Well, I don’t think most atheists do that. (IIRC, someone (EY?) proposed to use untheist for someone who doesn’t believe in God and antitheist for what you say.)
ETA: IIUC there is a very large social stigma attached to atheism in America, so I guess that over there only people who are pretty sure of their position would self-identify as atheists; so probably in America the fraction of self-identified atheists who “present philosophical and scientific critiques of god beliefs” would be a lot greater. Where I am, theists and atheists might jokingly mock each other much like fans of different football teams would, but most of them don’t usually try to convert each other any more than fans of different football teams would—I suspect many people would even see that as rude in most situations.
I hear it’s generally seen as treasonous to switch football teams, rather than rooting for your hometown team for your entire life. If that’s true, religious conversions seem more socially acceptable.
there is a very large social stigma attached to atheism in America
Except that a lot of well known Americans in the entertainment industry, which aims at the lower common denominators of American society, have come out by now as nonbelievers, along with ones in other countries who have some name recognition in the U.S. Their skepticism of religion doesn’t seem to have hurt their ability to make a living in a competitive market. For some examples:
Well, I don’t think most atheists do that. (IIRC, someone (EY?) proposed to use untheist for someone who doesn’t believe in God and antitheist for what you say.)
ETA: IIUC there is a very large social stigma attached to atheism in America, so I guess that over there only people who are pretty sure of their position would self-identify as atheists; so probably in America the fraction of self-identified atheists who “present philosophical and scientific critiques of god beliefs” would be a lot greater. Where I am, theists and atheists might jokingly mock each other much like fans of different football teams would, but most of them don’t usually try to convert each other any more than fans of different football teams would—I suspect many people would even see that as rude in most situations.
I hear it’s generally seen as treasonous to switch football teams, rather than rooting for your hometown team for your entire life. If that’s true, religious conversions seem more socially acceptable.
Except that a lot of well known Americans in the entertainment industry, which aims at the lower common denominators of American society, have come out by now as nonbelievers, along with ones in other countries who have some name recognition in the U.S. Their skepticism of religion doesn’t seem to have hurt their ability to make a living in a competitive market. For some examples:
:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists_in_film,_radio,_television_and_theater