Atheism

I've been talking to a bunch of self-proclaimed "atheists" recently and it was amazing to me to hear what they believed atheism was and what it implies.

Let's get started with what atheism REALLY IS:
Atheism is, literally, a disbelief in the existence of a deity or deities. (Deity: the rank or essential nature of a god).
Atheism is, more broadly, a disbelief in the supernatural (Supernatural: of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe).
The term "atheism" originated from the Greek (atheos), meaning "without god".

Now these people I've been speaking to, talk about how they're atheist...
but they believe in ghosts, or some cosmic spirituality, or that they have some non-religious soul...
and I will tell you now...YOU ARE NOT AN ATHEIST!

Just because you have lost your faith or comfort with your religious affiliation...that does not make you an atheist.  We are atheists because we believe in a rational thought process and believe proof can only exist in the form of observable criteria.  Look into the "fallacies of logic" if you having trouble distinguishing what is a reasonable train of thought and what is not.

I can only believe that there is some political or subversive force in play that is trying to confuse the issue of what atheism is.  Either that or really confused humans are latching on to an idea that they don't really believe in, purely, for some perceived social benefit they might accrue.