"Atheists Ain't..."

He is an atheist. There is something about that statement that sends chills down a Bible thumping theist’s spine. And it’s not that it goes against the theist’s belief that makes it so different because truly someone saying "He is a Jew", "He is a Muslim", "He is a Mormon" or even "He is a Scientologist" simply does not have the same effect as saying "He is an Atheist".

If you are like me and you studied in schools and universities where subjects like Religion and Theology are mandatory and you’ve been surrounded all your life by believers, chances are you have never met an actual atheist. And if you have, chances are you readily dismissed that godless individual as a communist, a radical cynic or just a person whose elevator doesn’t go all the way up. In some Christian communities, mere conversations with atheists are discouraged, because to entertain discourses and questions beyond what faith already addresses is considered sacrilegious.

I’ve shared with you in my initial post how my own loving wife nearly unleashed hell on me after I confessed that I was leaning towards the belief that there is no God of the Bible. Her reaction, even during our post-revelation discussion over coffee and crepe was still less than enthusiastic. And it was alright, I believe it to be a reasonable reaction to some extent because the common notion is that if you are without God, the belief system that would follow as a result may very well be the opposite of what morality the rejected deity represents.

There are a lot of misconceptions about atheists out there. It is not until you’ve met one or have known of one that was a former Christian who had sincere intentions of being a pastor that you start to at least be open to the idea that it’s probably not how you framed the philosophy to be. So allow me to share some of my own misguided notions about atheists that I have been guilty of, and as well as opinions hurled at me by people who know I’ve crossed over to the godless side.

First off, I thought to be an atheist means you need to have a firm grasp of Theology, Philosophy or the higher sciences such as Cosmology to be able to articulate your stand that there is perhaps no God. This is not so. As it turns out, all you need is logic, an open mind, and that integral ingredient called common sense to be able to gradually outgrow your invisible friend. My 8 year old daughter asked me one night why did God have to resort to a great global flood to wipe out all evil on earth when he could just come down from heaven, meet everybody up and, in my daughter’s own words, just say, “Guys, ok let’s fix this problem!”. I had a good laugh out of that comment. I think sometimes we’ve over rationalized the mysteries of God’s ways when all that is needed is to approach it with child like inquisitiveness and just ask, “Does it really make sense?”

Second, is that atheists live hopeless lives because they do not have any God to turn to in times of trouble and despair. Someone actual said this to me and I found that assumption to be a little offending. Any person who believes that undermines my ability to draw inner strength from my wife, my daughter, my friends and my family. I don’t mind it if people need to pray to a God for help to find hope, that’s fine. But false hopes in my opinion is not exactly a good thing, especially if you place your bets on a non existing being that is supposedly going to intervene in your behalf.

There are plenty other misconceptions and stereotypes, but I’ll make this as my last one; atheists are devil worshiping hell bound Satanists. I actually didn’t think that, but I have this feeling I need to include it here. While dictionary.com defines the word “godless” as “refusing to acknowledge God”, it also references “godless” as someone who is wicked, unprincipled, evil and sinful. It’s not like the word "gay" where it doesn’t exclusively mean you are happy. Of course worshiping Satan by default already contradicts the very definition of atheism, but still there are people who think the decision to turn atheist has something to do with being able to justify sinning. That is of course stupid. That’s like assuming that majority of people locked up in prisons are atheists.

I’ve reached out to some atheists and freethinkers in the internet and they are really nice people. They are parents, musicians, writers, employees, students and everyday people. They just don't talk to an invisible friend.