It's hard to approach not believing as if it were a positive. Susan says, "I just would encourage and challenge non-theists to speak positively of what you DO believe..."

The default question is "What religion are you?" not "Do you have a religion?" The word 'atheist' means without god(s). This is what I think Susan meant by 'non-theist'. Susan refers to us by a negative. When one constantly has to explain why they don't believe, either because belief is the default or because someone thinks there MUST be something wrong with them, the reasons why you don't jibe with what they expect are more important.

What I DO believe:

I believe it's highly unlikely that there's an afterlife. I believe when you're dead, you're dead, and that you live on only in what you leave behind. You don't get another chance to do things right, so you'd better be careful this time around.

I do what is right because it's right, and I know right from wrong because I try to imagine how I'd feel in another persons place, I have a conscience, and I want to be good. If I only have one chance to walk down this road, so do my brother and sister, and I should do what I can to help them, get out of their way or get past them.

I believe in possibilities. There are loads of things I've never experienced that others have. It makes no sense at all to try to convince them THEIR experiences were wrong simply because they weren't MY experiences. I don't like the whole 'you must believe what I believe' thing, and I despise the 'holier than thou' attitude. Mind you, I've known some otherwise nice individuals who bludgeon people with that attitude, but I hope I never start wielding my beliefs as weapons.