EQUAL RIGHTS

Nick Hallandale · Post by **Nick Hallandale** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:34 pm

"""A civil debate forum for people of all persuasions (atheists, agnostics, deists, Christians, and adherents of any religion) """

How come on the banner for this forum, Christians is capitalized, but atheists, agnostics, deists are NOT capitalized.

EQUALITY

McCulloch · Post by **McCulloch** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 3:38 pm

Might I suggest that the common English usage is that Proper Nouns are capitalized and common nouns are not. Atheism, for instance, is not a proper noun since it refers to the lack of belief in any god or gods. Theism also is not a proper noun since it does not specifically name the god that is believed in. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are all proper nouns since they refer to specific religions.

harvey1 · Post by **harvey1** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:32 pm

McCulloch wrote:Might I suggest that the common English usage is that Proper Nouns are capitalized and common nouns are not. Atheism, for instance, is not a proper noun since it refers to the lack of belief in any god or gods. Theism also is not a proper noun since it does not specifically name the god that is believed in. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are all proper nouns since they refer to specific religions.

I might also add that atheism is a philosophy about the non-existence of God, and within philosophy these terms are generally not capitalized. But, you're right, if atheism is not considered a philosophical term, then there would be no reason not to capitalize it.

Nick Hallandale · Post by **Nick Hallandale** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:31 am

Since I am a Deist, I would like to see "Deists" capitalized.
If you can capitalize "Christians" you can capitalize "Deists" for the same reason.

harvey1 · Post by **harvey1** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:43 am

Nick Hallandale wrote:Since I am a Deist, I would like to see "Deists" capitalized. If you can capitalize "Christians" you can capitalize "Deists" for the same reason.

Might I suggest that we capitalize every letter?

Post by **otseng** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:52 pm

I thought I was being politically correct just by the fact of even mentioning deists...

Ok, I've capitalized it all now.

Nick Hallandale · Post by **Nick Hallandale** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:56 pm

Thank You for your prompt attention to this matter.

abdulwahid_1426 · Post by **abdulwahid_1426** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 1:10 pm

I'm just reading through the different topics this stuck out as something that deserved to be mentioned. Some people would refuse to make those changes and others definitely would not do them quickly.