The Religion of No Religion

Atheism today is on the rise. The reasons abound, but are any of them vaild excuses for the lack of Godliness that surrounds us? In my opinion, no.

I am not an expert on atheism, nor do I profess to be. The atheists I have come into contact with recently seem intent on one thing: preaching.

Sounds bogus, right? Not so. Infact, the atheists I’ve spoken to personally are often as heated about their message as any southern Baptist preacher I’ve met. Now, realize that I’m not lumping you all together (as a few Atheists I’ve met tend to do with Christians) because I realize there are as many sects and levels of atheism as there are denominations and non-denominations of Christians. There are many atheists or non-theists if you will, who are quite content to go about their lives happily as long as they aren’t bothered by fundamentalists or holy-rollers, and even then will take it in stride as one of life’s many uncontrollable situations or circumstances.

There are however, a surprisingly large number of those who want to ‘convert’ you to their way of thinking. They want the world rid of what they consider to be non-thinkers – (a term I hear used very often, as if we (deists) believe some fraudulent hype that will poison our minds as well as our water supply.)

They preach free thought and freedom from mind-slavery, an existance of answering to no ‘higher power’ but one of ‘reality’ (i.e. sense-mindedness) where if you can touch, see, hear, taste or smell, then it’s real, but if not, then it does not exist. Where belief is not a personal choice but a physical effect.

Tell me, please how these people are better than those they ‘preach’ against? They say that Christians are just wanting you to be on their side, that they want you to not think for yourself but to listen to and believe them instead. Well, isn’t that what they(atheist preachers) are asking me to do to? To listen to their point of view as if I’m mentally challenged and cannot decide for myself whether I believe in a deity or not?

Do you (you know who you are) not think that every (Chritian/Muslim/Jew/Pagan) does not have a moment in their life when they sit up and say, “I’ve been told such and such all my life, what do I personally believe? ” Do you think us simple minded sheep? And whether or not you do, how do you think to win us over to your argument by treating us as if we are simple?

I think the real problem here is not that you are worried for us, but simply that you cannot accept that someone else does not accept your personal belief system/way of thinking/ logic/reasoning. I think you take this as a personal blow to your ego and logic and I believe it is a mark of insecurity, one you may not even realize.

My reason for believing this is that so many atheists I have spoken to that have this ‘preaching to the lost’ method are former deists. So many have said, “yeah, I was raised Catholic/Mormon/Baptist/Methodist and then I wised up to how things really are.”

Many will use the excuse that they are so against religion in general because it is the reason for most of the worlds’ wars/famine/sickness/crime/etc. But I think perhaps it is just a cover for their feelings of hurt or dissappointment in a God who didn’t deliver when they expected or needed it most.

Now realize that, once again, I’m not lumping you all together. But I have noticed this pattern repeated in my extensive personal expiriance. It seems that most atheists who were raised that way (again, in MY expiriance) are the more complacent ones.

So many atheists I’ve spoken to vehemently deny that it is a religion in any way shape or form. Please allow me to give the definition of religion as stated by Merriam Webster : a personal set or institutionalized system of attitudes, beliefs, and practices.

Sounds to me like you got yourself a religion right there. A religion of ‘No Religion’ – since neither of us can prove the existance or non-existance of God beyond a reasonable doubt then we both, my friend are going on faith. You a faith in see it, touch it, it’s real, I on a faith of hope and belief that all thing as they are could not just accidentally come to be.

We live in a free country, free to practice and worship (or not) as we see fit. Why can we not just agree to disagree?