definition-of-atheism, studiesI’ve seen the phrase used in studies, surveys and other published data, which didn’t specifically contain an “atheist” category. I’m wondering if I can assume the phrase is equivalent to atheist, and reference the studies/surveys/published data as if speaking about atheists.
It includes atheists, but it's not limited to them. Deists, for example, would be included in that category along with anyone who believes in a weird mixture of religious beliefs.
Here's a survey that analyzes the supernatural beliefs of those religiously unaffiliated.
A person - not unlike myself - who has spiritual beliefs, but attends no church, synagogue, mosque, chapel, coven - the list goes on for ever - and therefore cannot claim an affiliation to any form of structured worship or even necessarily say “I am a member of ——- faith.”
No - atheist connotes an individual that has concluded there is no reason to believe in the so-called supernatural, which includes the belief in and worship of gods. While technically this puts them in the group of the “religiously unaffiliated” it does not mean that persons unaffiliated with religions are atheist (and statistically it would be a poor assumption to believe that someone who refers to themselves as “religiously unaffiliated” was an atheist).
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