From time to time I think it is useful to review what we’ve done and how we got where we are. My first post for Off the Map was in February of last year. I’d come from posting on the Friendly Christian site where Bill had encouraged us to discuss and debate our views on religion. This is something that I’m always going to be grateful for. Helen was kind enough to extend an invitation to blog here and that’s what I’ve done for more than a year.
Re-reading my first post this paragraph leaps out at me.
The most relevant thing about me for this blog is that I am an atheist. I am well aware of the path that led me to atheism. More accurately, I am well aware of the path that did not lead me to theism. I think that the distinction is important. People learn religion. I never did, so I’m an atheist.
I’m still an atheist. I’ve still not learnt religion and, if anything, I’d say I was further away from being religious than I was back then. At least I can say that this is not for want of trying. While I haven’t “opened my heart to Jesus” I have explored a number of aspects of faith. I’ve had my preconceptions challenged and my view of religion’s place in society has softened somewhat. I still balk at some things that some theists get up to and some beliefs they promote but I better understand that the vocal proponents of these things are are minority. Religion can help society in some ways although I still think that it can also hurt us too if misapplied.
Posted in Atheist/Christian Dialog, Jason | 4 Comments »The Friendly Atheist forums have had a recent discussion about the spectrum of Christianity or what it means to be a Christian. There are atheists with a wide variety of opinions including ex-Christians but there are also some Christians who comment. There is a great deal of disagreement on what a Christian is. They range from my own view that the only thing that is needed to be a Christian is that a person calls themselves a Christian to much stricter views that include belief in the following;
- The Trinity.
- That Jesus came to be sacrificed for our sins, and accepting Him into your heart saved you.
- The Bible as the inerrant, “God-breathed” word.
- The existence of God and divinity of Jesus.
- The existence of Heaven/afterlife with God.
- Prayer as a means to communicate with God (at least one-way communication).
- The resurrection and virgin birth and other miracles from the Bible as well.
- The duty to evangelize, as instructed by Jesus before he went back to heaven.
- Particular Christian beliefs as the only way to be saved from damnation.
- Belief that God has a plan for everything and everyone.
- Belief that being a Christian is generally a prerequisite for being a good person, or for being trustworthy.
- Belief that pastors hold a certain amount of authority as counselors and generally wise people.
Not being a Christian and not having been raised in the Christian tradition I have no way to tell what a Christian is beyond their own claims to that identity. A Christian can even reject everything that is supernatural from the bible as Thomas Jefferson did and still identify as a Christian. Is Christianity then a philosophy of living? Could an atheist who follows this philosophy be a Christian if they chose to adopt this label?
Posted in Atheist/Christian Dialog, Jason | 16 Comments »Over the last several months I’ve tried to list common reasons why many people fail to believe in gods or God. I’ve talked about different kinds of atheism, about how evidence and how it does not lead to God, about how God isn’t necessary to living, about how some of the common argument for God are not convincing for me, the Problem of Evil, science as a better way of explaining things, the lack of meaning in the term “God”, god belief as a function of the mind. and as a function of society.
These are common reasons really and not exhaustive. If you ever choose to spend time looking at deconversion forums you’ll also note others. What all of these boil down to and indeed what every reason for disbelief boils down to is that God is not apparent. It is not obvious that God is real or, for those who choose to put their faith in the spiritual, which god is real.
There are some fine things in religion. There is a message of charity and kindness, of love and acceptance. A supernatural agency lends credence to these ideas and further motivates people who choose to follow a faith. Religion is cause for great beauty in this world, of fine art and sublime music. Belief in God has inspired people to do great things. Belief in God has also inspired people to do terrible things but I’m not going to dwell on that today.
Despite the huge influence that god belief and religion have had and continue to have on people none of it proves that God is real or false. None of it. Logic and reason can take us down both routes if we follow them in certain ways. Evidence can show nothing of God or everything pointing to God if we let it. We can explore our own psyches as individuals and as society and either see God in our hearts and minds or find them lacking any trace of the divine.
There are lots of people who aren’t aware of the existence of a loving God. There are lots of people who see only their (perhaps false) gods and dismiss others as unreal. It’s difficult to credit any one religion as being true or any one god as being true when there have been so many throughout human history. None appears to have any greater claim to being more credible or reliable than any other. Shouldn’t God, a true God, be more obvious? Shouldn’t the words of the bible reveal themselves perfectly to the reader? Shouldn’t God be apparent?
I want to thank you for sticking with this latest series. That’s all I have to say about reasons for disbelief except that I don’t see any of them as a choice or as a reaction. I don’t think that people choose to believe or disbelieve but find what works well for them. God belief doesn’t present itself to me even though I have explored the idea and I’m sure the same is true of those Christians who have explored life without God. I think we all look at things in a way that reinforces our own notions and even when we are aware of this we cannot avoid it. It’s just the way we’re made.
Finally I want to point out a few things that I have not given for lack of belief. I think that the reasons I have given are reasonable, even if you do not agree with them or that some might seem weak. I have not written anything about the actions of the Old Testament God and of religions in waging wars or annihilating whole nations, or nearly everyone if the Flood story is true. I have not mentioned anything about the way religions treat those who do not conform to their ideas. I have not written anything about atheists hating God. I’m sure I don’t need to separate the action of religious men and women that may give some atheists a reason to hate the faith and the God that we do not believe in and so have no reason to despise. In short I’ve tried to avoid the emotional response to the idea of God as a reason not to believe in God. I don’t think that it is helpful.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Jason | 13 Comments »