Some people say they write for themselves, and some say they write for their readers, and others say they write for both.

However, I am convinced that everyone writes for themselves. Even if they write for others, they are writing for others for themselves. That’s right, our motives are intrinsically selfish. If you are one who says that you write for others, you do so to please your readers, but pleasing your readers pleases you. The root motivation is selfish. Selfish is not a bad thing, it’s a natural thing. Our root instinct is to survive, to preserve ourselves. Everything else we do branches off of this basic instinct. So yes, everyone writes for themselves.

I came across an article over the weekend which talks about how christians claim that atheists must have as much faith in the big bang theory as creationist do in an omnipotent creator. The following is my reaction to that claim.

Being an atheist only implies that one does not believe in the existence of a supernatural god. Atheism does not imply a belief, it implies a disbelief. One can be an atheist without having to believe in the big bang theory, or any other theory for that matter. So to argue that atheism requires faith because atheists believe in the big bang theory is illogical.

If a creationist wanted to argue about someone needing faith to believe in the bang theory, then the argument should go towards all of those who believe in the big bang theory, not necessary atheists. To imply that by being an atheist also requires holding a belief in the big bang theory, is simply false. Perhaps many atheist do believe in the big bang theory, but it is not a requirement to be an atheist, nor is it exclusive to atheists.

What I think creationists really want to argue is that it requires faith to be an atheist, or in other words, faith not to believe in god. Creationist clearly make this argument because their own beliefs deeply depend on faith so much that they try to justify their faith by saying that those who are in opposition to their beliefs also have faith, and therefore are equal in this respect. This too is false, as faith only applies to belief, not disbelief.

I am not surprised that creationists would make such claims as saying that atheist need faith to not believe, for the simple reason that creationists have already exposed their lack of logic in arguments where they attempt to defend their reasoning as to why they believe in god, so it would be expected to see the same lack of logic applied elsewhere. This is not saying that all creationist are unintelligent and completely lack reason and logic, as on some issues they probably do apply a level of these traits. However, I think on the topic of the existence of god, they allow their personal desires, preferences, and need for comfort to take precedence over reason and logic. Doing such, allowing our personal preferences and desires to dictate what we believe rather then evidence could be quite polluting and dangerous to our lifestyle, view, and understanding of the world. I will get into this topic in a later post.

The relentless wrath of revenge revolves a rage remarkably reasonless.

Each side tied to stride inside an eye for an eye however unjustified.

Lies disguise this senseless mess, an infinite regress, obsessed to penalize.

Victims vandalize and violate virtues guide when they too, victimize.

The prize? Everyone dies.

Creationists often say that deep down inside, atheists really do believe in god. However, creationists are terribly mistaken if they actually believe this, because atheists do not believe in god, and they are not hiding a secret belief about god. I feel that creationist say this just to deemphasize their own doubts. I rather think that creationists themselves deep down inside do not really believe there is a god. But they do not want anyone to know that, because it could belittle their efforts of faith, which their church leaders try so hard to enforce in order to keep control of their members suspicions. In order to go to heaven within this religious organization, members are required to go around everyday putting on a show of faith. Some go as far as to actually convince themselves that what they are required to believe in based on faith is actually true and they really start believing. When this happens, the religious organizations intentions have succeeded. They have successfully brainwashed their subject.

It is apparent though, that belief in god is dependant on faith. That is, it is without evidence. You can be sure though that the creationist will argue that they have had supernatural affirming experiences which were evidence enough to convince them. Yea, right. Nevertheless, I hesitate to think that they could be completely without doubt, as they claim they are not.

I also find it quite curious and suspicious that these supernatural affirming experiences are always experienced individually, and that one experience cannot be experienced or shared by a group of people at once. For example, God always speaks to believers individually, instead of all at once? Why is there never a conversation with god that is held between god and more then one person? I think it because these experiences are people conversing with themselves and is heavily reliant on confirmation bias.

If someone actually is so sure about their beliefs, then they wouldn’t necessarily have to “believe” based on faith, they would more often then not, “know.” But they don’t know, so despite their show of confidence, they do have doubts. Though they will not admit to it, they know it and are willing to sacrifice the truth in exchange for comfort and belonging. They are simply not keeping it real. You will find that creationists rarely admit to having doubts. Atheist and scientist are open and honest to say that science does not have all the answers, and that we are working on figuring out all that we do not know.

One who “knows” also knows to admit what the do not know. Anyone who claims to have all the answers, I am rather skeptical of.

Not only are religious members required to suppress their doubts, they are also often required to spread their particular religions word to others. It reminds me of those junk chain mails you get in your inbox. For every 5 people you forward the e-mail to, you will get a token of good luck or happiness back. Not surprisingly, the contents of many of these chain mails are of a religious nature.

Some may say, “Who cares? Why not just let them be? Even if you are right, why must you impose on them?” For one, if I were imposing, why is not okay for a non-believer to impose, while it has been okay for centuries for the religious to impose their beliefs on others? Second, I do not wish to impose, but I do care about people and their well-being. Let me refer to a smoking analogy that somebody recently introduced me to that goes something like this, “When smoking, people say they feel less stressed, comfortable, warm, relaxed, and at ease - but the truth is, smoking is not good for you, and the confirmed smoker will know this and it is in the back of his mind, but he is unable to give it up using all manner of justification to keep going because he is feeble. Not only is his smoking bad for him, but it is bad for the others around him. Everyone around him is subject to his second-hand smoke.

My biggest turning point of how I understand the world and the people in it was at an early age when I pondered that around the world there are different cultures, values, religions, etc… and all of the people in their respective environments believe in their ways just as feverishly as those in other environments. At that point, it was obvious to me that we are conditioned by our surroundings, by our environments. This also led me to be a determinist. Same with religion, in each religion, the members equally believe in their god just as much as the other religion, and none of them are able to show that their view is the absolute right and real one. This made it obvious to me that men made religion and god to serve men’s desires.

I think it is quite curious that theists have to use heaven as their motivation to act “good.” If they are only acting good because they want to go to heaven, is the act really good? I mean, after all, their motivation is selfish. They don’t act good for god, they do it because they want to go to heaven and live forever. God is going to reward them for that and then punish non-believers for using their brains that he gave them? Curious indeed.

Obviously, non-believers do not act “good” or “rightly” because we think we will go to heaven if we do. We do it because we think it is simply the right thing to do. If there were a god, wouldn’t he see these acts more honorably then that of those just doing them for the reward?

Unless I am asked, I see no reason to volunteer that I am not a football fan, or that I do not play golf, or that I don’t believe in fairies. There are not even labels for positions like these like there is for not believing in god (atheism). I think that the fact that the term “atheism” exists shows the dominance of the creationist and theist beliefs. Not a dominance that the belief is based on truth or is right, just that the theistic creationist view is so widely held as to have a term or label for those that do not share their belief.

Creationists whine and complain about the modern atheist voicing their views and opinions to the public. You have to be kidding me. The creationists make great attempts to spread their beliefs like they are car salesmen and they do so as though the information were factual, and then expect us to keep quiet about it? Only fiction needs to be wrapped, packaged, and sold like such, for truth requires no such preparation, and it is available to everyone as is. It is a persons right to voice their opinions in respect for the pursuit of truth, and that is what atheists are doing.

Creationists claim that the atheist view is a negative one. This is simply incorrect. Atheists hold the default value of “0″ if you will. The creationist view is the positive one, +1. They are the one claiming something exists, not atheist. The burden of proof lies on the creationist. It’s interesting how often creationist expect atheist to defend the atheist non-belief. However, there isn’t much to defend for non-belief. The most an atheist can do is to show creationist the small probability rate of the creationist view, show the scientific evidence that there is a greater chance of natural means, and point out the fallacies in their logic, or sometimes lack of logic.

As a non-believer what is there to talk about? I mean, how can one continue to discuss not believing in something? The answer relates to the importance of defending truth, reason, logic and science. Creationists commonly say that atheists are without moral values because we are without religion and god. This is untrue. Moral values do not come from religion or god, moral values are created by man, just as god and religion are. Inspirational moral stories are thrown into religion to make religion sell. Without religion, morals are still in place as long as man is in place.

When atheists speak out, it is not only to defend the right to not believe in god, but to protect the sincere pursuit of truth and to protect and educate others about religions concealed fiction. Atheists want to keep it real. They value honesty, and appreciate the natural beauty of the world for what it is. Free of artificial flavors and additives if you will. Atheists do not want the wool pulled over people’s eyes, because atheists care. Now, do these actions sound amoral to you?

God is a mythological supernatural being imagined by man to fill in the gaps to the questions about the universe and humanity that man himself has been unable to answer. One who believes in this mythical god is comforted by convincing himself that “it must be god’s doing” to any question the man does not have an answer for. This “catch all” answer allows a believer the freedom of not having to think or figure out things for themselves. Rather then labeling unknowns as “unknown,” a believer will label these things as “god’s doing.”

As science uncovers new evidence to explain the unknowns, the gaps where god used to be assigned are closed. However, because believers become dependent on the convenience of god, they often dispute new evidences so to allow their belief in god to continue on.

Theists often claim that a lack of belief in god removes one of hope, causes one to be cold, full of despair, and results in a lack of motivation to live ones life. However, on the contrary, I find quite the opposite is true, it is because atheists lack in belief of god, that allows atheists to focus and appreciate reality, nature, the nature of nature, the cosmos, and the reality of ones one and only life.

From my experience, a life without belief in god actually allows one to live a fuller and truer life. Knowing that when we die, that it’s over, motivates you to live a fuller and richer life, because that is all you have, one life, one chance to live. Because atheists do not believe in an afterlife, they appreciate and acknowledge the importance and significance of the life they have to live here and now.

It seems that it might be the case that theist have the potential to get so caught up in their belief in god and in an afterlife, that they to a degree, may possibly deemphasize or have less respect for their life in reality.

While a theists belief in god and theism seems to give their life meaning, atheist find meaning in their lives through natural means and often even within the very search to find meaning. The thrill is in the chase. It takes bravery and honesty to be an atheist. You have to admit to yourself that this is your only life, and make the best of it. It’s also the road less traveled because to so many, it would be harder. You have to find the answers yourself, you have think and reason. All of life’s answers aren’t handed to you in an instructional book, like the books theist refer to. That is just too good and easy to be true.

Today I received the book “The God Delusion” in paperback by Richard Dawkins. It came in the mail from Amazon.com. I ordered it on Dec 30th, and received it today Jan 3rd. The free shipping was fast! I’m looking forward to diving into this.