Q: What is an atheist?
A: The basic definition of an atheist is "Someone who has no god-belief."
That's it.
This is a descriptive definition, specifically a description of an absence. It makes no positive claims of any sort, it simply describes someone in whom divine belief is absent. It's a "least common denominator" sort of definition which applies to anyone who can fairly be labeled an atheist.
For other, alternate usages of the term "atheist" see this excellent article at ReligiousTolerance.org.
It is worth noting that in common Western usage, "atheist" has a much more active, negative connotation, meaning "someone who denies that any God or gods exist." On this and most other atheist sites, however, the more general (and in my opinion correct) usage is what is intended.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Why do atheists spend so much time talking about religion if they don't believe in god?
Q: Why do atheists spend so much time talking about religion if they don't believe in god?
A: Imagine moving to a new city where everyone believes that people with blond hair are criminals, and you have blond hair. Even though you're pretty sure the people in this city are wrong, you'd better be prepared to educate yourself about the issue, because you're going to have to deal with it whether you want to or not.
That's the position most atheists find themselves in. Our culture -- American culture, particularly -- is steeped in religion. Our population is overwhelmingly Christian, overwhelmingly church-going, and overwhelmingly distrusts atheists:
Given that kind of hostile environment, many atheists feel they have to be well-armed with knowledge in case they're confronted by an overzealous theist.
Other atheists simply find the subject of religion interesting, much like a literature enthusiast loves studying fiction even though they don't really believe the events in them are true.
Still other atheists were raised in a harsh or hostile religious environment and have bad feelings towards religion as a result. They have a rich knowledge of their denomination by virtue of their upbringing and thus are more likely to engage in a debate about religion than someone with no such information.
Finally, some atheists just like a good argument, and nothing gets people to argue faster than religion.
And as always, The Universal Caveat applies -- you're likely to get as many answers to this question as atheists you might ask!
A: Imagine moving to a new city where everyone believes that people with blond hair are criminals, and you have blond hair. Even though you're pretty sure the people in this city are wrong, you'd better be prepared to educate yourself about the issue, because you're going to have to deal with it whether you want to or not.
That's the position most atheists find themselves in. Our culture -- American culture, particularly -- is steeped in religion. Our population is overwhelmingly Christian, overwhelmingly church-going, and overwhelmingly distrusts atheists:
From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.” Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.
Given that kind of hostile environment, many atheists feel they have to be well-armed with knowledge in case they're confronted by an overzealous theist.
Other atheists simply find the subject of religion interesting, much like a literature enthusiast loves studying fiction even though they don't really believe the events in them are true.
Still other atheists were raised in a harsh or hostile religious environment and have bad feelings towards religion as a result. They have a rich knowledge of their denomination by virtue of their upbringing and thus are more likely to engage in a debate about religion than someone with no such information.
Finally, some atheists just like a good argument, and nothing gets people to argue faster than religion.
And as always, The Universal Caveat applies -- you're likely to get as many answers to this question as atheists you might ask!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Why do atheists hate God?
Q: Why do atheists hate God?
A: Atheists by definition are people who don't hold a belief in any god, so in their minds there is no "God" with whom to be angry. This is a bit like asking a Christian why they're so angry with Allah.
You will, however, often encounter a hostility to religion among many atheists, which is a subtly but significantly different issue than being angry with God. You can be angry with what, for instance, Muslim terrorists do even while not believing in the god they profess to worship.
Without making a judgment as to their merits, here are the reasons I most commonly see given by those atheists who seem to be hostile towards religion:
Those are among the more logical or rational reasons you'll find atheists promoting for why they dislike religion. There are many, many others, some much less rational and more emotional. Sometimes people who are raised in a very religious home will rebel against those teachings later in life, perhaps as a way of distancing themselves from their parents and perhaps out of genuine revulsion at the practices themselves. Some atheists undoubtedly are angry with what their family or community did to them in the name of religion, and thus reject all religion as a consequence.
Again, the Universal Caveat applies; you're going to get almost as many answers to this question as there are atheists out there. Including, of course, the sizable group of atheists who don't give a fig about religion one way or the other, any more than non-stamp-collectors care about the goings-on among philatelic groups.
A: Atheists by definition are people who don't hold a belief in any god, so in their minds there is no "God" with whom to be angry. This is a bit like asking a Christian why they're so angry with Allah.
You will, however, often encounter a hostility to religion among many atheists, which is a subtly but significantly different issue than being angry with God. You can be angry with what, for instance, Muslim terrorists do even while not believing in the god they profess to worship.
Without making a judgment as to their merits, here are the reasons I most commonly see given by those atheists who seem to be hostile towards religion:
- Harmful Actions: Religion is seen as giving adherents license to commit unlawful, immoral, or otherwise harmful acts against other human beings. Regardless of the existence or non-existence of the god worshiped in that religion, the acts themselves are to be deplored on their own merits. Religion is regarded as significantly more likely to encourage such behavior than other belief systems, and as such should be avoided.
- Harmful Thought Processes: Religion is seen as promoting non-rational, non-scientific, non-logical modes of thought that lead to less than desirable social consequences. One example often given is the effort to replace the scientifically solid theory of evolution with Biblical "creation science" or "intelligent design" in public classrooms. This lessens the ability of our students to think critically about the world around them, in turn weakening our country's ability to compete in the scientific world.
- Truth Matters: Strong atheists believe there is no god, and to allow significant social institutions to go around promoting an untruth is distasteful. In general it's better to be truthful than otherwise, and this is just one of the more prominent examples of culture promoting untruths.
Those are among the more logical or rational reasons you'll find atheists promoting for why they dislike religion. There are many, many others, some much less rational and more emotional. Sometimes people who are raised in a very religious home will rebel against those teachings later in life, perhaps as a way of distancing themselves from their parents and perhaps out of genuine revulsion at the practices themselves. Some atheists undoubtedly are angry with what their family or community did to them in the name of religion, and thus reject all religion as a consequence.
Again, the Universal Caveat applies; you're going to get almost as many answers to this question as there are atheists out there. Including, of course, the sizable group of atheists who don't give a fig about religion one way or the other, any more than non-stamp-collectors care about the goings-on among philatelic groups.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Universal Caveat
The Universal Caveat applies to every single post you will find on this site, and it simply states:
I speak only for myself; other atheists you ask might well give you a diametrically opposed answer to your question.
Unlike almost every religious group out there -- heck, pretty much any coherent, organized group at all -- atheists don't have a common set of unifying principles to which we all subscribe. That's because atheism describes someone who doesn't have a particular belief rather than someone who does.
Imagine trying to figure out what all people who don't collect stamps would say about a particular issue and you get the picture.
The opposite of an atheist is a "theist", or someone who does possess a god-belief. You have the same problem trying to get consensus on what all theists would believe about a given topic as you would atheists, because both are very (very!) general terms. Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Aztec Sun Worshipers, Cargo Cult members, and followers of Thor are all theists. Can you imagine getting the same answer out of all of those people about anything?
Atheists are no different. People who lack belief in any god have only that non-belief absolutely in common; anything else is kind of a crap shoot. So when you read the answer to a Frequently Asked Question on this site, understand that if you ask ten other atheists the same thing you're likely to get ten totally different responses. Such is life.
In short, this Caveat is universal but my answers are not!
I speak only for myself; other atheists you ask might well give you a diametrically opposed answer to your question.
Unlike almost every religious group out there -- heck, pretty much any coherent, organized group at all -- atheists don't have a common set of unifying principles to which we all subscribe. That's because atheism describes someone who doesn't have a particular belief rather than someone who does.
Imagine trying to figure out what all people who don't collect stamps would say about a particular issue and you get the picture.
The opposite of an atheist is a "theist", or someone who does possess a god-belief. You have the same problem trying to get consensus on what all theists would believe about a given topic as you would atheists, because both are very (very!) general terms. Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Aztec Sun Worshipers, Cargo Cult members, and followers of Thor are all theists. Can you imagine getting the same answer out of all of those people about anything?
Atheists are no different. People who lack belief in any god have only that non-belief absolutely in common; anything else is kind of a crap shoot. So when you read the answer to a Frequently Asked Question on this site, understand that if you ask ten other atheists the same thing you're likely to get ten totally different responses. Such is life.
In short, this Caveat is universal but my answers are not!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Welcome
Have you ever gotten tired of refuting the same tired arguments about why you're going to Hell, or why you're evil, or why you're bad for America because you don't have any god belief?
Well now you can take the easy way out! Just send your annoying commenter or nagging relative a link to the specific Frequently Asked Question they've just asked you, and you're done. If they keep giving you grief, tell them to "Take it up with the bald fat guy in Texas, he's the one who wrote it," leaving you free to continue your campaign to undermine everything that's good about the world.
As you can see, the site's pretty bare at the moment, since I just created it ten minutes ago. But, I hope to be adding a number of posts very soon, one per question. If you have a question you've always wanted to ask an atheist, or if you are an atheist and you have some questions you're sick of answering, please feel free to send them on to me, jhebert@texas.net, and I'll try to make a post addressing it.
Well now you can take the easy way out! Just send your annoying commenter or nagging relative a link to the specific Frequently Asked Question they've just asked you, and you're done. If they keep giving you grief, tell them to "Take it up with the bald fat guy in Texas, he's the one who wrote it," leaving you free to continue your campaign to undermine everything that's good about the world.
As you can see, the site's pretty bare at the moment, since I just created it ten minutes ago. But, I hope to be adding a number of posts very soon, one per question. If you have a question you've always wanted to ask an atheist, or if you are an atheist and you have some questions you're sick of answering, please feel free to send them on to me, jhebert@texas.net, and I'll try to make a post addressing it.
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