I am an Atheist. Which is to say I do not believe in any God, or in fact the super natural. On it’s face, this is an odd declaration to make. It is a positive announcement for a negative. I am not actively believing in anything and so, logic would dictate, have no business making announcements.
Some people may assert that the act of not believing in God is as active as believing. In the case of the God of Abraham I suppose that may be true. Western society tends to saturate its children in the assumption of God. So much so that it takes a real step to stop believing. However, as much as I do not believe in the God of Abraham I also do not believe in Thor. I am as much of an Atheist to Leprechauns and Unicorns as I am to Jesus or Krishna. I believe just as little in the past dead Gods of ancient Greece or Rome as I’m sure I will in the future Gods people are bound to invent. Only in a world where God is assumed to exist would this become something to announce positively.
Strictly speaking I am agnostic - but only strictly speaking. A prerequisite of proper critical thinking is to assume you do not know everything. It is practically impossible to disprove a negative and so I make no absolute claims. On the other hand, any claim made must be backed by evidence. And claims that are extraordinary in nature must supply extraordinary evidence. As none such evidence exists for God, Unicorns or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the claim should properly be ignored until such evidence can be presented. Saying one is a Unicorn agnostic would be silly. When no evidence is supplied the odds toward the claim do not suddenly become fifty fifty. So strictly speaking I am Agnostic, but practically I am an Atheist.
This logic is not foreign to those who do believe either. A believer in the God of Abraham is as much of an Atheist as I when it comes to Thor or Zeus. There are no people who really believe in all the Gods of the world. If only because most insist they are the one true God. Richard Dawkins put it well when he said: “We are all atheists about most of the Gods that societies ever believed in. Some of us just go one God further.”
One thing I do tend to do, on the other hand, is get into arguments. Many arguments. I’ve spent quite a few hours chatting, arguing or debating people of faith and I have heard many arguments made in favor of it. I think it may be time to begin to write them all down.
Some people may assert that the act of not believing in God is as active as believing. In the case of the God of Abraham I suppose that may be true. Western society tends to saturate its children in the assumption of God. So much so that it takes a real step to stop believing. However, as much as I do not believe in the God of Abraham I also do not believe in Thor. I am as much of an Atheist to Leprechauns and Unicorns as I am to Jesus or Krishna. I believe just as little in the past dead Gods of ancient Greece or Rome as I’m sure I will in the future Gods people are bound to invent. Only in a world where God is assumed to exist would this become something to announce positively.
Strictly speaking I am agnostic - but only strictly speaking. A prerequisite of proper critical thinking is to assume you do not know everything. It is practically impossible to disprove a negative and so I make no absolute claims. On the other hand, any claim made must be backed by evidence. And claims that are extraordinary in nature must supply extraordinary evidence. As none such evidence exists for God, Unicorns or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the claim should properly be ignored until such evidence can be presented. Saying one is a Unicorn agnostic would be silly. When no evidence is supplied the odds toward the claim do not suddenly become fifty fifty. So strictly speaking I am Agnostic, but practically I am an Atheist.
This logic is not foreign to those who do believe either. A believer in the God of Abraham is as much of an Atheist as I when it comes to Thor or Zeus. There are no people who really believe in all the Gods of the world. If only because most insist they are the one true God. Richard Dawkins put it well when he said: “We are all atheists about most of the Gods that societies ever believed in. Some of us just go one God further.”
One thing I do tend to do, on the other hand, is get into arguments. Many arguments. I’ve spent quite a few hours chatting, arguing or debating people of faith and I have heard many arguments made in favor of it. I think it may be time to begin to write them all down.
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