Interesting posts from Harry and Scavella about religion and the labels of “atheist” or “agnostic.”
For me, it’s been a revelation to consider myself an atheist. I wasn’t always. When I met Steve, it was an issue for me that he was an atheist and I was… not. It’s hard for me to say what religion I was since I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic university, but I could never really believe in the idea of a Messiah.
In any case, I believed in god, a singular entity who cared desperately about me and everyone else.
And now I don’t.
And, here’s the important part, I’m a better person for it. No longer do I have some vague notion of it all coming right in the end. No longer do I have any belief that the ends justify the means, that god will reward the righteous, that the bad guys will get what’s coming. I don’t believe in a plan. I don’t believe in an afterlife. I believe this is all we’ve got.
And I believe that it’s up to me to make it the best world I can.
Before, I thought I had some vague duty to be a good person, but I didn’t think it was all on me. Bad things that happened? Well, it was part of some grand scheme. I knew that evil things wouldn’t happen for no reason. I knew that god had to have it all worked out.
Oh, and the poor are always with us, of course. Isn’t it great that they will find their succor in heaven?
I’m an atheist. I could weasel out and say, “Oh, maybe. Maybe.” I could claim agnosticism. What would that serve? A handful of people might like me better, but my family would like me better if I were a republican, and I’m not willing to say that, either.
I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in any god. I’m not unsure if I believe; I don’t believe. My mind could be changed with a boatload of evidence, but that doesn’t make me agnostic. I don’t care to get up in anyone’s face about their beliefs, but that doesn’t make me agnostic.
Am I 100% certain? No. But I’m not 100% certain of anything. I’m not 100% certain I exist. I’m not 100% certain I want to.
Okay, I am 100% certain the Yankees are evil. So I’m not 100% certain of 99.99% of things that I claim as truth, as real, as proven.
If not being 100% certain makes me a non-atheist, then not being 100% certain made me a non-theist. Because I had doubts then, bigger ones than now. Then I could only ask “Why does this happen?” Now I can answer “Because you and I haven’t stopped it yet.”
If not being 100% certain makes me a non-atheist, then not being 100% certain made me a non-theist. Because I had doubts then, bigger ones than now. Then I could only ask “Why does this happen?” Now I can answer “Because you and I haven’t stopped it yet.”
Well, fair enough. I like the word “non-theist”.
And whatever a person believes, I think your answer is the right one.
Nice post. I am an atheist of 1-2 years. I was an agnostic before and labeled as a Christian before that. It’s been a transition (as is all of life) into atheism (over a period of years) as I have taken the time to grow, study, and not beat up on myself. Welcome and enjoy a strong, sufficient and moral atheistic you.
“Okay, I am 100% certain the Yankees are evil.”
OK–that just made me snort orange juice. LOL.
Non-theist. I like that very much.
I used to call myself a “Secular Christian.” Now I call myself a “Militant Darwinist.” (There’s an essay about that shift somewhere on my blog.)
And always an atheist.
But for the use of Steve’s name in this post, I believe it could have been written by me! I agree with every single word!!!
The other night at dinner I mentioned to some of Mary’s family how I thought it was funny that those of us who don’t believe in some omnipresent, all powerful being have a name, yet those of us who don’t believe in the tooth fairy, or Santa Claus, don’t.
It *does* make it harder, I have to say, when you lose someone you love. You can’t console yourself with “ah, but she’s better off now; she’s in heaven”. Still, she (my mom) didn’t believe either.
Sometimes, I have to shake my head in wonder at the people who say they do believe. It boggles my mind.
Julie, great post. I’ve been an atheist since I was 20 and grew up very Catholic, like you.
I do not believe that not being 100% certain makes you a non-atheist. In my understanding of atheism, atheists are willing to accept a truth based on facts and if new facts present themselves, then they are accepted as such, therefore the belief is constantly evolving. In my mind, to be 100% certain would be to go against what atheism stands for.