For me, atheism is not about science versus religion, or logic versus faith, or whether or not there exists some supreme being who has control over the universe.
It's more or less about how right and wrong are not defined by some allegorical book written 2 thousand years ago. It's about how incredibly absurd and scarily insane it is when a mother tells me that it's OK to spank her children not because she believes it's an effective disciplinary tool, but because an influential member of her church explained how there are ways to intrepret the bible to see within it the advocacy of corporal punishment.
I remember when a couple of those door-to-door religion salesmen appeared on my front doorstep, and we had a long, yet respectful convsersation about this subject. Their argument boiled down to, "If everyone followed the 10 commandments, the world wouldn't have any problems."
And I couldn't help but agree. I said, "Sure, that's absolutely true." But since when are the 10 commandments about "God's" wishes? Aren't they more or less common sense?
Was anyone really surprised when they read those commandments? It is just some kind of coincidence that they happened to be rules by which most of us kind of live by anyway whether or not there exists the threat of eternal damnation?
How hard is it to see that a couple of thousand years ago, some really bright people who saw a need for more order in society devised a way to convince people why it is absolutely necessary to have some common decency? Why does it have to be something of a "divine" origin?
I know the difference between right and wrong. I am quite capable of feeling the pain of others, thank you. I have never harbored the desire to murder, or to violate the personal rights of my fellow human beings.
I didn't need to be scared of the wrath of a supreme being to be this way. It's something that comes naturally with being a human being who grew up in an environment with loving parents, and who was taught to respect all things living regardless of their backgrounds or beliefs.
And when I all too often hear the mantra that atheists "don't know love without god's love" or that we're "morally deprived," I can't help but shake my head in pity for people who really, honestly believe that they need to follow divine commandments to become familiar with either of those concepts. I guess they will never know what it's like to accept their own sense of humanity as being perfectly valid without the approval of the "almighty."
If more and more people are turning away from religion, then society is progressing. People are beginning to understand that compassion and reason are not copyrighted by the church.
I've had this conversation many, many times with people on both sides of the fence in person and via the web. And I'd have to say the argument that most impressed me was one where the person said, "I have faith in god because it's hopeless to have faith in mankind."
At least that person understood what atheism truly is: the reliance on human wisdom and understanding to pull us forward. And, frankly, I couldn't blame the guy for having that opinion. It's hard to look at mankind as a whole and be convinced we're headed in the right direction.
But, as an atheist, my "belief" is that if we can't rely on ourselves to get us through this mess called societal evolution, then we're fucked. We have to take off the training wheels (e.g. religion) and each find our own balance. It's there; it just doesn't come easily. It takes a lot of thinking and plenty of trial and error.
. Many atheists have no political or cultural agenda -- they simply want a place to share their feelings and opinions without upsetting anyone. It's certainly not my cup o' joe. But all I have to do, then, is not attend.
