Weak/negative atheist: Someone who lacks belief in God's existence.
Strong/positive atheism: Someone who asserts that God does not exist.
Both definitions are commonplace, and neither are "wrong" or "abnormal". Under the first definition all non-theists fall under the umbrella of atheism, while under the second only a sub-set of non-theists are atheists.
Generally I tend to view the weak/negative atheism definition as superfluous, since the word non-theist exists, and it's range of meaning is (as far as I can tell) exactly identical to the definition of "weak/negative atheism".
Strong/positive atheism: Someone who asserts that God does not exist.
Both definitions are commonplace, and neither are "wrong" or "abnormal". Under the first definition all non-theists fall under the umbrella of atheism, while under the second only a sub-set of non-theists are atheists.
Generally I tend to view the weak/negative atheism definition as superfluous, since the word non-theist exists, and it's range of meaning is (as far as I can tell) exactly identical to the definition of "weak/negative atheism".
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