Atheism
The dictionary defines Atheism
as "a disbelief in the
existence of deity" In popular terminology, the term Agnostic has
fallen out of favor recently and is not
really used much anymore. Those people who profess a belief in a
diety call those who don't Atheists and most generally accept the term
Atheist when applied to them, whether they firmly disbelieve or claim
to be neutral. It is fast becoming the
catch-term for someone who questions the existence of God.
Atheists generally refuse to believe something that
has no evidence for it (see Skeptic).
The
distinction between an Atheist (does not believe in God) and an
Agnostic (one who sees no proof that God exists) is now more or less an
academic difference. Both invariably wind up on the same side
when a debate starts.
Claim: "There are no Atheists in foxholes" This claim is usually
meant to demonstrate that when the shit has hit the fan, even an
Atheist will turn to God for at least a quick prayer. The trouble
is that there is very little actual
research done in this area and what there is seems to suggest the
opposite; that when greeted with the horrors of warfare, people turn
away from their god rather than towards one. It is certainly not
the case that war destroys Atheism.
Claim: "Atheists have no code of morals." Morals, like religion,
are a human invention. Morality is what we call a set of rules
that we think should be obeyed so that society can benefit. These
rules began to form when mankind was just starting to form
communities. Religion was the wrapping paper we put around morals
to give them weight and encourage people to follow them. Even the
most ancient of religions still practiced today come from around
4000-5000 BC. Christianity is from barely 2000 years ago and
Islam is from just yesterday by comparison (600 AD) Humans and
their developing "moral" code have been around for much longer.
In addition, the moral codes of the major religions
have not been inviolate. While claiming to be the unchanged Word
of God, Islam, Christianity and Judaism has evolved, dropping some
rules and changing others to suit the cultural climate of the time, or
at least the evolving sensibilities of the churches. This has no
justification in scripture. Whether it was Gods will that the
rules should be changed or not, there is nothing written in the Bible,
the Koran or the Torah about doing so, and much that demonstrates that
bad things will happen if you do, yet it was done anyway. It was
done because humans DECIDED it would be better this way than the way it
used to be done. Atheists believe that God is not the source of
our morality; Humans are. Many of the morals of Atheists look a
lot like the morals of religious folk. This is not an
accident. Good ideas are good ideas regardless of who is speaking
them. The difference is that Atheists believe in the converse;
that bad ideas are bad ideas even if some 1800 year-old book says
otherwise.