At 05:41 PM 11/26/2002 -0600, Mia McDavid wrote: >The term I use is 'belief' and 'believer.' I tend to dislike 'religious' >because it is often identified with outward show and trappings as opposed >to really trying to walk the walk. > >Of course, I contend that an atheist "believes" in the absence of God >(unlike a blue sky, not easily provable). So, we're no farther forrader, >are we? 'Faith' and 'faithful', same problem. DDB expresses great faith >in his atheistic worldview. > >What about 'mystic?' What we're really looking for, I think, is the >antonym to 'materialist.' Actually, the antonym to materialist is idealist. It revolves around the question: Can an idea exist before there is a brain to think it? God is an idea. Theists believe that God exists independently of man--that is, even if no one believed, there would still be a god.