Atheism: A Primer

I told myself when I started this blog several months ago that I wouldn't turn it into a platform for my newly discovered atheism. I wasn't keen on losing friends (even of the purely Facebook variety), and I knew that most theists probably just wouldn't want to hear it. But I've already broached the subject in my last couple posts, it's foremost on my mind, and I need to get this blog kick-started again. I also think it's an important subject to talk about, and I feel some responsibility to dispel some common misconceptions perpetuated by organized religion. So if you read only one of my atheism-related posts, make it this one.

Okay. First of all, atheism is not a philosophy. It's not a cult. It's most definitely not just another religion, or the equivalency of one. There's no holy book to follow. There's no divine authority figure. There's no set of rituals to be practiced or specific rules to adhere to. Some atheists even shy away from the term, as there are many different varieties of atheists who may have little in common with each other. Atheism is merely a response to--specifically, a rejection of--theism. It's marked by a lack of belief in gods. And that's about it. There's much more to go into when you're talking about an atheist's specific philosophical position, of course, but as far as atheism as a whole goes, that's pretty much all there is to it.

Now, the whole "lack of belief in gods" thing. Notice the wording. First of all, "gods" instead of "God." I will probably slip out of this all the time myself, but here I'm being careful not to limit this to just Christianity or even monotheistic religions. Atheism is a lack of belief in any gods. God. Allah. Krishna. Zeus. Mantorok. The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Nope, none of 'em. Also important, though, is "lack of belief." This is no claim of knowledge or absolute certainty. Atheists don't believe in gods. They don't KNOW that there are no gods. And in my experience, most atheists are perfectly comfortable saying they don't know. Those who claim they do are just as guilty as theists who claim they KNOW that God (or gods) exists. Believe or disbelieve whatever you wish, but nobody KNOWS.

Don't F with FSM!

So atheists don't believe in gods. What are the repercussions of this? It depends on the person, of course. For me personally, my deconversion from Catholicism has made very little difference in my daily life. I don't go to church anymore, and I more regularly and openly criticize organized religion (more on why I feel it's important to do so later). That's about it. I suppose the difference would've been more pronounced had I been a fundamentalist, but I was a moderate. It wasn't a very long or painful trip. I'd been gradually falling out of my religion over the course of several years, and by the time I started actually exploring atheism, it didn't take much convincing. It's something my family still isn't quite sure what to do with, but thus far I have no regrets whatsoever.

I suppose you'll have to take my word for it, but trust me when I say I didn't go out raping and pillaging as soon as I realized I didn't believe in God anymore (or anytime since). There are still plenty of worldly repercussions to dissuade bad behavior without having to go to the ever-popular threat-of-hell well. Beyond those, though, I take comfort in the fact that I don't just behave as best I can simply to avoid punishment. Why would I want to go around being an asshole all the time, even if I could get away with it? I don't get my morality from religion, as I find religious morality to revolve around servility, submission, unquestioning obedience, authoritarianism, and selfish reward/punishment motivation. No thanks. There may indeed be some good ideas buried beneath the bad ones, but those good ideas aren't exclusive to religion and certainly shouldn't require adherence to the dogma surrounding them. Instead, I pull my morals from a variety of sources, including society at large, literature, philosophy, peers, and some good ol' common sense empathy (to name a few). I think it's important to come to your own conclusions about what's moral and what isn't and to be able to justify those decisions, as opposed to simply deferring to a set of questionable ancient rules. I make plenty of mistakes and sometimes fail to do the right thing, but I'd much rather make my own decisions, learn from my mistakes, and continue to develop and evolve my sense of morality than strictly adhere to an unchanging set of orders I often disagree with. Theists (and probably plenty of atheists) might not agree with my sense of morality, but they'd be seriously mistaken to suggest that I or any other atheist doesn't have one.

Another common misconception is that atheism is nihilism. The thinking is that without God, atheists must necessarily be all doom and gloom, insisting that life is pointless and meaningless. Yada, yada, yada. In a word, no. Though I can see how this assumption would arise from a theistic perspective. Theists are generally taught that God--and only God--gives life meaning, purpose, and goodness. But why can't people do this? Do you always need to be told why you're doing something or why it's good? Does life need to have a built-in meaning ascribed by an outside source?

It depends on how you look at it. Personally, I no longer see the appeal of the notion that we're all just pieces of a deity's master plan. Pawns in a game, if you will. That doesn't give meaning to life; it takes meaning away from life. With no God, on the other hand, there's autonomy. You give your own life meaning. You decide what you're going to do with it. You decide whether to be good or bad. Sure, you don't have the power of a god to do whatever you want, but if you did, wouldn't THAT actually make everything meaningless? We're here. We're alive. We live among each other and among other living things. We choose what we're going to do with it and how we're going to treat each other. How much more meaning do you need?

Okay, so atheists are just fine without religion. Then why don't they just shut up about it? I can't speak for all atheists, but I think many would agree with me when I say that religion may very well be the most harmful institution in human history. In fact, I'd even say it might be humanity's worst invention. Ever. The atrocities committed in the name of religion are too many to name. It is blatantly used as a political tool and as a means to control people and con them out of their money. It interferes with science and has held back human progress for centuries. Has religion done some good, too? Sure. But is religion, in any case, ever NECESSARY for the good to be done? In the words of Steven Weinberg:

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

Also, on a more personal note, atheists comprise another minority that no longer wants to be treated as second-class citizens. Or as non-citizens, even, if you ask George Bush, Sr. Recent polls have turned up some alarming, though not surprising, results indicating that atheists are the group people would most object to a family member marrying into and that less than half of Americans would even consider voting for an atheist president. That's just a sampling of some of the prejudices against atheists that would make homophobia proud.

And the bastard child, at that

Also of concern is the way religion has typically gone unchecked and unchallenged and how it has been regularly afforded special privileges. Everyone has the right to believe whatever they want to believe. Everyone has the right to speak their mind and share their beliefs. But no one has the right to force their beliefs on anyone else. Yes, parents, that includes you. In extreme cases that are far too common, some parents take religious indoctrination to the point of child abuse. If you don't believe me, watch Jesus Camp. Perhaps even more alarming is the number of people who want to turn the U.S. into a Christian theocracy. Apparently, it's not enough for some of these Christians that they already have an overwhelming majority in the country. They want to silence all dissent and force conformity by law. Maybe even go back to stoning people for apostasy. This type of insanity needs to be called out, and separation of church and state must be upheld to ensure everyone's freedom to believe or not believe whatever they wish. And I'll be happy to defend that all day long.

So, yes, I'm an atheist. I'm not a brainwashed cult member, I have morals, I don't feel lost without God, and I want to be treated no better or worse than anybody else. I criticize religion because I believe it's extremely harmful and entirely too powerful. I realize that I am in the minority, and my objective isn't to go around picking fights with theists or to take a source of comfort away from them. As before, I encourage everyone to go with whatever helps them be a better person. If that's religion, fine. If it's not, great. Whatever the case may be, I hope civility prevails. I don't know about you, but I always appreciate it when I can have a discussion with someone about a topic, completely disagree on virtually every point, and still be friends at the end of the day.