I believe...
> I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond Atheism.
> Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God
> is easy -- you can't prove a negative, so there's no
> work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an
> elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How
> about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check
> again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt
> definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery,
> order, goodness, love and a spare tire?
> So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself
> has to start with no belief in God and then look for
> evidence of God. She needs to search for some
> objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the
> people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at
> this searching stage. The Atheism part is easy.
> But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand
> something more personal, some leap of faith that helps
> one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So,
> I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no
> God."
> Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my
> life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies,
> rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be
> enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in
> the world and everything in the world is plenty for
> me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more.
> Just the love of my family that raised me and the
> family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need
> heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy
> every day.
> Believing there's no God means I can't really be
> forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories.
> That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I
> have to try to treat people right the first time
> around.
> Believing there's no God stops me from being
> solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different
> people from all different cultures. Without God, we
> can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where
> I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really
> communicate. I don't travel in circles where people
> say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and
> nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's
> just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or
> another two words that the FCC likes less. But all
> obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought
> up and my imaginary friend means more to me than
> anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there
> is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always
> fun. It means I'm learning something.
> Believing there is no God means the suffering I've
> seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the
> world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent,
> omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is
> just testing us, but rather something we all may be
> able to help others with in the future. No God means
> the possibility of less suffering in the future.
> Believing there is no God gives me more room for
> belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex,
> Jell-o and all the other things I can prove and that
> make this life the best life I will ever have.
>
> - Penn Gillette for "This I Believe" (NPR)
> Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God
> is easy -- you can't prove a negative, so there's no
> work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an
> elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How
> about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check
> again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt
> definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery,
> order, goodness, love and a spare tire?
> So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself
> has to start with no belief in God and then look for
> evidence of God. She needs to search for some
> objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the
> people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at
> this searching stage. The Atheism part is easy.
> But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand
> something more personal, some leap of faith that helps
> one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So,
> I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no
> God."
> Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my
> life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies,
> rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be
> enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in
> the world and everything in the world is plenty for
> me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more.
> Just the love of my family that raised me and the
> family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need
> heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy
> every day.
> Believing there's no God means I can't really be
> forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories.
> That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I
> have to try to treat people right the first time
> around.
> Believing there's no God stops me from being
> solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different
> people from all different cultures. Without God, we
> can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where
> I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really
> communicate. I don't travel in circles where people
> say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and
> nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's
> just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or
> another two words that the FCC likes less. But all
> obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought
> up and my imaginary friend means more to me than
> anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there
> is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always
> fun. It means I'm learning something.
> Believing there is no God means the suffering I've
> seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the
> world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent,
> omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is
> just testing us, but rather something we all may be
> able to help others with in the future. No God means
> the possibility of less suffering in the future.
> Believing there is no God gives me more room for
> belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex,
> Jell-o and all the other things I can prove and that
> make this life the best life I will ever have.
>
> - Penn Gillette for "This I Believe" (NPR)