A common atheist viewpoint: If I have a movement, all I want is to be alone... and some paper.
Take any two atheists and they will probably have more in common that a non belief in gods.
But each random pair of atheists will have entirely different commonalities than any other pairing because the only thing that all atheists share is the non belief in gods.
We may have similarities but they are not part of the definition of atheists.
I don't want to be identified as an atheist. I dislike being counted as a member of a club I did not join.
Atheists didn't join a club, a group, a flock, a congregation, or a church.
We were named as non believers, as outsiders, as strangers for a reason... we might speak of our disbelief and it might make sense to a believer.
The word atheist shouldn't exist. It was invented by religions to mark those who would not do as commanded.
Even so, atheists are not religious rebels. We can't rebel because we are not part of the group. We are completely outside the religious world.
So what are we? We are those who resist the influence of religion in society because, in our outsider lives, we see religion as it truly is, without the faerie glimmer of faith and blind belief.
What can we call ourselves that does not have roots in religion?
Atheists? Outsiders? The list is long for names that have religious rebellion as their theme.
I reject them.
To find a name we must try to find similar characteristics that we share.
Most atheists are intelligent but I do not favour Brights. It has a condescending feel to it, making it a religious rebellion name.
I considered Reasoners, Resistors, and Solvers but they all suggest an anti theistic origin, when I think a name should what a group believes, not what they disbelieve.
It has to be a name that has absolutely nothing to do with religion.
How about Nines?
"I'm a Nine."
"I'm a Niner."
Based on 360 degrees, in which all angles adds up to 9.
It's logical, scientific, and you can go to any sporting goods store and buy a number 9 to sew on any garment.
(Nobody's getting rich selling Nine crests.)
And it has nothing at all to do with religion, religious people, or non belief.
"If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6, and 9, then you would have a key to the universe."
Nikola Tesla
Whatever we end up calling ourselves, it will be worn proudly. We are the minority of humanity that values reason over blind belief and kindness and empathy over ignorance and fear.
We resist religion to ensure progress and the future of humanity... but religion is not our defining trait.
We are the reasoners and the solvers and the seekers of truth.
I like Nines. It sounds right from any angle and there are degrees of meaning.
Let me know what you think of Nines in the comments or on Google+ or twitter.
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