Religion. It’s like a penis – it is great if you have one, but it is not appropriate to wave it about in public.

It’s a funny old thing. If asked what religion you are, how do you define that? Some people unthinkingly will fill out a census form, and list themselves as Christian, simply because they were christened as a baby, yet haven’t set a foot inside a church since they were a baby.

I want to take an opportunity to answer some of the questions posed to me in the past by theists who seem to find my lack of religion their business.

Why does it bother you some people have faith?
It doesn’t really. I hate the belief, not the believer. However, while some theists are quietly faithful, and while it may not affect me directly, it does still concern me because there is an increasing trend to teach creationism, for example, as fact. It is not fact. It is not even a theory. The definition of a theory is a hypothesis that is backed up by scientific evidence. So creationism is a hypothesis at best. For example, irrefutable scientific evidence proves that the Grand Canyon started forming over 17 million years ago. Yet, visitors to this natural wonder can find leaflets left by religious groups claiming it is only several thousand years old, and was formed by Noah’s floods. It concerns me that children are being indoctrinated to believe in a creator that we have no proof exists. The scary thing about this is they are being taught laws and commandments that are supposed to be the word of god, but they are the word of men. Greedy, misogynistic, racist men. Then, you get the fundamentalists. They can be found in every faith, I am not suggesting they are particular to Christianity by any means. However, its only fundamental Christians that have ever treated me as lesser in some way for being an atheist.

Can you be good without god?
I was once accused of having no morals, simply for not having a faith. This was from a woman that it was later found had conducted a 7 year affair behind her family’s back.  I know that it is not right to murder, or steal. I don’t not do these things out of fear of retribution from some higher power, I don’t do them because I know they are inherently wrong. I strive for the advancement and betterment of the human race. I can do this without some absent parent deity figure, thank you.

But you can’t prove God doesn’t exist
This is a favourite response from theists of all denominations. The saying, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” IS a tired old cliché and completely misses the point. We should also note that absence of evidence is not evidence of existence. If it were, then we may as well start believing in invisible pink unicorns too.  The overwhelming majority of atheists do not make the positive claim that ‘gods/goddesses do not exist’. Most atheists merely don’t believe the positive claims made by theists, that ‘gods/goddesses do exist’. This is usually due to lack of evidence to support such theistic claims. They don’t believe in invisible pink unicorns for exactly the same RATIONAL reasons.

The fact is, there is neither evidence nor proof, for any of the gods that are, or have been, worshipped throughout the history of mankind.  Many philosophers/theologians have attempted such proofs. In nearly every case they ended up being left trying to prove some vague deistic ‘god’. As attempting to prove, or find evidence for, any of the gods actually worshipped is obviously impossible, due to both lack of evidence and the irrational unsupported claims that surround them. Even then their reasoning didn’t hold up to logical scrutiny.

 My God is the true God
Feel free to believe in any old nonsense that you choose, or in any god/goddess or multiples thereof but, without evidence, don’t try and claim that such beliefs are rational (unless you are using the term ‘rational’ in it’s very broadest sense of ‘conscious’). If you are a theist reading this, ask yourself why don’t you believe in any of the thousands of other deities that have ever been worshipped? You now have the answer as to why I don’t believe in yours. What ever your faith is, there is a good chance you didn’t choose it. Cultural influences, childhood indoctrination and local religious dominance are the real deciding factors. If you were born in Southern India you will almost definitely be a Hindu. If you were born in Saudi Arabia, you will almost definitely be a Muslim. Rationality (even in a broad sense) plays little part in deciding most people’s religious identity. This in turn feeds the zeitgeist and so the cycle continues.

Ultimately, the exist of lore surround multiple deities from once distant cultures proves to me that none of them exist. If there was one true (or multiple) deity, then all cultures would have formed with the same theistic doctrines.

I am offended by your lack of belief
Religion is one of the only areas of human activity where to question claims made without evidence is portrayed as insulting, or abusive. It’s also one of the only areas where people are willing (eager even) to accept claims based on no evidence. People will continue in their beliefs, even where they are contradicted by hard evidence from the sciences. That is, until their religion itself eventually (reluctantly and far too tardily) bows to the pressure of such evidence and conveniently adjusts its dogma, so as to not look totally idiotic.

There is a reason why ‘faith’ is absolutely central to most religions. Faith equals belief without evidence, or in spite of evidence to the contrary. Without faith, the claims of religion fall apart like the illogical, irrational structures of fancy that they actually are. Faith is ignorant, unfounded and unsupported belief. In no other area of human society are such thought processes and ignorance elevated to virtues, as they are by religion.

I confess to scratching my head, when religions support the existence of a deity in some shape, which they expect their followers to believe in blindly, yet when one of those same followers purports to have spoken to said deity, they are shunned as lunatics or mad men.

Why are you an Atheist?
Technically, we are all agnostic, as no-one knows for sure. There’s always a possibility, but possibility and probability are different, and the probability is practically zero, given the available evidence or the lack thereof.

You could also argue that we should all be ignostic, as before we can discuss “God” we must adequately define God. If asked, I claim to be an atheist (or more accurately a secular humanist), based on the gods/goddesses postulated by humans so far. I am atheist because upon investigation I personally find no real evidence of the divine origin as detailed in any scriptures. But also, because I cannot as a humanist, take to my bosom as a daily guide a book of such low morals and degrading influences.

Everything that so many people think transpires from the supernatural, things that perplexed our ancient ancestors, have a natural and material foundation in the workings of our solar system. It is ignorance of the scientific working of our own natures and mind that keeps so much “mystery” in the air; and as long as there is a mystery afloat the ignorant people will ascribe it to the supernatural.

I am an Atheist because I know the Bible. I have tried it, and found it wanting. In fact, I found in the scriptures the origin of misogyny, and that it was one of God and Jesus’s main points to oppress women and keep them in the realms of ignorance.

I am proud to call myself an Atheist because of its elevating principles, its broad road to freedom of thought, speech, and investigation.