Thoughts on Atheism

I haven't made a post in awhile and that's not good. I really need to keep this up. Anyway today I was called "a diehard atheist". The person who called me this clearly has no idea what atheism is because she put those two words together. Well atheists don't have great reputations, so I'm going to shed some light on what atheism is, what atheists believe and other things people need correcting on. Please also note that I'm talking about atheism here, not anti-theism, not the theory of evolution, but atheism.

So what is atheism? Many people would say atheism is the belief that there is no god. These people are wrong. You can see this from the word atheism. Split it up into its root word and the prefix: a-theism. Theism is the belief in a god or gods. The prefix 'a' means without. So atheism is without the belief in a god or gods. Atheism is the lack of belief in a god or gods. While at first this may seem like simply a rewording, but there's actually a big difference in the two statements. Atheists do not have belief. We do not believe there are no gods, rather we see no evidence that proves the existence of gods. I'm going to enlist the help of Richard Dawkins to help illustrate my point. In his book "The God Delusion" he outlines the spectrum of theistic probability. You simply find the statement on the spectrum that best applies to your views on the existence of God.

1. Strong theist. 100 percent probability of God. In the words of C.G. Jung "I do not believe, I know."

2. De facto theist. Very high probability, but short of 100 percent. "I don't know for certain, but I strongly believe in God and live my life on the assumption that he is there."

3. Leaning towards theism. Higher than 50 percent, but not very high. "I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God."

4. Completely impartial. Exactly 50 percent. "God's existence and non-existence are entirely equiprobable."

5. Leaning towards atheism. Lower than 50 percent, but not very low. "I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to be skeptical."

6. De facto atheist. Very low probability, but short of 0 percent. "I don't know for certain, but I think God is very improbable and live my life on the assumption that he is not there."

7. Strong atheist. 0 percent probability of God. "I know there is no god with the same conviction as Jung knows there is one."

The definition of atheism covers anyone who rates themselves from 4-7 on that scale. While those who identify as 4s would not call themselves atheists, they lack belief in a god. They themselves would identify as agnostics. What if I told you that atheism and agnosticism weren't mutually exclusive? Well as it turns out, they aren't. Agnosticism refers who anyone who isn't 100% sure so anyone who rates themselves from 2-6 falls under the definition of agnosticism. I rate myself as a 6. There is no evidence that proves that any gods exist, so I was always going to be on the atheistic side, but as theists love to point out there is no evidence that there is no god, which leaves me just shy of rating myself a 7.

I was called "a diehard atheist". A quick google search turned up this definition of diehard: a person who strongly opposes change or who continues to support something in spite of opposition. Change has nothing to do with atheism, it's merely the lack of a belief. So she was calling me a person who continues to support atheism in spite of opposition. I doubt she'll ever read this, but I want to point something out. If you look at the spectrum again, how many theists would classify themselves as 1s? I imagine that number would be seven digits long at minimum. How many atheists would rate themselves as 7s? Not nearly as many. Not me, not Richard Dawkins because atheists tend to be atheists because they looked at the evidence or more accurately lack of evidence. If tomorrow proof was found of the existence of a god, then I would change my mind. I'd be embarrassed for the way I've banged the drum for atheism and appalled at the way he's fucked things up down here (I sure as hell wouldn't worship him), but I would change my mind.

I'll leave you with the words of Isaac Asimov who sums up my position perfectly. "I don't have the evidence to prove that God does not exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time."