Episode 77: What is an Atheist?

Regular listeners will know that Dr. Dan is not of fan of definitions. Dictionaries aren't rulebooks, he'll say, they're attempts to describe how words are being used. So when the Data Over Dogma show is all about what two words mean, you know it ain't going to be simple.

The first word we're looking at is "religion". We'll cover the origin of the word, and really try to get a handle on what that conceptual category is trying to get at. Will we succeed? That's for you to decide.

The next word, as the episode title suggests, is "atheist". It's a word with a somewhat surprising history, and one that is VERY charged in a modern context. We'll discuss how this word is used by people who describe themselves as atheists, and how non-atheists deploy it.

It's gonna get messy!

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