A Primer on Atheism

There are lots of misconceptions about atheism that are very pervasive. Perhaps you share some of them and don’t know it. Here’s a primer to help people understand the truth about atheism.

1. What exactly is Atheism?

a = not
theism = belief in a supernatural creator
a + theism = not having belief in a supernatural creator

Atheism is not the belief that there is no god. That is anti-theism. Atheism is simply the lack of belief in any god. Many atheists are also anti-theists, but we should not confuse the two. We can’t truthfully say there is absolutely no god just as no one can truthfully say there absolutely is. No one can make either claim without solid evidence.

2. Is Atheism a religion?

No. Religions center themselves around supernatural beliefs, which are lacking in atheism. In fact, as stated above, atheism is not a belief at all, but rather the lack of belief. Atheism is a religion like bald is a hair color.

3. Do Atheists believe in anything?

Of course we do. We’re human. We simply lack belief in any god. That does not mean we believe in nothing. We’re not nihilists. Our beliefs are as varied as humanity itself, and every atheist is different in their beliefs about things like social issues, politics, race, and everything else. The ONLY thing that all atheists have in common is the lack of belief in any god. As Richard Dawkins put it:
“We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”

4. Do you hate god?

No. We can’t hate something we lack a belief in.

5. Where do you get your morality from, if not religion?

From common sense and the very real and tangible consequences that come from doing harm. The basic things like not killing, stealing, raping, lying, etc. are common sense whether or not there is a god. We don’t need a fear of supernatural wrath to not want to harm each other.
Morality comes from a very basic human trait: the wish to be included in a societal group and not be outcast. We are social beings. If we do wrong to someone, then we are known as someone that can’t be trusted and we are shunned or even retaliated against. In a smaller tribal setting, inclusion in the social group is a matter of survival.
Of course, there are always going to be a few damaged people who simply lack a conscience, but religion never prevented that. Most people, however, feel a strong natural aversion to seriously harming others.

6. Are there atheists in foxholes?

Yes. Quite a few actually. The myth that there are none, that soldiers will start praying when faced with death is not true. In fact, you can find many in the military who will prove this with their own words at the website of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers:
http://www.maaf.info/expaif.html

7. Do you really believe we descended from monkeys?

I think a primer on evolution needs to be created as well due to the massive number of widespread misconceptions about it.
No, the current scientific evidence does not show that we descended directly from monkeys, but we and monkeys share a common genetic ancestor. This is a matter of genetic fact.
Evolution warrants its own discussion, and I could fill a book debunking the many common ridiculous arguments made against something that literally has mountains of evidence to support it.

8. Do you believe the universe really just came from an explosion out of nothing?

Big Bang Theory is changing as more evidence and observation comes to light. The current scientific understanding is that the big bang didn’t come from nothing, but that it is likely that the matter that comprises the universe has always existed, it was simply in a much more condensed form prior to the Big Bang. It’s also possible that there have been big bangs previous to this one. However, we simply lack enough data to make any certain claim on the origins of the universe. We don’t know for a fact how it began, and neither do you. It’s perfectly fine to say “I don’t know”.

9. Doesn’t it take as much faith to believe in science as in god?

No. Science is based on evidence. Faith is the belief in things that lack evidence. If there is evidence, what’s the point of faith? If we pick up a rock and drop it, we don’t have “faith” that it will fall to the ground. It happens every single time. It’s a repeatable, observable occurrence that never fails to happen. We are not believing that it will happen because of a book. If there were any question, then faith might be involved. The only way it wouldn’t happen is if gravity stopped, and the likelihood of that is about as close as we can get to the word “impossible”.

10. Isn’t it better to believe, just in case? Do you really want to risk going to hell?

No. Pascal’s Wager is completely fallacious. There are many reasons for this, but we only need a couple to debunk this idea.
One, which god? You could die and find out you chose to believe in the wrong one, then you’re screwed. After all, most religions claim that their god is the only one.
Two, you can’t fake a belief. Either you believe in god or you don’t believe in god. If you just say you believe, and if there is a god, wouldn’t they see right through it?

I hope this helps people understand more about what Atheism is and isn’t, and I look forward to a day when fundamentalism is a distant memory, and the faithful and faithless can coexist rationally and peacefully.