Because of the content of my site and some of the topics I’ll be covering in the future, I wanted to take this opportunity to answer some questions that I’ve either been asked in the past or that may come up in reaction to my posts.
- Are you an atheist because you’re mad at god?
- Are you an atheist because you hate Christians?
- Are you an atheist because you’re rebelling and just want to sin?
- Do you believe in anything?
- Are you ashamed of how you make your family feel?
- If you don’t believe in god, why talk about him?
- Can you prove there is no god?
- If you don’t believe in gods, do you believe in angels or demons or ghosts?
- Will you fix my computer?
1. Are you an atheist because you’re mad at god?
No. I can assure everyone that I’m not at all mad at god. The fact is, I don’t have any reason to believe that gods or goddesses exist, let alone one specific version. It would very difficult — if not impossible — for me to be mad at something that doesn’t exist.
2. Are you an atheist because you hate Christians?
No. It will become clear in my blog that I have problems with the actions and attitudes of some Christians but the basis of my disbelief is the lack of compelling reason to believe. People can sometimes be a deterrent to holding an idea or joining a cause but in the case of my atheism it has nothing to do with anybody else and everything to do with me.
3. Are you an atheist because you’re rebelling and just want to sin?
No, and I probably hate this question (or accusation) more than almost any other. My atheism is a result of lengthy introspection and honest reflection on my beliefs and my motivations for subscribing to them. For the longest time I earnestly sought to resolve all of the questions I had about my faith in god and, finding no satisfactory answers or compelling reason to continue holding on to beliefs which I felt were dishonest, I weened myself from the programming I’d received and began my quest for a rational, reasonable existence.
Because I have no belief in god(s), I have no concept of “sin.” It would be nonsense to say that I believe I’m wronging a being who I don’t even believe exists. My personal view on life is that everyone has intrinsic value and the exact same rights to live their life in happiness as me. Therefore, I do everything in my power to live my life in a way that doesn’t harm anybody. I think that’s as close to “righteous” as I’m ever going to get if my disbelief has any merit at all.
4. Do you believe in anything?
Yes! I’m not a nihilist. I believe in a lot of things. In fact, I’ve made at least one Facebook post and a YouTube video about what I believe. The fact that I don’t believe in the supernatural has no bearing whatsoever on my belief in humanity, reality, and intangible things like love and happiness. Feel free to watch my video below:
5. Are you ashamed of how you make your family feel?
Yes and no. My family members have chosen to hold onto their faith for their own personal reasons and I won’t begrudge them that. I have to admit to still having the remnants of an elaborate guilty conscience instilled in me since birth whenever I speak out against the religious views of my family. I view this as the product of the programming I received as a child and not the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, I’d hope that regardless of my views on god my family will be happy that I’m being true to myself and making a stand for what I believe is right.
6. If you don’t believe in god, why talk about him?
This is a question I often have to answer and it baffles me that I still have to answer it. I grew up in religion and saw its good and bad sides. I’ve seen what religion did to me as a child, what it did to the views and attitudes of my parents and siblings, and what it’s done to society as a whole. I fear the injection of religion into politics and education and can only point out the multiple examples of tyrannical theocracies around the world as my reasons why these things should never be mixed. I resent the phobia of knowledge instilled in followers that forces intelligent scientists to constantly defend their science to people who aren’t even interested in learning, taking away otherwise productive time that would really make a difference.
I’m disgusted by the bigotry and intolerance for women and minorities that religion fosters and perpetuates. I’m sickened by the violations of human rights when it comes to deciding for an infant whether or not they’ll have to live the rest of their life missing part of their natural anatomy. I’m amused by the hyper-sensitivity and the sense of oppression voiced by the majority whenever somebody takes up a contrary stance. I’m disappointed by the senseless, circular apologetics of the people who consider faith an intellectual virtue. There are plenty of reasons to talk about religion. The better question is, “Why would you not talk about belief in gods?”
7. Can you prove there is no god?
No. But then, I don’t need to. I have never and will never claim to have certain knowledge that there are no gods. I simply don’t believe people who say there are because so far they’ve completely and miserably failed to provide any evidence that their assertion is anything more than that — an assertion. The distinction must be made between the possibility of gods and the probability of gods. While I don’t deny that there is a possibility that there may be any number of gods (or every god ever imagined), I feel that anyone who has looked at the problem rationally would have to admit that everything we know and everything we’ve experienced indicates that the probability of any or all of these gods existing is very close to — if not equal to — zero. As I always say, it’s not possible for every single religion to be right but it is most certainly possible for every last one of them to be wrong.
8. If you don’t believe in gods, do you believe in angels or demons or ghosts?
No. In much the same way that I reject the claim for gods I also reject the claim for angels, demons, ghosts, goblins, leprechauns, fairies, unicorns, minotaurs, satyrs, jackalopes, Boogie men, the Loch Ness monster, Sasquatch, the Yeti, and a thoroughly enjoyable Ke$ha song.
9. Will you fix my computer?
No. I’m sorry, but just because I have more technical computer knowledge than the average user doesn’t mean I’m automatically qualified or willing to resolve computer issues for friends, family, and acquaintances. You’re on your own there.