
Originally Posted by
Brian63
I have gotten to care less and less about the labels, and which one is "the" correct label. Words change meaning over time and vary in different texts, and various people interpret it differently. It is the underlying belief that is more significant than the label. In the U.S., the word "socialist" is also a dirty word to describe someone. No need to debate the merits of socialism, just the label on its own turns off many people. The word "liberal" has a similar negative stigma, so that people who do actually hold liberal views will still avoid using the label.
If someone else were to describe me as an agnostic, or atheist, or nontheist, or skeptic...whatever. The difference is very subtle and rather insignificant in comparison to other issues. I identify as an atheist mostly because the term should be de-stigmatized as much as we can.