<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">That depends on the context. Naturally, a distinction like atheist/theist covers such a broad range because it’s so much abstract (not necessarily vague). It’s not really meant to be more precise. Of course, many atheists are scientific realists or into philosophical naturalism. <div><div dir="ltr"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dan</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Sample my Kindle books at:</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">http://author.to/DanUst</span></p></div></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Feb 27, 2020, at 2:41 PM, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org> wrote:<br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Now see, I would say that if the concept of a god or gods is vague, then maybe it's not a religion. But what if the person prays or talks to the gods? Now we are bringing in religious elements.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">How is atheism like nondairy creamer? Answer: Both refer to what they are not, not what they are. Which is why I prefer 'naturalist', even with the confusion. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">bill w</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Feb 27, 2020 at 1:37 PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Agreed. Specific versions of theism - belief in specific gods - can be a religion, but the mere concept that there are gods with no further definition - such as whether they are worthy of worship, let alone their names and personalities - is not.<br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Feb 27, 2020 at 11:27 AM Dan TheBookMan via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">I would say that about theism as well. Theism per se is not religion; it’s just belief that there is/are a god/gods. It doesn’t even mean the person believes based on faith. (For the record, I’m an atheist. I just want to be clear about the concepts.)<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div style="line-height:normal"><div style="line-height:normal"><span style="line-height:20px;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Regards,</span></div><div style="line-height:normal"><span style="line-height:20px;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><div style="line-height:normal"><span style="line-height:20px;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Dan</span></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></blockquote></div></div></blockquote></div></body></html>