The meaning of the word Atheist
I was just pondering my set of beliefs. I identify myself as an atheist (who accepts the possibility of god/s, but considers them so unlikely as to be statistically irrelevant) but obviously my absence of belief in a deity does not define my belief system. So what is a religion, must it have a god? An afterlife? A moral code? Must it be a unverifiable explanation of things? Must it simply be an explanation of things?
I for example, think I know the feeling that theists of all stripes refer to as god, it is a feeling of wonder, joy, and happiness in the inherent goodness of existence. I believe this feeling is real, and also reasonable. I also believe that morality is inherent to existence and is bound to the physical laws that govern the universe, and is based on two precepts that have more complex rules of application (Rule A: Do not harm others unless they are harming you, and then only in a manner proportional to that which you have been harmed, and only to prevent them doing further harm Rule B: Help others when possible without causing too great risk or ill effect for you, though it is heroic to sacrifice oneself and such, it is not necessary in order to be a good human being)
I also believe that the rules that govern the universe (physics, chemistry, etc etc) are inherently good and because they rule the movement etc of nearly everything the universe is inherently good, and that goodness is practical, not because we define good by what is expedient, but because things are practical because they're good. Of course short term sometimes bad things can benefit an individual (theft for example) but if everyone stole no goods would ever be produced and everything would collapse, similarly many once pathogenic have evolved into symbiotic bacteria that work in harmony with their host because it's a better arrangement for both parties and serves both well... in other words I believe that in the end good will triumph. Similarly things like love are practical for a society and world as a whole, and are also clearly good.
I also believe that when we fail to be truly logical we usually also fail to be moral and vice versa, (e.g. Nazi's injecting boiling water into the veins of hypothermia victims just to see if it would help, even though it seems painfully obvious that, no, that's just idiotic) and I think over time we have been getting better and better, after all we no longer burn anyone at the stake (at least in first world countries) and it seems to me that greater tolerance on all sides is better as it's lest wasteful (expending effort fighting one another is a poor use of limited human life span) I believe the universe (which is by the nature of probability a vast record of itself, though one we cannot completely read as of yet) is a thing of beauty, a wonderful story and although I do not know where things are headed, I think that as we follow the pattern set out by the rules that govern the movement of things (which are inherent, and unavoidable, though not completely comprehended by us) play out the movements of the universe things will get better and better and as our knowledge increases we too will get better and better.
This belief system is nothing supernatural, I do not believe in what people refer to as an afterlife (though I believe our consciousness has had a permanent effect on the direction of the universe, which I suppose is a kind of afterlife) and says nothing that disagrees with any scientific fact (or widely accepted theory) but I think it does sound a bit like a religion. Is it?
I for example, think I know the feeling that theists of all stripes refer to as god, it is a feeling of wonder, joy, and happiness in the inherent goodness of existence. I believe this feeling is real, and also reasonable. I also believe that morality is inherent to existence and is bound to the physical laws that govern the universe, and is based on two precepts that have more complex rules of application (Rule A: Do not harm others unless they are harming you, and then only in a manner proportional to that which you have been harmed, and only to prevent them doing further harm Rule B: Help others when possible without causing too great risk or ill effect for you, though it is heroic to sacrifice oneself and such, it is not necessary in order to be a good human being)
I also believe that the rules that govern the universe (physics, chemistry, etc etc) are inherently good and because they rule the movement etc of nearly everything the universe is inherently good, and that goodness is practical, not because we define good by what is expedient, but because things are practical because they're good. Of course short term sometimes bad things can benefit an individual (theft for example) but if everyone stole no goods would ever be produced and everything would collapse, similarly many once pathogenic have evolved into symbiotic bacteria that work in harmony with their host because it's a better arrangement for both parties and serves both well... in other words I believe that in the end good will triumph. Similarly things like love are practical for a society and world as a whole, and are also clearly good.
I also believe that when we fail to be truly logical we usually also fail to be moral and vice versa, (e.g. Nazi's injecting boiling water into the veins of hypothermia victims just to see if it would help, even though it seems painfully obvious that, no, that's just idiotic) and I think over time we have been getting better and better, after all we no longer burn anyone at the stake (at least in first world countries) and it seems to me that greater tolerance on all sides is better as it's lest wasteful (expending effort fighting one another is a poor use of limited human life span) I believe the universe (which is by the nature of probability a vast record of itself, though one we cannot completely read as of yet) is a thing of beauty, a wonderful story and although I do not know where things are headed, I think that as we follow the pattern set out by the rules that govern the movement of things (which are inherent, and unavoidable, though not completely comprehended by us) play out the movements of the universe things will get better and better and as our knowledge increases we too will get better and better.
This belief system is nothing supernatural, I do not believe in what people refer to as an afterlife (though I believe our consciousness has had a permanent effect on the direction of the universe, which I suppose is a kind of afterlife) and says nothing that disagrees with any scientific fact (or widely accepted theory) but I think it does sound a bit like a religion. Is it?