According to two scholars at the well-known research school, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, there are six types of atheists:

1.  Intellectual atheists are seekers of information and intellectual stimulation about atheism and enjoy debating and arguing with religious believers.  The latter stipulation rules me out from this category, as I have no interest in debating with the religious.  As Whitman wrote, "Logic and sermons never convince," so there's no point in engaging in debate.

2.  Activist atheists not only disbelieve, they like to be aggressive in telling others why we'd all be better off without religion.  At the moment, but hardly for the first time, an atheist in Massachusetts is suing to have the words 'under God' removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.  I remember when I was a child, and in 1954, the words were added.  Every morning at school began with a recitation of the Pledge, and over night we added those two new words.  Since none of us was paying any particular attention (I was nine after all), at the time the addition didn't have particular significance.

3.  Seeker agnostics don't really belong in the classification at all, since, according to the researchers, they have an open mind and don't have a firm ideological position.  Agnostics are not atheists.

4.  Anti-theists speak out often and vehemently against religion and religious belief.  They are confrontational and believe that "obviously fallacies in religion and belief should be aggressively addressed in some form or another."  I think if I have to be categorized, the researchers would put me here.  I'm not interested in arguing or even really trying to convince another, but I often can't keep my mouth shut when religious people make confident pronouncements.  And since the religious are so frequently vocal, they provide numerous occasions for sarcastic comments.

5.  Non-theists, in this scheme, don't involve themselves one way or the other.  They are simply unconcerned about religion and faith.  This is sort of my default position.  I have no interest in concepts like heaven or hell or, at a different level, hypocrisy within a religious group.  You leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone.  But since believers are rarely quiet, I find myself pushed more often than I'd like into group 4.

6.  Ritual atheists aren't affiliated with any specific religion, but are still find "useful the teachings of some religious traditions."  These are people who are likely to describe themselves as 'spiritual.'  It drives me nuts when people say to me, "Well, you may not be religious, but I can tell you're a spiritual person."  Nope.  I don't have a spiritual bone in my body. 

I'm not sure whether this study actually contributes anything to our understanding of atheists or atheism.  Nor do I have a clear sense of the methodology of the researchers.  It seems as if a late night, dorm room conversations could have arrived at similar categories.  But the study not only was published, but also was reported on by CNN, so the researchers at least have burnished their academic reputation and résumés.