Jun 17

Written by: Skeptic
6/17/2008 2:49 PM

Why am I an atheist?  Because I have seen no evidence of a god.

Why am I an activist?

 This is the more pertinent question. The first question has an obvious answer especially to fellow atheists. I do not believe in god for the same reason that I don not believe Elvis is alive. There is no evidence. Being an atheist is easy and frankly it is intellectually honest. It does require one thing that faith does not; it requires thought.  Faith does not require thought. Faith requires…well…faith.  The word itself is almost immoral and I would not take anything in my life on faith.  Sure, I have heard all of the arguments from deists who say that they have contemplated their faith and thought about it rationality and have chosen to stick with it.  I argue that this is not true. If they have chosen to stick with it then they are not at all being intellectually honest.  Faith is the opposite if intellectual honesty. Claiming you know something because you can feel it, is not at all knowing something.  The overwhelming feeling you get from your religion is not evidence of anything but the fact that you feel good about your faith.

So, back the the why I am an activist; well I suppose I am not really an activist as I do not march against churches and I do not protest against the Vatican. Most of the people I know and am friends with have faith as a part of their lives. I am really just someone who vocalizes himself in this area. This is not even an argument against organized religion; I will save that for another day as organised religion is a separate enemy.  This is an argument against individual faith, that is, people possessing beliefs which are based on no evidence or based on feelings.  Every person who has faith is an enabler of others in doing so.  The more that we speak out against these ancient superstitions the more ridiculous they become,  the more people laugh at the ideas of faith as they do when somebody says they saw bigfoot or were abducted by aliens the more ridiculous their ideas seem. This is an important step in marginalizing these beliefs.  I am not advocating calling people names or poking fun at people who have faith but I am supporting the promotion of critical thought and science as these things serve to break down irrationality and enlighten people. 

The more people choose to ignore the realities of evolution or other sciences, the more on the fringe their beliefs become. Science and society move ahead and faith does not; or if it does it is extremely slow. People who hold on to faith enable those who demand equal time for Intelligent Design. People who hold on to faith enable those who kill in the name of it. People who hold on to faith enable those who prevent condoms being distributed in Africa and people who hold on to faith prevent 150 cells which have the ability to become anything from being studied and used to benefit humanity. Worst of all, people who hold on to faith live their lives outside of reality and they enable their children and others to do the same.

Copyright ©2008 Skeptic

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