I Atheist

This was originally written on a Facebook note in August, 2009. I didn't want it to get "buried" there, so I have "resurrected" it here with a little editing. Enjoy.

I Atheist
by Mike Haynes on Friday, August 21, 2009 at 12:03am
A recent FB conversation about faith with a good friend and other Atheist related topics I have encountered today have prompted me to think, and write.

First a couple of definitions:

Theism:
the⋅ism
1. the belief in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation (distinguished from deism).
2. belief in the existence of a god or gods (opposed to atheism).

Atheism:
a⋅the⋅ism
1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.


So, a Theist is one who believes in the existence of a god or gods, and an Atheist is one who does not. There is no reference to science or religion. Note the use of the words "belief" and "disbelief" in both definitions. No other verb or activity is defined.

Clearly we can see that "theism" by definition covers any religious belief that includes a creator/ruler or god and any individual or group deistic philosophy. So a statement of the form, "All theists think/believe/say/assert/worship " could be refuted by many people who consider themselves to be theists.

Likewise, a blanket statement of the form, "All atheists think/believe/say/assert/worship " could be refuted by many people who consider themselves to be atheists.

You will find many Atheists who disagree with other Atheists. Contrary to popular stereotypes, some Atheists are Pro-life, some are politically Conservative, some have very high morals while others lead a life as decadent as possible. You can't pin us down with a single ideology very easily. All you can say is that we don't believe in a god. I am not writing this to "convert" anyone to "Atheism." I simply want my voice to be heard.

I am an Atheist. I believe there is no god and no afterlife. Note that I am not making an assertion of knowledge here. I am not saying, "There is absolutely no god." Nor am I saying that I "hate" any god or any others who may believe in a god. I am not a Satanist. Satanism would fall under the blanket term of theist since a Satanist would be viewing Satan as a "supreme being".

I have been told there is a god. I have seen no measurable evidence and have had no personal experience to support this statement as true. It does not seem plausible to me, and thus I do not believe it. That is all. The possibility exists that tomorrow I may change my mind for some reason, but I doubt that will happen.

I have been told that my disbelief in a god is a form of blind faith, something I ranted about earlier concerning Fundamental Christians. In the strictest sense, it may be true that my non-belief may require some faith, but here's my take on that idea:

I have faith that I'm going to enjoy my next cup of coffee. I have faith that the sun will appear over the eastern horizon tomorrow morning. This is supported by inductive reasoning. Past experiences of these events do not guarantee 100% that the next occurrences will be the same as before, but I believe it's a safe bet. I have faith in this respect.

However, if every day of my life, someone walks up and tells me that invisible pink giraffes orbit Pluto and they can't be detected by any means we know of, I will not believe it. If I was also told that these invisible pink giraffes created us, the universe and everything in it. I would not believe it.

Suppose that someone wrote a book a long time ago about how invisible pink giraffes orbited Pluto, and that they could be detected at one time, but now choose not to be...that they know my every move and can read my mind...that I can thusly communicate to them telepathically and they will grant my wishes, but only if they want to and only if I send a sincere enough telepathic message. Oh yes, and more importantly, I need to give a percentage of my income to a special invisible pink giraffe messager who would make sure that the money was put to use in a way that the invisible pink giraffes see fit. Would my non-belief still be regarded as faith in the traditional sense?

As absurd as my above example sounds, I could never in the strictest sense assert that it is 100% false. The faith required to believe it is 100% false could hardly be considered "blind faith" however.

I do not believe that science has all the answers. I believe science is a good methodology to use in order to understand our world. Science will retrace it's steps and correct and/or improve itself as new information comes along. Newton's Theories on Gravity worked fine in his day. Einstein's Theory of Relativity improved upon Newton's theories so they would work at velocities near the speed of light. Einstein actually acknowledged one of his own "blunders" and publicly admitted it. It is this type of self-evaluation and correction that has given us the modern technologies we enjoy today. Science does not have all the answers, but it is continually striving to unravel the mysteries of this universe we live in using proven methods that can be backed by empirical evidence and sound logic. Belief in the Scientific Method does not require blind faith.

I don't care if someone else believes in a god or gods (or invisible pink giraffes). It doesn't concern me. So why do I bother stating that I am a non-believer? Why is it so damned important to me? It is because there are people in the world who are willing to kill themselves and others for their god. Their are those who believe their government should enforce their religion and teach it in their public schools. Their are those who would warp the scientific method to include a "god" factor in their calculations. There are those who would have children believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old.

So? What religion should our government enforce? What denomination of that religion? Should the space shuttle be prayed over by technicians, or should they actually do the calculations and work necessary to make sure it gets off the ground? What about your surgeon? Should he/she remove your kidney stones with prayer or with sound, scientific, medical knowledge? These are of course extremely silly examples, but hopefully you get the idea I'm driving at.

This is why I wear the label of "Atheist."

This is why I speak out.

This is why I will not "get over it."

This is why I will not shut up and go away.

- Mike Haynes



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Bibliography:

American Psychological Association (APA):
theism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved August 20, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theism
Chicago Manual Style (CMS):
theism. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theism (accessed: August 20, 2009).
Modern Language Association (MLA):
"theism." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 20 Aug. 2009. .
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE):
Dictionary.com, "theism," in Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Source location: Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theism. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com/. Accessed: August 20, 2009.
BibTeX Bibliography Style (BibTeX)
@article {Dictionary.com2009,
title = {Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)},
month = {Aug},
day = {20},
year = {2009},
url = {http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theism},
}

American Psychological Association (APA):
atheism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved August 20, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/atheism
Chicago Manual Style (CMS):
atheism. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/atheism (accessed: August 20, 2009).
Modern Language Association (MLA):
"atheism." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 20 Aug. 2009. .
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE):
Dictionary.com, "atheism," in Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Source location: Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/atheism. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com/. Accessed: August 20, 2009.
BibTeX Bibliography Style (BibTeX)
@article {Dictionary.com2009,
title = {Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)},
month = {Aug},
day = {20},
year = {2009},
url = {http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/atheism},
}

Einstein, Newton, Gravity, and Light
http://scienceavenger.blogspot.com/2008/01/einstein-newton-gravity-and-light.html

Einstein's Blunder
http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Briefs/blunder.html

Young Earth Creationism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Earth_creationism

Dominionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominionism