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Originally Posted by willravel
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.
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It's true that symbols are often overrated. Although I agree with you that atheism in itself isn't a defining belief, other beliefs are. Not many would say, "Hey, I'm a humanist; See? Check out my symbol." Yet, I would argue that many fall under such a category, mainly because humanism is itself a broad system that pulls in various elements, including atheism, scientific skepticism, and the scientific method, while retaining a kind of optimism and focus on the potential of the human race. Does this define you in any way?
People like to think they escape categorization because they don't want to appear dogmatic. But what tends to happen is that they get categorized in some way, regardless. This is how the human mind works. We have a way of defining everything, especially when it comes to ourselves.