I don't have the time to read and respond to everything I want to in this thread, so I'll just respond to the original question supplied in the OP.
I personally have not experienced much discrimination for being a non-theist (more on why I chose this instead of atheist or agnostic later), except for my girlfriend's mother. My girlfriend and I have been dating for almost seven (7) months now, and I have yet to meet her mother. I've met almost every one of her family members on her dad's side (including her dad, who left when she was 2) and about 3/4's of the family on her mother's side.
My girlfriend's mother is a fundamentalist evangelical Mennonite... which causes some problems when you try to explain varying points of view to her... and has caused some serious issues between my girlfriend and her mother (not exactly something I wish to discuss here) but suffice to say, it is causing serious emotional stress for my girlfriend.
I've met my girlfriend's oldest aunt on her mother's side, whom according to my girlfriend is even more religious than her mother... which is odd given that her aunt said I was a very sweet guy and was "a keeper." And my girlfriend's mother could see this on Facebook. Her sister wrote this about me, and still, she refuses to even meet me. Only because my girlfriend mentioned my position regarding religion early on in our relationship (at the time, I referred to it as "agnostic atheist") to her mother, and this caused her to begin fearing for the sanctity of my girlfriend's soul.
For Christ's sake... I'm in university, working towards a double major in Asian Studies and Religion. I'm probably going to go back a little later, finish my Honours in Religion and then move onto graduate studies in Religion and probably get my Masters in Religion (and then a doctorate so I can become a professor). I have a very high interest in religion, but I'm not religious myself. I have yet to find any faith that has been created (defunct or surviving) that I can agree with and accept. So I still don't understand the hostility towards my lack of faith in the Christian God... and find it quite insulting. Not only towards me, but my girlfriend as well.
Anyways, enough of my rant. Onto the important part of why I'm doing this post.
In society, that is, Western society, specifically Canada and the United States, I get the general feeling that being a member of a religion is "important" to the general public, and anyone who isn't a member of some kind of religion (that is, a "normal" one), is seen as a social outcast and not a productive member of society (more so in the US than in Canada, but I still see it quite often in Canada, we have Bible-thumpers up here too).
When it comes to labelling oneself as an "atheist," you are generally afforded the position of "oh, so you believe affirmatively that God doesn't exist?" Which is highly presumptive. Not all atheists are irreligious, and not all share a affirmative belief. When it comes to labelling oneself an "agnostic," you are generally afforded the position of "oh, you are a fence sitter... why not make a choice already?" Which assumes that the position of agnosticism is "refusing to make a choice" and that it somehow reflects the person "doesn't care to know" about the unknowable.
These are usually the generalizations I come across on the internet and in real life. People are not educated about these positions and don't seem to grasp what they really mean.
An "atheist" in proper usage is a person who does not believe in "God" (of the Bible, or other monotheistic and pantheistic traditions; not to say all pantheistic traditions believe in a "God"), "gods" (of polytheistic, or other similar forms of theism), "spirits" (of shamanistic or animist traditions), or the "supernatural" (anything that exists exterior to the physical and empirically verifiable universe). Whether or not they believe this affirmatively or due to a lack of evidence varies between individuals.***
An "agnostic" in proper usage does not exist. To be a true "agnostic" one must know absolutely nothing about any religion at all. They must be completely ignorant of every religious tradition and concept of anything supernatural. Aside from babies, no one can claim they are truly "agnostic." This is why it is so very much incorrectly used as a "position" regarding the belief in God, gods and the supernatural. It is usually described as "we don't know about God" and the like. Which, while somewhat correct, is misinformed. "Agnosticism" and its opposite "gnosticism" are used in regards to a knowledge about a position of a belief. Which means that there are four cIasses of belief regarding "God, gods and the supernatural."
- Gnostic theism, you believe in God and "know" this belief to be true.
- Agnostic theism, you believe in God, but don't "know" this belief to be true (or cannot prove it and accept that).
- Agnostic atheism, you don't believe in God, but don't "know" this belief to be true (because of a lack of evidence to prove either way)
- Gnostic atheism, you don't believe in God, and "know" this belief to be true (usually for the same, but opposite reasons as a gnostic theist).
This is why I choose to regard my belief as "non-theistic" (see my post in the "atheist dogma" thread for more info). Since I do not believe in a God, gods or the supernatural, but don't affirm to "know" it to be true (due to a lack of evidence). This allows me to avoid the pitfalls of both the presumptions about atheism (being a affirmative non-belief) and agnosticism (being "fence-sitting" or "choiceless")... which will hopefully help me in the future in avoiding people's misconceptions about atheism and agnosticism.
Notes:
*** = corollary to this, there are actually some atheistic religious traditions, some of which still exist today. Particular sects in Buddhism (Theravada and Zen) are atheistic in their world-view. They do not in any way believe that there are "supernatural" forces out there, that somehow control the universe. They do (in the case of Theravada) however, believe that there are devas (or gods and goddesses) that exist within the universe, but are not like the traditional idea of "gods." They live lives, are subject to karma, die and get reborn through samsara like anyone else. They just live on a different "plane" of existence and arrived at this state due to the "wrong path" of karmic devotion/work (i.e. focusing on obtaining good karma instead of following the "Middle Way" and searching for Nirvana... it is a concept that is derived from Hinduism)
Jainism (from my limited knowledge) is atheistic as well. I am not an expert on Jainism, so cannot espouse more data regarding this, but do know that it is regarded as an atheistic religion.
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