About Faith

Religious people, especially religious leaders, talk a lot about "faith." They try to tell us that it's a good thing. "Have faith!" they say. They even tell us that it's the best way to believe (they even say "to know") certain things. Like whether Jesus died for your sins, or whether the gospel stories are true, or whether Jesus rose from the dead.

Actually, it's the ONLY way you can believe some of the things that religion wants you to believe. But is that a good thing?

"Faith" is also the only way you can believe things that aren't true. It's the only way you can believe in fairies, or Santa Claus, or that the earth is hollow or flat. Yes, there are people who fervently believe such things. And they do it using faith.

As Mark Twain said, "Faith is believin' in things you know ain't so." Or, more precisely, things that you SHOULD know ain't so, if you took the time to think and do some research. And even the Bible tells us that we should check everything out and only keep whatever passes the test (Saint Paul, I Thessalonians 5:21).

There are a lot of religious claims that you cannot, by the nature of things, check out. You cannot check whether God really doesn't want you to eat pork, or to work on the Sabbath. No way can you find out whether Uncle Jack really is in hell, or whether Grandma is really in heaven with the angels. But we have good ways of finding out whether the earth is only a few thousand years old, or whether there were no human beings until about six thousand years ago, or whether a great flood covered the entire earth a few thousand years ago. It's foolish to rely on "faith" to deny the facts of reality.

"Faith" is really just a nicer-sounding word for "credulity" or "gullibility." Christians tell you, "If you have enough faith, you can believe that Jesus died for your sins, that he rose from the dead, that if you have that faith, and believe that, and regularly partake of the tokens of his body and his blood, you can look forward to being with him forever in heaven."

Here's the translation: "If you are gullible enough, you can believe that the cruel death of an Jewish rabbi two thousand years ago relieves your guilt for anything you've done wrong, that this rabbi came back to life after dying, and if you symbolically eat his flesh and drink his blood, you will have a wonderful life, but only after you're really dead. But you have to be gullible enough, the more gullible the better!"

"Faith" is the same thing that swindlers and conmen use to get money out of people. "Believe me, and you will get rich - eventually, some day!" How is the swindler any different from the preacher or the priest? The only difference is that most swindlers do know that they are lying. Many preachers and priests are just as much gullible victims as most believers. But they cannot be excused. They should have been less gullible themselves.

Religion vs Superstition

The Pope has been in Africa this week, and performed mass there.

He urged the Catholic Africans to help their countrymen to abandon superstition, magic, reliance on shamans and witch doctors. They should rather accept Christianity (in its Roman Catholic form, of course).

It is dangerous to believe in such superstitions, Benedict said.

Indeed! I agree with His Holiness entirely.

It is dangerous (as well as emotionally harmful) to believe such superstitious things as these:

- sprinkling with magic water while a witch doctor says magic words will wipe away your faults;
- a priest saying the proper words will turn a cracker into actual flesh;
- eating a bite of magic cracker-flesh will make you acceptable to the gods;
- if a demon possesses someone you love, you can get a witch doctor to "exorcise" the demon by waving a cross over him and saying certain magic words;
- you had better participate in the magic rituals on special magic days, at least twice a year;
- you can ask holy dead people for special favors;
- burning candles on an altar has a magic effect and will bring you your wishes;
- a Jewish rabbi who was executed two thousand years ago for treason wants you to devote your life to him.

Yes, superstition can be a terrible thing, if you let it get hold of your mind.

Why believing in God is difficult

One of the big reasons that makes it difficult to lend any credence to a belief in God (and I'm referring here to the God that Christians and Jews worship) is that nobody can say much about God without finally talking in absurdities and contradictions.

If you ask probing questions of a believer about the God they worship, you very quickly get some statement like, "We cannot understand God's ways," or "God is inscrutable," or "We will learn the answer to that in the next life."

So why should we respect or venerate (worship) such a being whom we cannot possibly understand or even describe in a sensible way? Simply out of abject fear?

Examples:

God is supposed to be all-knowing (omniscient), knowing the future as well as the past. He also is all-powerful (omnipotent), able to do anything he wants. Apparently, then, he knows exactly what all of us are going to do (sin!) and he does nothing about it. He created a universe (supposedly for his own glory and satisfaction) and peopled it with creatures who he knew would disobey him and therefore he would have to condemn them to eternal torment.

If I were writing a computer program and knew it was going to crash when I ran it, I would not be a very good programmer.

God is supposed to love us, since he created us. But he sends storms, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires and all kinds of natural disasters to destroy and kill us. After having promised in the Bible that he would protect us from harm.

It makes about as much sense as worshipping a stone idol or a good luck charm. Actually, less.

Any believers out there who can clear this up (without telling me I simply have to "have faith")?

"Why do you choose to be an atheist?"

A Christian recently congratulated me on having given up the religion of my youth (which he rightly viewed as a "cult"), but then asked me quite puzzled, "But why did you choose atheism as its replacement?"

Here is another misconception many believers have about atheists. They think that one chooses to be an atheist the same way one chooses to buy a Dodge or a Ford or a Toyota - it's just a matter of preference or taste. And probably many Christians do choose their denomination in the same way: they try ("test-drive") the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Congregationalists, and decide which one they like better. And if a new pastor takes over and they don't like him, they switch.

Atheism is not like that. It is not an affirmative choice. One does not simply decide to be an atheist. Atheism is the natural and quite involuntary result of examining the evidences and doctrines about God and realizing that they don't make sense. Once you realize that, you are an atheist, willy-nilly. It's not a choice.

I suppose I could have asked this Christian, "Why do you choose not to believe in fairies? I can understand why you don't believe in gnomes or leprechauns, but what do you have against fairies?"

In a way it is like your realization that you are mortal, and one day you are going to die. It may not be a pleasant realization, but it is unavoidable. You don't choose that. You actually have no choice in the matter. Maybe I should have asked the Christian, "Why do you believe that someday you are going to die? Why not believe that the angel of death will pass you by?"

Of course, he might say, "Well, I AM going to live forever, with the God I believe in!" Hmm, yes, but you have to die to get there, don't you?

More About Atheists

Here are a few more misconceptions about atheists.

"Atheists are rebelling against God." Since atheists do not have a belief in any gods, such a statement makes no sense. Only believers could possibly rebel against their own god, and only believers make this statement about atheists. It would make as much sense to accuse a Christian of "rebelling against Wotan, Thor and Freya."

"Atheists hate God." Same problem as above. You can't hate something that you do not believe actually exists. Some atheists may hate the IDEA of "God" but that it quite different from hating God. Only a believer in God can possibly hate him (or her, or it). When you stopped believing in the Tooth Fairy, did you hate the Tooth Fairy? Of course not!

"There are no atheists in foxholes!" This statement is used by believers to cast doubt on the sincerity and firmness of an atheist's nonbelief when in a crisis situation. It is not based on any evidence. In fact, many atheists have served in the military, under fire, without feeling the need to acknowledge the existence of any god. There is even an organization of atheists in the military: The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.

For an excellent analysis of the falsity of the assertion, see this link: http://tinyurl.com/6reake

"Atheists want to take over the government and control our society!" I find this accusation bitterly ironic when it comes from a devout Christian. All atheists want is that NO special group - believers or non-believers - determines how our society functions. But many Christians are working very hard to make Christianity the basis for all the rules and customs of our society.

I suppose the Christian fear of atheists becoming too influential is based on the following facts:

• Almost all members of Congress are atheists.
  

• That is because it is almost impossible to get elected to public office unless you affirm your lack of faith in God.

• Both houses of Congress open each day's session with remarks from a professional atheist (whose salary is paid by the government) to the effect that no belief in God will influence the deliberations.

• All our money says: "We trust in ourselves because there is no God."

• School children start the day with the Pledge of Allegiance, which contains the phrase: "...one nation, without God,..."

• Government offices are closed one day a week, the day when most atheists attend their atheist meetings (Wednesday).

• Towns all across America are dotted with atheist meeting-houses, where atheists gather once a week to bolster their lack of belief in God.

• Believers who want to get married, but don't want a judge to perform the ceremony, have to find a professional atheist to do it, since God-believing ministers are not allowed to perform weddings.

• When taking a formal oath, it is customary to place the left hand on a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

• Each unit of the military has a professional atheist attached to it, to minister to military personnel and conduct atheist meetings. They are paid a salary by the government.

Obviously, the atheists have already taken over!

All About Atheists

Many people have quite mistaken ideas about atheists. Usually it is because they don't really understand what an atheist is, and what an atheist is not. Which is a shame, because it's really quite simple.

First of all, one must understand what a "theist" is. A theist is anybody who believes in God, or a god, or gods, or some deity. Got that?

All right, an atheist is anybody who is not a theist. The "a-" in "atheist" is just the Greek prefix that means "not" or "non-," so that an atheist is a non-theist, that is, one who does not have a belief in God, or a god, or gods, or any deity.

And that is ALL you can say about atheists. To say any more is to make unwarranted assertions. Because atheists are not a group, and have ONLY that one thing in common: non-belief in a deity.

Here are some unwarranted assertsions that people (usually theists) make about atheists.

"Atheists claim that God does not exist." No, although some atheists may make this claim, not all atheists do. Many non-believers realize that such an assertion is unnecessary. The reasons people have no belief in God may vary, from "I don't know" to "I don't care" to "I don't see any convincing evidence that would allow me to believe." Technically, a newborn baby is an atheist. We all entered the world as atheists.

"Atheists have no moral guidance." Belief in God has nothing to do with whether one is moral or not. A theist's morality may well be based on a belief in God (and God's rules), but workable moral codes can be derived without such a belief. And they are often more humane than moral codes based on religion. Probably the majority of atheists are good people, good citizens, and good neighbors. Statistics indicate that poor moral conduct (teen pregnancy, divorce, sexual abuse of children, violent crime, etc.) seems to be much more common in highly religious areas (the American "Bible belt") than in areas that are more secular (northern Europe). And the population of American prisons is overwhelmingly religious, with atheists making up only a tiny minority of the criminal population, far less than their proportion of the population at large.

"Atheists believe that death ends everything." Although many atheists hold this view, not all do, since belief in an afterlife has nothing to do necessarily with a belief in God. The Jewish Sadducees, for example, believed in God, but did not believe in an afterlife. And Buddhists believe in an afterlife, but have very little to say about the existence of God. Some atheists, like Buddhists, believe in reincarnation (which does not depend on a belief in God).

"Atheists see no purpose in life." This mistaken notion is probably a corollary to the previous mistaken notion. Again, whether one sees a purpose in life has nothing to do necessarily with belief in God. Many atheists lead happy, purposeful lives. Especially when an atheist believes (as many do) that death is the end, it seems to give even more purpose to the precious lifetime that we do have.

"Atheists hate religion and churches." Many atheists may feel this way, but many do not. Most atheists probably feel sorry for believers. And many probably are angry at the human misery that has often been caused in the name of some God. But surely we all should be angry at that, shouldn't we, believer and non-believer alike?

"If someone simply doesn't know whether to believe in God, he is an agnostic, not an atheist." Remember that "a-theist" merely means "non-theist." If someone says, "I really don't know whether there is a God" (the position of someone who claims to be "agnostic"), he is implying that he does not now have a belief in God. So an agnostic is merely a sub-set of atheist.

On the way to hell

Several of my Christian friends are quite concerned for me, I am an atheist. I do not believe in any kind of god, and I do not believe any of the stuff Christians claim about Jesus: that he was the son of God, that he was the Jews' promised Messiah, that he gave his life to atone for the sins of humanity.

Specifically, I don't believe that it does any good to "accept" Jesus as my personal savior. I see no reason to do so. So I don't. (I think it makes more sense to rely on my Fairy Godmother.)

And that means - according to my "born-again" friends - that I am going to hell. I will burn forever in the lake of fire and brimstone, tormented beyond imagination, for all eternity, for ever and ever. What a beautiful and joyful religion!

If one were going to believe in an afterlife, where good people are rewarded and evil people are punished, I can see where that would make some sense. And, as I read the Bible, that seems to be what many passages in the Bible say: we will be judged by what we have done, whether it was good or evil. At least that makes sense, and seems to be the sort of thing a "just" god would use as his standard of judging.

But no, that isn't the way it works, say my friends. Everything depends on whether you "accept Christ." I have asked them, just to make sure I did not misunderstand, "So you are saying that a man who has lived an evil life, committing all kinds of crimes, murders and other evils, who repents and decides to believe in Christ just a week before he is excecuted, will go to heaven?" "Yes, if he truly repents and truly believes."

"But an atheist like me, who has lived his entire life as a good person, helping the needy, obeying the laws, loving his fellow man, and generally contributing to the betterment of humanity, but who sincerely thinks the whole Christ thing is absurd, will suffer eternal torment?" "Yes. It may not seem fair, but that's the way God works, and who are we to question God?"

I will admit that other Christian friends are much kinder, and assure me that somehow God will find a place for atheists in his heaven. I don't think they have read their Bible or listened to the sermons at church, though.

Some of my Christian friends assure me that they are praying for me to see the light and come to Jesus. It doesn't seem to be working. But it doesn't seem to change their belief in the power of prayer.

What Good is Faith?

Religious faith can be a dangerous thing. Not always, of course, but all too often. It was religious faith that motivated the slaughter of the Crusades and the cruelties of the Inquisition. Religious faith was what led the men to hijack the airliners and fly them into the Twin Towers. In more subtle ways, it is religious faith which often binds people to false ideas, false hopes, and confining creeds.

I see two benefits (and only two) from religious faith.

For some, faith gives a glimmer of hope (even if unjustified) that there is something better than the world in which we find ourselves, an indifferent and sometimes threatening world, with which many of us are unable to cope if left entirely to ourselves and our fellow humans. It is very comforting, I am sure, to tell yourself that some supernatural, all-powerful being (who naturally has your best interests at heart) is watching over everything and directing it for your benefit. And that if you ask him (or her, or it) nicely enough, and pleadingly enough, and if you are very, very good and faithful, the laws of nature, of cause-and-effect, will be temporarily suspended for you. And even if your pleading does not get the result you desire, it must be a comfort to know that the creator and CEO of the entire universe at least considered your request. And to know that it was probably your own fault that your request was not granted.

But many believers do indeed find this comfort, and I do not begrudge them that. The only slight annoyance I feel is that as a result the believers generally think that we non-believers are poor, miserable, frightened, and sorry souls, joyless and pointless. Nothing could be further from the truth, based on my personal acquaintance with hundreds of atheists, agnostics, secularists and humanists. Almost all are happy, well-adjusted, accepting of the limitations of what we can accomplish in the world, but willing to assume the responsibilities of doing what we CAN do, with human (and only human) effort, rather than looking to the heavens for help while we sit on our praying hands.

The second benefit of religious faith was expressed well to me by a Christian friend. He assured me that before he "found Christ" he was a wife-beating, cheating, alcoholic son-of-a-bitch who did not care about anybody but himself. "You would not want to have known me then!" he told me. He went on to say that the only thing that kept him even half-way decent was his religious faith that God did not want him to do all those bad things.

I realized then the great value religious faith has for society, since it keeps people like my friend from being an annoyance and danger to the rest of us. I have had other believers (mostly Christians) assure me that if it weren't for their religious faith, they would be seducing the neighbor's wife, robbing convenience stores, kicking the dog, and grabbing old ladies' purses. "Thank God you believe!" I tell them. "You make life better for the rest of us" (who do not need the threat of divine punishment in order to avoid robbing a bank or raping a cheerleader).

So religious faith is what protects us from those Christians.

But that's it. That's all I can see as benefits of faith. And there are so many drawbacks, if you can possibly do without it.