Atheism versus Antitheism ...

Atheist or Antitheist? What's the difference?

The prefix "a" means "a lack of" something.

The prefix "anti" means "actively against" something.

Similarly, the terms asocial and antisocial can be analyzed. "Asocial" means "a lack of sociability." Someone who is asocial is withdrawn from society. "Antisocial" means "actively against society." Someone who is antisocial works to disrupt society. Now do you know the difference? An atheist is someone who does not have a religion, who is not religious, who does not believe in God. An antitheist, well, that can be broken up two ways! On the one hand, it can mean someone who is actively against God. On the other hand, it can mean someone who is actively against theists, or people who believe in God. Either one works. Why does it matter? It matters because one is simply a belief, whereas the other encompasses a malicious view of certain segments of the population. Atheism is simply a belief. It is the belief that God does not exist. It is neither more nor less rational than being religious or believing that God does exist. As a "lack of" religion, it does not have holidays ("Holy Days"), churches, priests, pastors, or whatever. They also do not try to "convert" people, because that is a religious practice. Furthermore, an atheist should be no more offended at a Christian saying "Merry Christmas" (or a Jew saying "Happy Hannukah," etcetera) than a Frenchman or Briton is by an American saying "Happy Thanksgiving." They are not American, but the idea that there is a holiday in America which they do not celebrate does not offend them, because it does not go against any beliefs they actively hold. They let us celebrate it, they don't, that's that. It does not go against your beliefs, because you do not believe in a God. Why do you care if someone else believes in God? If you are an atheist, you do not! Now, this does not mean that, if someone tries to convert you, you cannot argue back. It does not mean that, in an intellectual conversation, you cannot voice your beliefs. No, all of that is included in atheism, because those are rights that go with any belief system. An atheist is someone who believes that there is no God. An antitheist is someone who wants other people to believe there is no God. This perplexes me. If you have no religion, why do you care if someone else does? If a religious person is trying to convert someone, theoretically they are simply trying to save their soul. They are trying to do you a favor. Obviously there are deviations from the norm, but this is the norm and should be treated as such. They are trying to give you something which means a lot to them. They are trying to give you religion, they are trying to help you get into Heaven. What are you trying to do if you are trying to pull someone out of religion? Does being religious hurt them? Are they going to go to hell if they do not stop believing in God? No. Obviously there are some people who abuse religion, so fight its abuses rather than its existence. People within religions fight its abuse, too. Trying to convert someone is different from having an intellectual argument with them. Going to religious gatherings and churches and trying to convince people who strongly believe in God not to believe in God is not really something which is worthwhile. It causes raised emotions. It does not provoke intelligent conversation. It is a meritless endeavor. (By the way, can you imagine the uproar if a Christian group went into the temple of another religion and tried to convert people?) Putting a sign which says that there is no God beside a Nativity Scene is also a meritless endeavor. These people say that they are offended by the Christian notion which says that people are imperfect from birth, and that they need a savior to rescue them. Why? Christian belief says that people are not to judge other people, so it does not affect them at all! I mean, do they really think they're perfect anyway? That's all that is saying. "No one is perfect." Wow, that is offensive. So who cares? It is not a personal insult. It is not something which singles out any member of the population. It is not something which alienates any segment of the population. So why do you care what someone else thinks? That is antitheism. Furthermore, antitheists have adopted practices similar to religious practices, which is kind of bizarre considering that they claim to have no religion. Apart from attempted conversions, now they want holidays! They want the ancient pagan holiday of the solstice as an atheist holiday. That makes no sense. First, a holiday is a "Holy Day," to commemorate something religious. It is meant to worship God and strengthen one's religious conviction. Second, the pagans were not atheists; they were polytheists. If you want to be a pagan, and celebrate the solstice, then be a pagan, call yourself a pagan, and call yourself a polytheist rather than an atheist, because that is what you are. The pagan holidays were religious ceremonies, too. Wanting an atheist holiday is like ... wow, you are going to have to give me a while on that one. Atheism is a belief, one which is respectable, and as rational as theism, though not more so. Antitheism has acquired a fanatic religious and malicious twist which removes all aspects of respectability from it. If Christians did some of the things the antitheists do, there would be an uproar. You always have to be respectful of other people's beliefs. Atheists are. Antitheists are not. Both types of people exist.

With that in mind, Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah.