Honest question: Why Atheist, not atheist?

[BrianSI]

I'm know I'm missing something, but why do some capitalize the leading 'a' in atheist? I understand if it is referring to a specific organization's title, but doesn't it play too much into the hands of someone who would claim it's just another form of religion? Or is it a pride thing? Not a statement, just an honest question. Thanks for any help.

 

[Complexity]

I capitalize it if it is the first word in a sentence; otherwise, I don't.

Don't believe there's a good reason for capitalizing it otherwise.

Many people are simply odd.

 

[BrianSI]

Okay. Thanks. That's they way I was leaning.

 

[Tricky]

A lot of belief systems are capitalized because they are based on a proper name, like Christ or Buddha. So I'm guessing that for some stupid unbelievers, there is a toggle in their tiny little brains that says, "capitalize your belief system". We smarter ones never capitalize Atheist.

 

[UserGoogol]

Also, it makes us seem more important.

 

[El Greco]

It's simple: Those who don't use capitals are communists.

 

[FireGarden]

Everyone knows the proper spelling is "A-theist"

 

[PogoPedant]

Everyone knows the proper spelling is "A-theist"

A-thiest, surely?

 

[slingblade]

No, A-theist, and don't call me Shirley.

 

[cyborg]

I'm the athi-est around here.

</groan>

 

[the_bgma]

It's in the title, that's why!

******************************************
The Bible of the Good and Moral Atheist

 

[Marquis de Carabas]

I prefer to capitalise the last five letters to better emphasise that not only do I not believe in God, but I'm also going to be stealing an arseload of diamonds.

 

[Iacchus]

A lot of belief systems are capitalized because they are based on a proper name, like Christ or Buddha. So I'm guessing that for some stupid unbelievers, there is a toggle in their tiny little brains that says, "capitalize your belief system". We smarter ones never capitalize Atheist.

So were the Masons founded by some guy named Mason? Shouldn't a proper title deserve proper respect? Why not Atheist? Of course at the same time I see no reason to capitalize theist, albeit Deist maybe, but whatever.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

So were the Masons founded by some guy named Mason? Shouldn't a proper title deserve proper respect? Why not Atheist? Of course at the same time I see no reason to capitalize theist, albeit Deist maybe, but whatever.

Because atheist is simply a descriptive word, not a title. Now if you were talking about an actual organization of athiests, i.e. American Atheists, then capitalization would be correct.

 

[di Malebranche]

Exactly. Where as Catholicism, Christianity, Islam and all the other fun religions/perspectives get a capital letter (ESPECIALLY Scientology), atheism is a bit more broad in terms of what it encompasses. It's not a religion, and not an organized sect. It's quite simply a disbelief in the theological, hence "atheism".

 

[Iacchus]

And what happens when the Atheist movement becomes official?

 

[Nyarlathotep]

And what happens when the Atheist movement becomes official?

As I said, any organization that uses the word atheist in the title would capitalize it. This has nothing to do with atheism being "official" or not, it simply has to do with the rules of English. Islam, Christianity, the Masons, etc. identify specific organizations, thus they are proper nouns, thus they are capitalized. Atheism denotes a specific philosophy, like solpsist or utilitarian, these are not proper nouns, thus they are only capitalized if they occur at the beginning of a sentence.

 

[Iacchus]

As I said, any organization that uses the word atheist in the title would capitalize it. This has nothing to do with atheism being "official" or not, it simply has to do with the rules of English.

And, if it were a movement that wished to be officially recognized, it's only step away from becoming an organization don't you think? How does Atheist Fundamentalism sound?

 

[Mercutio]

And, if it were a movement that wished to be officially recognized, it's only step away from becoming an organization don't you think?

And if it were not, it can just be what it already is.

How does Atheist Fundamentalism sound?

Oxymoronic. With the emphasis on "moronic".

 

[UserGoogol]

Hmm... looking at the Oxford English Dictionary, atheist was actually generally spelled with a capital A when it was first popularized. Of course, that was in the days when capitalization was pretty haphazard, and they would capitalize any adjective which seemed important enough.