There are a lot of guessing games going on as to what “nontheist” actually means.
In Congressman Pete Stark‘s case, here’s what happened:
When the Secular Coalition for America wrote to him, he filled in the choice that read:
“I am a nontheist* and describe myself as: _________________. I also agree to allow the Secular Coalition for America to release this information to the general public.”
In the blank, he filled in “Unitarian.”
The footnote from the * asterisk read:
“*the term nontheist includes atheists, humanists, agnostics and
other freethinkers who do not believe in the existence of a supreme
being or beings.”
Don’t think that this is some strange ambiguous wording. Congressman Stark and his staff were fully aware of what this meant.
However you want to describe that, the fact is Congressman Stark is a Unitarian, but he does not believe in a God. He would not use the words atheist, Humanist, etc. to describe himself.
[tags]atheist, atheism, nontheist, Congressman, Pete Stark, Secular Coalition for America, Unitarian, humanist, agnostic, freethinker[/tags]
