Definitions 1 - Atheist

Well hi there,
Over the last few weeks I have encountered some huge problems with the understanding
of what makes an atheist tick. So, I have decided to make a mini-series on definitions.
Because I come across so many misconceptions surrounding the word atheism itself, let me
start here and see if I can provide some practical input, without necessarily delving into etymology
and philosophy.
To me, if a person believes there is sufficient evidence for the existence of a super-natural
being, which resides somewhere outside our Universe, has stupendous powers, monitors,
judges, cares for and manipulates life and is thus termed: god, this person is called
a theist.
If the god just push-started everything, but does not monitor or interfere with anything
on a 24/7 basis today, the person believing this, is a deist.
A theist can be a person who believes one god - or several gods - exist. A theist can
be someone who believes in any of the 200 active gods around today. A theist can be
e.g. a Christian who feels comfortable with any of the 30,000 plus flavours of Christianity.
Or with any of the many Islamic religion flavours. And so on. They see that there is a reason
to believe a super-natural entity, reminiscent of an imaginary, invisible friend exists and
even build their lives around this.
An atheist does not.
An atheist has not been provided with evidence for the existence of any of the gods. That's
all. It is a reaction to claims made by theists.
Even though most scientists are atheists, most atheists are not scientists. Atheism
has NOTHING whatsoever to do with science. Science, regardless of its branch does not
care about religions. It is merely a mechanism to research, test, probe and describe reality
around us. Reality, not wishful thinking.
Science constantly changes by specifying any feature with increasing accuracy. Because
scientists are humans, there are dishonest scientists. The scientific process of re-examining
and re-testing usually does find out when this happens and the scientific method is
permanently refined to avoid such blunders.
Atheists don't have any instruments or measuring equipment available to verify any god. There
is only the brain. Depending on the level of scepticism within a particular brain you
have different levels of atheists.
I agree with the Dawkins - or whoever coined the levels - of atheists:
1: Weak (might want a comfy god and keep the memories in the brain intact after death)
2: Medium (no evidence for a god and reality precludes the parameters of a god)
3: Strong (convinced there is no god and does not want or need one)
What they have in common is that they all see no evidence for the existence for any
god, even if they sometimes say: I don't believe in god, or God doesn't exist. Atheists just
don't require the comfort of a god that has all the traits of an imaginary friend to get
them through the day.
Personally, I can't accept that a god would use only one region, one language and a book
of all things to convey any kind of message or rules - and after humans have existed for
150,000 odd years. It is also totally unacceptable that this book, depending on target audience,
varies over time, has different rules and contents, is imperfect and requires any kind
of interpretation by fallible humans.
I am consciously ignoring agnosticism, as I maintain that you either have evidence for
the existence of a god or you don't. We are talking about belief, not knowledge.
Here are some thoughts on the common misconceptions I frequently come across:
· Atheists reject God. You can't reject something that does not exist.
· Atheists are angry with God. Same: you can't be angry with something that does not
exist. · Atheists believe in evolution. You can't
believe in a fact. You accept it or not. Or do theists believe in cars?
· Atheists believe we come from monkeys. Totally wrong. In fact, so wrong that I will
address this in a separate video. · Atheists can't explain where everything
comes from. True. While humanity is slowly learning, we still have areas where we can
only say: I don't know. There is no good reason to substitute "I don't know" with: "God did
it". If you assert that a god created everything, you can't use something which has not been
proven to exist before using it as a source for anything.
· Atheists have no purpose in life. Wrong. An atheist's purpose just does not revolve
or depend on a god. An atheist helps shape society - which develops moral standards - and
strives to provide a better life for offspring. An atheist has the same "help gene" as everybody
else. · Atheists don't provide charitable support
like theists. Wrong. There are endless examples of secular organisations providing help to
the needy. There is nothing of any moral value that a theist can perform that an atheist
can't. · Atheists don't have absolute moral values.
True. Because absolute moral values don't exist. Morality varies with the development
of society. · Atheists just want to sin. Every human
has personal preferences - just like anyone else. If the threat of hell and an angry god
is what keeps a theist on a virtuous track it is a weakness, not a strength. Also, sin
has no absolute or universal definition and is just an invention of religion. Whether
or not I like shrimps or pork should not influence my level of being considered good or bad,
the same way as in 2011 sexual preferences of any kind should be the result of informed
and consenting adults and not the standards of desert nomads more than 1000 years ago.
· Hitler was an atheist. Well, even if Hitler would have been an atheist, this falls into
the category of several fallacies, which I will cover in a separate video.
· Atheists don't know where the soul goes after death. Until someone proves one and
demonstrates what the soul is, I don't see any need for the existence of one. I make
do with my personality - governed by genes. · Atheists don't know who started everything.
True. But why do theists automatically ask: who? Why not: what? But this would still be
true as atheists are capable of accepting: "I don't know" as a perfectly valid answer.
· Atheists are getting increasingly militant. Yes, if you believe that writing a book is
more militant than blowing up or shooting others.
· Atheists can't prove God does not exist. True. What would you do if I asked you to
prove that vampires don't exist? Can you prove I don't ride a unicorn to work?
· Atheists will not accept a god regardless of the evidence. While I don't speak for all
atheists I think I can safely say that if a god would actually manifest itself here
on Earth, atheists would not deny the physical existence. Whether any would submit, prostrate
or worship this god is a totally different question.
Lastly, a question I have: does a theist love their children more than an atheist?
I hope I have helped just a bit and thank you for your time.