Heh, I didn't expect to spark this much discussion on a religion tangent, but I'm not surprised. I'll try to oblige some, in part since one of Ray's comments inspired it, so it's not totally off-topic.

Marilyn: What is a nontheist?

To me it means only what it says, non-theist, not a theist, not a believer in god(s). It's the person who doesn't hold a belief that Zeus exists as a living and supernaturally powerful being, then apply that to all gods. I wouldn't necessarily include everything allegedly supernatural in the definition of gods, though I would presume that a nontheist is more likely to be skeptical of claims of the supernatural than the average person. 

Marilyn: Is this latest politically correct term for an atheist?

I hope not. If it is I may need to come up with a new one. It's my term that I came up with independently of any politically correct people when I realized that that the term "atheist" had been demonized so that many people had bizarre conceptions of what "atheist" meant which had nothing to do with me. Hope that answers your questions, Marilyn.

BTW, does someone who does not hold theistic beliefs (which puts me into a relatively small minority in the USA) and yet also believes it likely that there is some positive value to some aspects of religion and spirituality (which puts me into a smaller minority and puts me at odds with the most vocal atheists/anti-theists like Dawkins and Hitchens) and eats raw meat seem like someone who is concerned about not saying or doing anything politically incorrect or controversial? ;-)

Do you have a better term to suggest than nontheist that does not carry any of the misleading baggage of "atheist," a term which would describe those who do not hold a belief in any theos/god(s) but don't necessarily view all religion and spirituality as destructive and may even accept that there is value to certain aspects and forms of religion or spirituality, a term which you would apply to friends of yours that you might argue with yet respect? 

I'm open to alternatives that will communicate meaning better. Falconer is a pretty good one. I'll bet it puzzles the heck out of people, but maybe that confusion is the first step toward enlightenment? My equivalent to that would be shopper and occasional forager and fisherman, which doesn't sound nearly as thrilling. :(

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Thanks for the references, Ray. I do have The Tender Carnivore but haven't gotten to reading it yet beyond a little skimming.

Ray: As my diabetes was totally controlled through diet before I got a full workup, Dr. Bernstein said I was probally Type 2.  He also said that Type 1 diabetes patients typically could reduce insulin doses by 80% through a NeanderThin diet.

So I take it that your physician only mentioned diabetes in your diagnosis and hadn't figured out yet whether it was type 1 or type 2? Didn't your physician suggest you needed insulin injections and isn't it unusual for a type 2 diabetes patient to already need insulin injections upon initial diagnosis?

I seem to recall someone who shared their type 1 diabetes success story on the Internet of being able to get off their insulin being told by commenters that they must have been misdiagnosed and must really have had type 2 diabetes, since "type 1 is incurable" (ex post facto circular reasoning without testing). I'm a little surprised that Dr. Bernstein would assume that you were type 2 just because you controlled it with diet, given that I recall reading him saying that he thinks that if he had gotten onto his dietary therapy early enough, he could have preserved his remaining islet cells and gotten off insulin completely and thus put his type 1 into complete remission.

Here's an interesting tidbit from this forum:

From: Paleolithic Eating Support List [[log in to unmask]] on
behalf of Carrie Coineandubh [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 1:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Type 1 Diabetes

.... I don't know all that much about humans, but I've seen insulin-dependent animals reduce or eliminate their need for insulin injections when placed on a paleo diet appropriate for the species. Don't know why it couldn't happen for humans as well.

--Carrie