A case for atheism

A case for atheism

I am an atheist. I have come to realise that I was born was born one just as everyone else is. This includes you, your family and all your friends.

Others may refer to me as an infidel, others a lost soul, some might even think me the anti-Christ. These labels and others are quite effective at turning many a heretic into a believer.

An atheist, by definition, is an individual who does not believe in god. Going further, not believing in god does not necessarily mean that you automatically are certain that he (or she or they) does not exist. Atheists do not generally claim to know for sure what they do not, but we can, with certainty, spot bovine feces.

If reliable evidence would be found and a falsifiable theory proving the existence of god, then the atheist would start 'believing' in god without the burden of faith, but by the fulfilling use of reason in light of reliable evidence.

Atheists do not try to disprove the existence of god as his existence has never been proven in the first place. The atheist would rather point out the holes in your religion, which there are in abundance both in the holy books and the actions of devout fundamentalists and extremists.

Children are born not knowing of god and it is at a tender age that they get indoctrinated into believing that there is a god. It takes a lot to convince a child that god exists as they are coaxed into foregoing their common sense and the use of their senses to believe in the unseen.

As a child, you start to believe in god yourself as you are told that the unconditional love of your god will unleash his wrath should you choose not to love him back. It is like this in some traditional religions, at least.

A lot of us get the atheist beaten out of us from subliminal threats of social exclusion if we do not conform. So we give in to the beliefs of the elders and our peers although it goes against all of what we have independently learned about the world.

We stop caring. We stop asking. We already know what the answer is for everything. Who needs evidence when you have faith? Faith becomes everything. We start seeing manifestations of it (god) everywhere, in places where there is no such god.

We start to believe that he has a predetermined plan for us, which we have no control over, yet we still find ourselves praying to him. The atheist in each of us keeps rearing its ugly head begging us to see reason. Reason? Who needs such sacrilegious nonsense? It is pure blasphemy, the works of the devil himself.

We are told of a god who creates the universe, creates us himself with predetermined plans for all of us. Knowing full well what would happen, he still kills almost all of us to start anew. We are made to subscribe in such a god’s morals.

We are told of a god who then sacrifices himself to himself to save us from himself. We are made to see love in this act - an unconditional love that asks me to love him back for it or else...

This atheist in each of us challenges our faith. So we gather with others like us to convince ourselves of the inconceivable, and re-enforce our unsupported beliefs.

This column was inspired, in part by a quote from a prominent atheist and well-known actor, Emma Thompson where she says:

“I’m an atheist; I suppose you can call me a sort of libertarian anarchist. I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It's not enough to say that I don't believe in God. I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Qur'an and I refute them.”