How to convince my girlfriend she does not need to go on pricey dates?

[Ultralight]

When I think of an atheist, I simply think of someone who doesn't believe. If they then form communities with diplomats and advocates, haven't they then taken it to the point of being a belief, perhaps it's own religion.

No, that is not how religion works. That is not how belief and disbelief work. Like any group of people atheists have a "dominant" culture, but it varies to some degree, again, like any group of people.

Atheists also band together to protect themselves from religious people who want to prevent them from being fully enfranchised in the greater society.

[Ultralight]

When I think of an atheist, I simply think of someone who doesn't believe. If they then form communities with diplomats and advocates, haven't they then taken it to the point of being a belief, perhaps it's own religion.

Alan: This might be worth a read: http://atheists.org/activism/resources/what-is-atheism?

[JaneV2.0]

When I think of an atheist, I simply think of someone who doesn't believe. If they then form communities with diplomats and advocates, haven't they then taken it to the point of being a belief, perhaps it's own religion.

Exactly. Atheists and religious adherents who just go about their business following their disparate faiths (and I believe atheism is a faith of sorts) to the best of their ability are one thing. People who aggressively proselytize are another thing entirely.

And when I think of gay people, I think of friends and relatives, and Pride parades only when my friends and relatives report back.

[Ultralight]

Exactly. Atheists and religious adherents who just go about their business following their disparate faiths (and I believe atheism is a faith of sorts) to the best of their ability are one thing. People who aggressively proselytize are another thing entirely.

And when I think of gay people, I think of friends and relatives, and Pride parades only when my friends and relatives report back.

When I think of atheists I think of friends and relatives too!

Atheism is not a faith. Jane: Read this... if you dare... http://atheists.org/activism/resources/what-is-atheism?

[Ultralight]

If atheism is a religion then does that then mean that Christianity is an atheism?

[iris lilies]

Most "mixed" marriages are Catholic woman/Atheist man, at least in my informal surveying.

Catholic man, aetheist woman in my household.

[Alan]

Atheism is not a faith.

Then why must it have diplomats and advocates?

[kib]

I'm not sure if it matters whether you define it as "a faith". If it's a ruling and important principle in your life - which is why there are diplomats and advocates; there are people for whom atheist beliefs are life altering - then it needs respect when choosing a partner.

E.g., I'm agnostic. The whole question isn't that pressing for me. But if I had to say grace every meal and put pictures of Jesus on the cross up in the living room to satisfy my partner's path and process, that could get really old. Or, flip, if I didn't attend church but I really wanted a picture of Jesus on the cross in the living room, right front and center, and my partner insisted it needed to go in the storage closet. These are practical examples but they extend to the realm of emotional satisfaction as well.

[Ultralight]

Then why must it have diplomats and advocates?

One example: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/...ism/51777612/1

[Ultralight]

Catholic man, aetheist woman in my household.

Whoa!