Why does my christian housemate think that "Atheism" means "Destitute and without God?"?

Question

After a few days living with the devil, curiosity got the better of her and we started the religion discussion. I'm not an evil converting atheist or anything but I'll talk for hours if people get me started. When I asked her if she knew just what atheism meant she told me confidently that atheism meant "destitute and without God." She is utterly convinced that this is the actual definition of the word even from a linguistic point of view despite also understanding that it's just theism with an A jammed in front.

I'm quite convinced that I'm not destitute, thank you very much.

Answer 1

From a spiritual standpoint, that would be the standard "Christian" definition of an atheist. From a Webster's standpoint, she's pretty off base. For future conversations, you might ask her what she thinks atheism means means to those who are atheists. It might open her mind a bit and get her to think in your terms.

Answer 2

Why put the christian in front of housemate? If you are trying to make a point that all christians are ignorant then straight out say that is your motive. Why does it matter that she is christian when describing her answer? I have no clue why your housemate believes what she does. Why not ask her? An A in front of a word tends to mean without. So theism is belief in a God, Atheism would be not a belief.

Maybe she is just responding to your tone too. You may think that you are not pushy or trying to convert her, but maybe she takes your way of talking for hours in a different way then you think you are coming off.

Maybe she is just ignorant of what it means. She is not a spokesperson for christians.

Answer 3

A Christian is somebody who believes that Jesus grew to become into the residing incarnation of the only God, who's revealed in the Hebrew scripture. that is all summed up in the Apostles' Creed. different than that Christians can have confidence in virtually something. That babies could desire to be baptized, or that purely adults could desire to be baptized. That there are seven sacraments, or purely 2. That the Bible's advent tale is the literal reality, or an allegory.which you're able to be stored by employing sturdy works, or purely by employing faith. That Joseph Smith grew to become right into a real prophet, or that he grew to become right into a fraud. regrettably, there have consistently been a significant style of Christians who have confidence, in accordance with their particular interpretation of this massive and complicated e book, in persecuting or oppressing women folk, gays, blacks, Jews, so-observed as witches, and, peculiarly, Christians who've a distinctive interpretation of the comparable e book.

Answer 4

She is an under-educated, illiterate perhaps...just a guess.
Tell her she is wrong and that an atheist is simply a person who does not share the theist's belief in a God or Gods, that's all there is to it, there's no belief involved in atheism not even belief that there is no God.

Answer 5

The "A" in front means "without" or "not". So an atheist is one who is without a belief in God. One who is "destitute" is "lacking" or "without" ... so....she actually is correct if she means you are destitute and without a belief in God. (Now, if you are without a belief in God is that the same as being without God? That is debatable....)

It seems to me the problem is that you fail to understand what the word "destitute" really means...

god bless, my destitute one.

Answer 6

Well ofcourse that isn't the meaning of the word atheism.

But statistics do prove that atheists are more prone to depression. Maybe that's where she is coming from.

Answer 7

She sounds like a spiritual elitist

Answer 8

she clearly destitutes a dictionary

Answer 9

I think it's pretty clear that she has no idea what an atheist is. I hope you set her straight.

Answer 10

I don't know. But if you two don't intuitively know what the other means, you both should find other "housemates" to live with.