Expert: Austin Cline - 9/21/2004

Question
What is the difference between Athiest, Humanist, Ethical Movement, and Freethinker?

Also, the Athiest Madalyn Murray O'Hair is probably the only Athiest many people have seen.
She did not even want to have God mentioned in her presence.  Are all athiests like her?  

Answer
An atheist is simply someone who lacks belief in the existence of any gods.

http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/ath/blathd_index.htm

Humanism is a philosophy that places human needs and concerns at the center of attention. There is a lot of variety within humanism - for example, there are secular humanists, Christian humanists, and religious humanists.

http://atheism.about.com/od/abouthumanism/

Ethical Culture is a humanistic movement:

http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/general/bldef_ethicalculture.htm

A freethinker is someone who arrives at conclusions (usually involving religion) via their own reasoning abilities rather than relying on the testimony of authorities.

http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/ath/blathq_freethinker.htm

No, not all atheists are like O'Hair in that they don't want God mentioned around them. However, if you didn't believe in God but were constantly inundated with God-talk, told that you needed to believe in God in order to be moral or a "real" American, and discriminated against because of your disbelief, you might be inclined to wish that people would stop brining the subject up as well. Thus, while not all atheists are like O'Hair, it should be understandable why some may be.