Religion
I was thinking the other day of what symbols like the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Invisible Pink Unicorn mean to me. They were meant to bring out the ridiculousness of teaching creationism in schools. To me, however, these two symbols of fake religion, meant to point out the arbitrariness of religion and the difficulties of faith, have a particular sort of focus in context. A friend (a believer, of course) once really argued with me that Atheism was just another religion itself, in the end reliant on faith. You can't prove the existence of god, but you can't prove the lack of his existence either. So, in the end, it's another leap of faith to insist on the negative, as much as the positive. However, take the Invisible Pink Unicorn. It holds the same status, cannot be proven, cannot be dis-proven. However, I don't ask all of you to define yourself in relation to the IPU as a major part of your identity. You don't see yourself as taking a leap of faith to tell me that you are an a-Invisible-Pink-Unicorn-ist. To fully describe yourself, you do not have to list off all of the gods that you don't believe in, Athena, Zeus, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc.
The only reason the label of Atheist exists is because Theists exist. The only reason for me to have any need to state my feelings on the matter of god or no god is because YOU have posed this question to me. YOU have created/continued/espoused these stories, with these characters and this deity, and then you come to me and say that it is only my faith that keeps me from believing in them? There are an infinite number of things NOT in this world that I am not required to have an opinion on. The only reason this is made to be so important is because it is so popular. Because all of YOU believe in these deities, I am forced to defend my stance of not believing in them. It's actually quite absurd.
This is a classic rant of mine that has been in my head for years. It is unfair to define atheism in terms of religion. I am just me, and I am full of thoughts and opinions about many things. I have no need to address that. I have more interesting things to think about.
...time passes...
However, lately, like an outside observer to my thoughts and emotions, I am finding myself more and more emotionally attached to my atheism. I am finding my Identity as an Atheist becoming important to me, becoming an essential part of who I am. I am not sure what this really means. But I guess it's a topic for me to revisit again. Maybe it is starting to become like a matter of faith to me. A central tenant of my world view that I openly acknowledge.
Am I developing faith? What would that mean for me?
-the Faithful Atheist
The only reason the label of Atheist exists is because Theists exist. The only reason for me to have any need to state my feelings on the matter of god or no god is because YOU have posed this question to me. YOU have created/continued/espoused these stories, with these characters and this deity, and then you come to me and say that it is only my faith that keeps me from believing in them? There are an infinite number of things NOT in this world that I am not required to have an opinion on. The only reason this is made to be so important is because it is so popular. Because all of YOU believe in these deities, I am forced to defend my stance of not believing in them. It's actually quite absurd.
This is a classic rant of mine that has been in my head for years. It is unfair to define atheism in terms of religion. I am just me, and I am full of thoughts and opinions about many things. I have no need to address that. I have more interesting things to think about.
...time passes...
However, lately, like an outside observer to my thoughts and emotions, I am finding myself more and more emotionally attached to my atheism. I am finding my Identity as an Atheist becoming important to me, becoming an essential part of who I am. I am not sure what this really means. But I guess it's a topic for me to revisit again. Maybe it is starting to become like a matter of faith to me. A central tenant of my world view that I openly acknowledge.
Am I developing faith? What would that mean for me?
-the Faithful Atheist