
Symbols are cool and all, but I'd rather have a symbol that says "Loving Father" or "Devoted Friend" instead of "Humanist?" or "Atheist".