Who Are Atheists?

Who Are Atheists?

When theists speak of Atheists, some express odd ideas about who Atheists are and what we’re up to. To set the record straight, we are not people who “hate god” or “worship the devil.” In fact, we dispute the claims of their existence.

Atheists are people who are not convinced by the claims that others make about the existence of supernatural beings, forces and occurrences. We aren’t willing to just take someone else’s word for it that these things are real. Statements of personal feeling about why supernatural things “have to” exist, and hearsay stories about people who claim to have received “revealed knowledge” or witnessed supernatural “miracles,” cannot take the place of credible, objective evidence. An empirically testable concept of the world is more important to us than the comforts of belief. Questioning and testing one’s assumptions scientifically -- gaining knowledge through evidence and experiment rather than just believing certain assumptions on “faith” -- produces a philosophy of life that has the most tangible and rational foundation possible. Some argue that Atheists “would have to know everything to know that there isn’t a god,” but that is not the case. We don’t claim to know for a fact that there isn’t a god, we’re just pointing out the fact that those who claim that there IS a god haven’t offered credible, objective evidence to back their claim. We also dispute the use of specious definitions, such as “god is love.” Emotions and thoughts have never been observed to exist in the absence of a physical brain. Without credible evidence, claims about supernatural phenomena are unsubstantiated, and the universe appears to be godless.

Atheists feel no need to rely on a belief in the existence of anything supernatural to give life meaning, a “larger purpose” or a veneer of adventure; to explain the daily “miracle” of birth, human existence, pain and death; to explain the origin of the universe or life or explain anything else that is currently unexplained. Those who do use supernatural explanations to fill the gaps in human knowledge do so only by assuming, wrongly, that what is unknown now will always remain unknown. Human ignorance cannot support claims about supernatural beings because ignorance is not evidence.
Neither do Atheists rely on a belief in the supernatural as a buffer against the idea that there is no ultimate justice for wrongs that go un-righted, or against knowing that death is the end of personal existence. We may dislike certain facets of reality, but we know that wishful thinking cannot alter them.

Some say that without belief in an afterlife where one can be punished there is no incentive for people to behave morally, but Atheists dispute that claim, too. Basic morality arises from the demands of survival. Like many species, humans survive more readily when we live in cooperative social groups, group living requires a certain level of trust, and maintaining that trust requires restraint on certain behaviors: i.e. you do not kill your tribemates, you do not steal from your tribemates, you do not lie to your tribemates about important matters. Murder, theft and lying are acts that cause feelings of offense universally, often creating distrust intense enough to destroy the bonds of community.

Atheists recognize the need for and value of the rules of basic morality, and we do not readily violate them. It should stand to reason that since we reject speculation about there being a life after death, we should be reluctant to risk wasting our precious, limited existence sitting in prison.

Religious/cultural morality is more problematic. These “moral” codes vary arbitrarily from culture to culture, dictating conflicting sets of rules about which worship practices one must or must not engage in, which marital/sexual/reproductive practices one must or must not engage in, what items of clothing or jewelry one must or must not wear, on which days one must or must not work, and so on. Since there is no empirical way to show that any one of these codes is any more “right” than any other, Atheists feel justified in resisting zealous adherents’ attempts at imposing any one of them on us. Theists should not be surprised by this, since their own freedom OF religion is necessarily freedom FROM everyone else’s religions. Atheists reserve the right to define our own culture or cultures.

Despite Americans’ rhetoric about freedom, some feel that the British colonies’ tradition of religious majority rule makes the U.S. a “Christian nation,” First Amendment notwithstanding. They cling to the idea that a religious/cultural majority, or those who claim to speak for such a majority, might arrogantly disregard the rights, beliefs, interests, cultures and dignity of others.

When people in power use government office or control over a captive audience to proselytize others, their beliefs become contentious political, social and educational issues -- fair game for rational analysis, skeptical criticism and open debate. This has been denounced as “religion bashing,” but when public expressions of belief turn into bullying, no one should be surprised that Atheists take offense and argue back. If believers expect their culture to be treated with respect, they need to treat other cultures with respect. They need to respect our right NOT to believe. Who are Atheists to insist on cultural equality? We are your neighbors, your co-workers, your friends and your family members.