On July 14, 2011, while I was helping to tend the Michigan Atheists’ information booth at the Wyandotte Art Fair in Wyandotte, Michigan, an older man approached, somewhat hesitantly. After working up enough courage, he asked us what we “believed” about the origin of life, the universe and everything.
We informed him that Atheist concepts of existence rely not on belief, but on science, which invokes no deities in explaining things.
Our questioner then began to wave his arms and shout, “If you can’t see the miraculous creation all around you, you’re simple-minded! Simple-minded!” He continued his rant for several minutes, despite being told that he was just being rude, and that he should leave before we called Security.
Obviously, he’d had no intention of holding a civilized discussion of ideas. He had approached us with the intention of simply hurling insults. Our State Director calls such people “shotgun people.” They approach with a loaded question, fire it at us, and shoot down any reply with dogma and/or insults.
Their stridency seems to indicate that they are acting on strong emotion, rather than reason, leading me to guess that they perceive Atheists to be some kind of threat, just by our very existence. Could it be that our unbelief reminds them that – deep down – they, too, harbor doubts about the reality of gods and an afterlife?
Shortly after the older man left our booth, a woman who was working at the booth next to ours approached and asked me about whether or not I “believe in” the far side of the Moon! Apparently, in her concept of reality, anyone who “believes” something cannot be a true Atheist, and since everyone “believes” something, there cannot be any real Atheists. This woman seems to suppress doubt by “reasoning” Atheists out of existence! She also threw a lot of pre-fabricated arguments at us, trying to “educate” us, or convince us that Atheism isn’t real, and that those of us who call ourselves Atheists are actually believers who just haven’t realized it yet.
These are only two examples – and fairly mild examples – of the lengths to which some believers will go, trying to force Atheism back out of the public sphere. It all seems to be based on a desire by believers to fight their own doubts by imagining that everyone believes as they do.
Atheists aren’t trying to destroy believers’ faith, but we will not hide our unbelief to accommodate those whose faith is fragile, and we will be recognized as equal citizens.
Those who fear the idea that there is no afterlife must resolve their fears internally. Intimidation or censorship of others is not an ethical way to deal with one’s existential angst. Attempting to suppress someone else’s philosophy only speaks ill of one’s own philosophy.
Live and let live.