There has been a rumor in recent years to the effect that I have become less opposed to religious orthodoxy than I formerly was. This rumor is totally without foundation. I think all the great religions of the world–Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Communism–both untrue and harmful.
A habit of basing convictions upon evidence, and of giving to them only the degree of certainty which the evidence warrants, would, if it became general, cure most of the ills from which the world is suffering.
-Bertrand Russell, preface to Why I Am Not a Christian
Atheism is a commonly expressed viewpoint in this forum, so I thought it might be having a thread to discuss it more at length.
To try to get things started, I’ll talk a little about my own experience. I grew up indoctrinated into Christianity. It wasn’t until my mid-twenties, when I was living far away from my family and my hometown, that I began to take real steps away from that ideology. And it was only fairly recently that I became comfortable labeling myself as an atheist.
This is not exactly a popular position. Over 3/4ths of Americans identify with some religion, and only 3% go so far as calling themselves atheists (source). In my personal life nearly all of my family and most of my old friends are still religious. But I don’t think popularity is a good reason to believe in something, and I tend to agree with Mr. Russell’s proposition that the world would be a better place if more people rejected religion in favor of reason.
I used to announce as atheist but quickly realized that it ends with gas huffers thinking they can argue you out of it with “logic.” So now I tell people to go fuck themselves. Also, I am probably more agnostic or agnostic atheist but that distinction and the deep philosophical dive required to really get at the fabric of it doesn’t interest me that much.
The reality is that you can never be totally sure of anything. Let’s say that the universe was created in mathematical anomaly of vacuum which caused a spontaneous explosion of matter and energy which expands for several billion years until an equally quixotic phenomenon causes a contraction of all that we can perceive. Even then, where did the vacuum come from, the rules which these are based.
Life is pretty easy to explain as fundamentally it is perhaps the only thing which inherently opposes the natural laws of diffusion. From virus up, once a mass of energy decides to accumulate more of this energy and replicate itself, it is sure to absorb all the energy possible cause the chain reaction that we would call life. Not only is this phenomenon likely all throughout the universe but it likely exists in other dimensions that oscillate at different frequencies which we are totally incapable of perceiving and even fathoming.
Therefore, it is a bit preposterous to think that we, mere sun-tied hominids, understand the greatly mysteries of the universe. I think it is also worth noting that according to Jesus that the Jews did not understand their faith and even Paul in the later books of the New Testament had to clarify many basic aspects of Christianity. So I wouldn’t look to some random Christian on twitter to explain the Bible and whatever year they think whatever is about as irrelevant as what any person who posts in this thread ever thinks about the scientific mysteries of the universe.
I was raised culturally in reformed Judaism, meaning we celebrated the holidays, ate the food, picked up pennies off the ground, and taught the values of being a mench and helping those in need. I still identify as culturally Jewish and appreciate those values, but am staunchly atheist now. If god was real he/she/they is a gigantic asshole.
My parent were pretty great in allowing me to experience several religions and make my own decisions. I went to plenty of different church services with friends, went to a Sunday school class once, etc. Thankfully neither of them are religious nuts at all, which I’m sure helped me land where I am.
I just can’t wrap my head around people whose entire identity revolves around believing in Jesus and god. It’s fucking ridiculous and seems like such a cop out for actually having to work to understand the world.
I’m not really a fan of the worse atheist because I don’t need a word / label to express my disbelief in anything else, like santa clause.
Like I feel like saying I’m an atheist accepts the premise that god / religion are something worthy of taking a position on at all, I’m just out. There’s a lot to do in life and I don’t really have time for those sort of fairy tales, like jesus or zeus or whatever.
I’ve found this is somehow a more offensive view to express to religions people than just I’m an atheist.
Don’t see how Christian God couldn’t be an asshole. You spend maybe 70 years on Earth getting judged and if you fuck up you’re tortured for eternity. Try a shortcut by doing some good deeds and killing yourself? Go straight to hell. I guess the Catholics let you get away with anything as long as you repent and accept Jesus as your Savior, but I hope you don’t have too many doubts!
Basically creating people and judging them and any possibility of eternal torture is more fucked up than any horror movie villian.
Re: the bold, this is basically what I tell people when they really press me on why I’m not a Christian (the only people that ask/press the issue in my life seem to be Christians). I tell them if God is real, his idea of love is fucked up and I want no part of that morality. If they ask what I mean, I explain that it is morally reprehensible for a being that supposedly loves everyone and is all powerful and willed everything into existence to allow so much suffering to go on, not just on Earth, but also during the afterlife.
Yeah, I’ve taken to saying I’m not religious rather than I’m an atheist. I realize that that could mean I’m spiritual, and when I get asked, I say not really, but there are aspects of nature that inspire a sense of awe in me that is probably similar to having a spiritual experience. And I’ve found that in most circumstances it gets the point across without coming off as being a huge asshole or alienating.
Those polls always make me laugh. They ask the question in such a way that the Pope and the guy who hasn’t been to church or thought about god once in 25 years, but still believes in some abstract thing, self identify as the same thing.
That’s more of the Reformationist’s side, typically embraced today by fundamentalist Protestants. Most Catholics and other Protestants expect you to make some effort to not be an asshole in this life if you want salvation.