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Atheism: frequently unanswered questions

Abstract:
Let me start off by saying that my intent here is not to proselytize but to give a better understanding of atheists and our values. I'm not here to tell you that your beliefs are wrong, or that atheists are somehow more correct in our thinking. What I do want to make a point of is that every time I tell someone I'm an atheist, I get pelted with questions....

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Z Cole

posted 10/27/09 @ 10:54 AM CST

Good article. There are still so many unclear as to what the term "atheist" even means.
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Gabriel

posted 10/27/09 @ 12:08 PM CST

Loved the article!
Im a Christian but I loved your point of view and explanations.
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Mr Bojangles

posted 10/27/09 @ 1:08 PM CST

A - Theist. Without belief in god.

That is all is all atheism means. Attaching any luggage to the term is pointless.

You could have a million atheists all with totally different views and moral compasses.

The second you start attaching anything else to atheism it becomes dangerous. Atheism then becomes a belief. It becomes unknowable and shifting and moves very close to becoming that which it is not.
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Pat Gunn

posted 10/27/09 @ 2:36 PM CST

Are you claiming that only secular humanists, among the broad swathe of worldviews classfiable as atheist, try to be decent and good? Either you're mistaken there, or that phrase is sorely in need of rephrasing.
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Autumn Spurck

posted 10/27/09 @ 3:17 PM CST

Originally posted by

Pat Gunn

 Are you claiming that only secular humanists, among the broad swathe of worldviews classfiable as atheist, try to be decent and good? Either you're mistaken there, or that phrase is sorely in need of rephrasing.


That's among the many sects I mentioned. Even a militant atheist, who otherwise preaches what he doesn't believe in, can be a secular humanist as well if they choose to be "good". Sorry for the misunderstanding.
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Chris

posted 10/27/09 @ 3:24 PM CST

I appreciate your article. I too am an atheist and I do my best to be a good person. While I'm OK with the label secularist, I do not identify as a humanist. That term in particular seems to express a sense that our good deeds stop at humans. I also happen to be a vegetarian, so perhaps I'm more sensitive to the implied nuance. Personally, I would prefer to just be called "a good person".
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Ben

posted 10/27/09 @ 4:14 PM CST

Your comment on agnostics being "fence sitters" is wrong. I call myself an agnostic because I don't know what is beyond this universe; and I fully acknowledge that there could be a single "being" responsible for all this. However because I don't know if there is or isn't, neither does anyone else. Therefore, I do not believe in any "God" that man has envisioned on this planet.

The agnostics that think it's possible for there to be a Christian god or whatever are the true fence sitters. Agnostic SHOULD mean "I don't know what's out there." But saying that SHOULD then mean all forms of a god created by man are false.

Does that make sense? Thank you. I also believe that, because of my previous logic, EVERYONE should be an agnostic by definition...because NO ONE knows!
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Autumn Spurck

posted 10/27/09 @ 4:24 PM CST

Originally posted by

Ben

 Your comment on agnostics being "fence sitters" is wrong. I call myself an agnostic because I don't know what is beyond this universe; and I fully acknowledge that there could be a single "being" responsible for all this. However because I don't know if there is or isn't, neither does anyone else. Therefore, I do not believe in any "God" that man has envisioned on this planet.

The agnostics that think it's possible for there to be a Christian god or whatever are the true fence sitters. Agnostic SHOULD mean "I don't know what's out there." But saying that SHOULD then mean all forms of a god created by man are false.

Does that make sense? Thank you. I also believe that, because of my previous logic, EVERYONE should be an agnostic by definition...because NO ONE knows!


Hi Ben, I'm so happy you brought this up. Initially I was unhappy with my labeling of agnostics, but poke fun simply because I'm of the opinion (in argument with a lot of my atheist peers) that there's no such thing as an absolute atheist.

Because none of us have a "godometer", we wouldn't be able to know if god exists or doesn't, no matter what. "atheist" means we don't BELIEVE in god, "agnostic" means we don't have proof. I should have expanded on this.

Here's this, in a nutshell: All atheists are agnostic, but not all agnostics are atheists. There is much argument about this...maybe I should write an article addressing this.

Atheists and agnostics hate labels; this article is mostly directed at anyone who has a 'problem' with us for not believing in god. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from some of my Christian family and friends, having read this. I'm surprised to find much of the criticism comes from people like you and me!
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Pat Gunn

posted 10/27/09 @ 5:53 PM CST

I think you have a deep misunderstanding of what secular humanism is. It is not a simple commitment to seek some notion of the good, it is rather a specific set of philosophies with a creed. This creed is strongly based on American political conceptions of society.

Please see here for their creed:
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?page=declaration§ion=main

I, for example, am an atheist, I have rejected secular humanism because I don't agree with everything in their creed, and yet I do have strong ideas about the public good. I have my own creed.

I don't think you should identify Secular Humanism as being the single philosophy that could be described as Atheist that tries for ethics, nor that all one needs to be one is to try to live an ethical life.
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Tom

posted 10/27/09 @ 6:23 PM CST

Yes, I too had problems with the implication that secular humanism is, like, the "nice" brand of atheism. Not to get too deep into marketing terms here, but I think most brands of atheism are nice.

Otherwise, this article made me happy. I'm super glad there's a societal shift among our generation away from belief in God and religion...every day we move closer to world peace.
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Raytheist

posted 10/27/09 @ 6:24 PM CST

Autumn, thanks for writing this - it's good to see more people coming out and showing that atheists are not monsters from outer space with two heads, but ordinary decent people - one's neighbors, friends, family members, etc. There is an incredible amount of ignorance about atheism in this country. Most people lump it in with communism, fascism, Satanism etc, all at the same time. The more people that come out as atheists and help to dispel the ignorance, the better.
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Raytheist

posted 10/27/09 @ 6:30 PM CST

Re agnostics vs. atheists: I always wonder why the term "agnostic" is thought necessary. I don't claim to know for a fact that God doesn't exist, yet I happily call myself an atheist because I think the non-existence of God is overwhelmingly likely and the most sensible working assumption for living one's life.

Anyway, nobody ever says that are agnostic about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Zeus, Thor, etc. To call yourself agnostic is to give the Christian God (or whatever is the most-believed god in your society) a special pass.
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Ben

posted 10/29/09 @ 6:32 AM CST

Yes, but the non-existence of what kind of god. I KNOW there is no god that has ever been thought up by man because that goes against all logic (and those gods are quite weak anyway; which makes them equally illogical). So in that respect you can call yourself an atheist. But to deny the existence of "something" else out there is equally as silly, because you just don't know.

So I think there is confusion in the definition of terms atheist and agnostic. It's an interesting discussion. How we use words to define ideas is an interesting topic as well.
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