Becoming an atheist

In my last article (why I became an atheist)I discussed my journey from Christian to atheist with the sole reason of finally starting to think about and question the faith.  I didn't really explain what kind of questions I asked myself and the answers I found. In the end it only really took one question... where is the evidence that my religion is true?  Of course the answer I found was a resounding none! But that wasn't quite enough because somehow, since becoming an atheist, I find myself rather interested in religion. I've learned a lot (mostly about Christianity) and continue to do so as it's really quite fascinating how rife religion is around the world, and in so many different forms throughout history. How mankind can be drawn into myths on par with stories written about gods and demi-gods like Hercules, Odin, Ra and so on, and how it has affected cultures and civilizations is worthy of investigation.

What is an atheist?
Before I move onto some of the things I learnt that helped me to transition, I feel I should explain what an atheist is, as this is often misunderstood.  An atheist is someone that doesn't believe in gods. That's it. It's not a belief or a religion on it's own. Rather it's a lack of belief. There is no doctrine, or set of rules or secret handshake. I've often heard it referred to by the faithful as a religion or faith. If that were the case then it would be impossible NOT to have a religion. As an atheist (or more accurately an Agnostic Atheist) I don't assert that there is no god. I simply can't believe in it without good reason.

Evidence.

I haven't found one shred of it, and no, pretty sunsets and the the bible are not evidence. A book written by multiple and mostly anonymous authors thousands of years ago. It is of no more use as evidence than the Goblet of Fire would be to prove the existence of Harry Potter, so quoting bible versus to an atheist will get you nothing but a sigh and rolling eyes. In fact, I would say that the bible is probably one of the atheist's best tools in a debate. Learning more about it has only helped to affirm my conviction that the existence of any kind of personal god is extrememly unlikely. It contradicts itself over and over, is vague and open to any kind of interpretation, has a very loose moral grounding (don't get me started on the 10 commandments), is bigoted and misogynistic and to be frank, is just plain silly. I've just recently found that it has a talking donkey as well as a snake. Anyway, I'm ranting on about the bible when I'm supposed to be talking about evidence, but I needed something to put her seeing as there is none.

So many religions.
There must be some reason why religion is so rife around the world. It probably stems from a desire to know about the workings of the world and the universe in a primitive time before the scientific method was developed. I'm sure it has other reasons as well. It's helped to keep slaves and women in place. It's helped the powerful maintain their power. It's helped the righteous get rich off the blood of heathens and heretics. But whatever the reason is, it worked, and not just in one culture. You can look at a map and pretty much divide geographic locations by religion, rather than borders. If you're in the US, you're probably Christian. In India you'd be Hindu. In Iraq, Islam and so on. And that's today. Going back in time we get more. It seems that a person's faith isn't a matter of which god exists, but where you were born. If a god existed, would he be that stupid in his method of passing on his word (or he just doesn't care)? How may sacred texts are there? How many creation stories, rites and traditions are there in the world. How would you convince someone that your religion is for real, when all the others profess the same thing. Again, it comes down to evidence. How can you demonstrate the truth of something without it?  Click here for a map of the world separated by faith.

Bible stories.
I touched on this above. Now you can take the bible literally, i.e. Eve was really made from Adam's rib and they were the first humans, even though their kids mixed with other tribes, The entire world was flooded and Noah somehow managed to take 2 of every animal on a boat higher than Everest, where the air would be too cold and thin for survival. Or you can pick and choose the stories you want to believe and call the "silly" ones metaphors. There's a problem with each. If I'm to believe the former, I need evidence. I would expect a planet wide flood to leave some form of evidence, but there is none. As for the latter opinion of the bible... if you are to pick and choose, how are you going to convince me, or even yourself, which of the stories to believe. You are simply picking the bits you like and leaving the ones you don't. Why even have a book? I could go on and on about things the bible says, how it contradicts itself and how it certainly CANNOT be used for any kind of moral grounding, but that will be an entire article on its own.

These are the main points that helped me to realise that blind faith is not something to aspire to and started opening my eyes, not just to the truth, but to all the harm that has been wrought on this world by religion.  Harm that doesn't only include the obvious such as war and inquisitions, but harm in holding back human progress and well being. Promoting a way of thinking that is gullible and prone to believing in anything without evidence. Segregation of societies and more. Oh, and wishing for the end of the world to come soon can never be a good thing either. How can you be of any benefit to humanity if you just want it to end and then condone sending people to hell just because they don't believe in a superstition.

I would propose that living in a world where blind faith does not reign supreme would be a wondrous thing. Aside from all the other benefits, there would be no more shutting off the senses from the natural world. We would continue to look at the marvels of the universe and through science and curiosity, unravel those mysteries... creating our own purpose and destiny day by day. We can increase our knowledge and intellect rather than covering our eyes and saying, "God did it and I don't need to know anything more than that!" Is it any wonder that countries that are non-secular and governed by religion seem to be the most backward? Could there be something to the countries that are mostly secular being more peaceful and and healthy to live, with lower crime and abortion rates?

Think about it.