@RW Standing,
Not sure what you're going for, but I hope you'll appreciate a response, anyway.
RW Standing wrote:
Terminology - not a mere dictionary of popular definitions.
Atheist
An atheist is a person who does not believe in the 'god' of present or traditional conventions in his society, and is labelled thus by convention.
Sorry if I'm splitting hairs, but it seems possible for a person of a certain faith to move to a country or region (society) where no one else practices that faith. If that person professed a faith in a god, s/he wouldn't be labelled an atheist, I think.
Quote:God
As we define God so we believe in 'him' or it. Logically everyone has his god, but not necessarily defined as a superman. Some may indeed believe in a universal consciousness or source, but not separate from the material world.
What about those who say they don't? Would their god then become metaphorical, such as the worship of money, fame, golf or whatever?
Quote:Phobia
A morbid fear of something - such as spiders. Irrational fear or dislike. This suffix when used to indicate mere opposition to, or a moral objection founded rationally, does indeed becomes a tool for the tendentious and irrational in society - as may be suspected in the term homophobia.
More hair-splitting. Sorry. I'd edit that third sentence to read, "When used as a suffix..."
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