I'm going to copy over my reply to an acquaintance by proxy of mine kindly asked me to elaborate about my atheism because I feel it is relevant hopefully it will add something to the discussion. This was about a year ago.
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Ah yes most certainly I'd be happy to share. It's not easy to summarize the whole ideology of my atheism, but simply put, an atheist is an 'A'-Theist. The 'A' meaning 'without' (basically) as reference, and amoeba would replicate itself a-sexually without procreation, that is to say; non-sexually or without sex. So literally and simply put, an atheist is someone who is not a theist. A theist of course being someone who believes in a personal supernatural god or creator.
I know I'm young at 23 now, and I know full well that I can't possibly have experienced much in life, or uncovered the secrets of the universe and I have much to learn, but the pursuit of knowledge and truth is very important to me and along my path of this pursuit I have concluded through various observations that god does not exist. Though no person can say that a god does not exist, I see that the odds weigh enough against it to dismiss the concept.
What I do believe in is science. Not the science you can label as a singular entity, but the concept of science which I would say is the pursuit of knowledge, through trial and error, rational reasoning, scientific method and so on. And to me, there is much more comfort and wonder looking and dreaming into the vastness of the cosmos than any god I can imagine.
Many theists are challenged by the idea of atheism. It contradicts their core beliefs and the foundation their ethics and morals are often built upon. So it's common for atheists to be the target of bigoted narrow minded folks under the banner of their chosen deity. And thusly 'atheism' falls victim to becoming a derogatory or at least misunderstood label. Many atheists are passive on the topic of religion, and are very tolerant. And statistically speaking, less divorce, crime, and atrocities are committed by atheists.
There is a saying by Richard Dawkins, though I'm not sure he coined it, but he states that everyone knows what is is to be an atheist to Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and the flying spaghetti monster; "I just go one god further."
Many of those subscribing to a personal god will ask where ethics, good will, and morals come from if not God? Einstein said "I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern without any superhuman authority behind it." And I subscribe to that philosophy personally. To start, ethics are taught. Different people have different ethics. Furthermore, different gods have different ethics. I believe we evolved as social creatures, and in general, it is more productive to do good deeds to advance society as a whole so perhaps it is inherit in our nature however every person is different and some will do 'bad' and counterproductive deeds. I don't have any specific belief in place for ethics. I myself try to do what is right. "Bad" actions could easily be summed up by actions which hurt others, emotionally, physically, or otherwise. But I do believe that the concept of right and wrong would fall within the purviews of philosophy exclusively and vary from person to person.
And if the point of "People with religion do good deeds and perform charity" is raised, I must say that I have immensely more admiration and respect toward a person who gives from their heart, without fear of hell, or hope of reward in heaven.
In my debates I may tend to single out Christianity in general because that's what I deal with most frequently. But in this post I am not voicing my views concerning why I can't possibly believe in any of man's current religions, but rather providing an insight to some of my views as an atheist.
Also as an atheist I have much pity that countless billions have spent their entire lives looking forward to the prospect of heaven. To a true believer, death is the best thing that can happen. To be with their Father in Heaven. However I do not believe that. To me, this life is precious, it is the only one we have, and time is incredibly limited to us as humans, nothing more than a speck of sand in an hourglass the size of our solar system. And things become so much more thought provoking and awe inspiring when you think this way. However, if you feel the next life is more important, you can be very complacent about your life here. This does not mean all believers waste their lives, but it makes me sad that people have this false hope of an afterlife and I feel there is much to be gained in this life by rejecting that belief.
I may also point out that the fear of death that Christians have makes me think that many do not truly believe but still keep the pretense of faith because it is expected by our time.
I mentioned many atheists are passive toward believers concerning their faith. I however, am not. A good Christian would feel pity for me, because after all I am going to burn in their hell for not believing in their chosen deity. And they might feel as though I am a lost soul. And if they really believe the good parts of their doctrines, they should seek to save me for I am deluded lamb astray from the light of God. This may be surprising, but I feel exactly the same way. To me, I feel pity and true sadness for those deluded by whatever religion was dominant in their childhood. And I wish I could to save these people. So I feel it is important to do what I can to help people to question their beliefs.
I use this analogy on occasion.
Suppose that I told you I believed in the Easter Bunny. I knew he was real, he told me so himself and I feel it in my heart.
That'd be a little wacky, yes? You might want to have me committed so I may get the help I need. Because, you know full well, even with basic common sense, you know I'm wrong.
But now I tell you that it makes me happy. And my family goes hunting for the invisible easter eggs he places about the yard every sunday and it brings us together as a close family and gives us purpose in life.
Ohh... That complicates things doesn't it... You dont want to strip something dear to me away do you? You know I'm deluded and you might even pity me, but do you call the asylum? Or would you choose to respect my beliefs.
This is the choice I have to make when deciding to debating against religion or not... It's not an easy decision at first. But in this analogy, from my own point of view, if you did indeed decide to have me committed, and I learned why the easter bunny can't possibly be real and that I can find purpose in life outside the easter bunny, I would wholeheartedly thank you who has saved me from my delusion. So this may help you to understand why I take a step beyond atheism and pursue the path of anti-theism.
My path does not take the course of animosity toward religion, nor does it take the path of me saying my way is the only correct way. "Trust those who seek truth, doubt those who find it" and Socrates said "The only thing I know is that I know nothing at all" and there is much wisdom in that. I don't have it all figured out, but at the same time I highly doubt those who think they do have it figured out in regards to religion, actually really do. If nothing else, think of how many religions in the world there are today, and that there have been, and all the branches of those. Each and every twig of those religion branches believed so fervently that they had the truth, their way was the correct and only way. Well logically, only one could even -possibly- be true. But the next logical step is to say none are true. At least from my perspective.
But at the same time, I am not completely close minded and again, I am completely open to any discussion with the intent of advancing knowledge and good conversation.
I think I'll trail off here.
I'd love to hear what you think, honestly. I am curious to see what people really think, not just sugar coated cliche dialog that is almost expected in our culture.
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