Atheist.
If there’s one word that truly frightens mainstream, American theists it is the word “atheist.” In Europe it’s much more common to hear people describe themselves as such and it’s not such a big deal. It often just means “I stopped going to mass.” Or, “I don’t belong to an organized religion.” But, in America the term tends to have some of the following connotations:
- Dark
- Snarky
- Arrogant
- Depressed
- Immoral
- Mean
- Stalin-like
- Hates Christians
- Overly-intellectual
- Unpatriotic
But, atheism isn’t any of those things. Atheists certainly come with a wide range of personalities, like Christian, Muslims, etc. In fact, all it takes to be an atheist is to say that you don’t believe there is a god. Not that there definitely isn’t and no amount of evidence could ever convince you otherwise.
Now, technically, agnostics also say that there isn’t enough evidence to believe there is a god, but they also say that there isn’t enough evidence to say that there isn’t a god. This gets very confusing. I would say that the terms agnostic and atheist are often interchangeable. I think it’s rare to find a professed atheist who will hold the level of dogmatic belief that many theists associate with belief. Instead, they are what I like to call Unicorn-Agnostic (what Bertrand Russell would have called a Teapot Agnostic). Atheists don’t believe in god like they don’t believe in unicorns. They admit that there is a possibility that unicorns exist. But, that doesn’t mean that they need to call themselves agnostic. They are atheists when it comes to unicorns. That doesn’t make them close minded, that just means that they’ve made the best judgment they can with the evidence in front of them. Most agnostics act like they don’t believe in god. They don’t rely on the authority of scripture for their decision making. Often times, they’re just too chicken to use the word atheist. And who can blame them, really?
That is not to say that there aren’t genuine agnostics out there. There certainly are. One idea is that a deity is not something that we, finite, physical beings could ever talk about in a useful way. It’s impossible to test whether or not something incorporeal exists. Therefore, we have no way of knowing whether or not it does. You can search the world for a unicorn and never find one, and probability would lead you to conclude that there are no unicorns. But, you can’t look for god, in a physical sense. So, you can’t really know if he does or doesn’t exist – it’s unknowable. Voilà! Agnosticism!
I think healthy debate can exist between atheists and agnostics; really there is so little difference. But, I think that we ought to be more comfortable with the word atheist. If it makes your skin crawl, maybe it’s time to think about why.
I love your unicorn analogy… Everything is so clear now thanks to you!!
Unicorns explain everything. On a side note, narwhals are the unicorns of the sea… AND THEY’RE REAL.
NARWHALS!!!!! YEAAAHH!!!!!
It is a shame that there are atheists that don’t want to come out to their friends and family. I didn’t realize until recently quite how serious the rejection was that you risked facing. The friends I’ve made who are atheists have really opened my eyes on that score.
Thanks for your post, Scott. It is really interesting how powerful the word atheist is. I think that would have an easier time coming out of the closet in a Christian home as a Buddhist, Muslim or convert to Judaism than as an atheist. There are so many negative connotations with the word which just don’t make a lot of sense.
It took me a while before I was willing to declare myself an atheist as opposed to an agnostic and I don’t talk about it with some people.
I think that part of the reason is that, if you say you are an atheist, you are saying “I reject your world view.” That isa difficult thing to say to someone especially if their world view is intimately tied up with their sense of self.
If I say I am of a different religious belief that is ok. We were raised differently, in different faith traditions. We believe in God or something much like it it is just a different form etc… Obviously, some faith traditions are more open to this being ok then others but there is a lot of ecumenical spirit being pushed in the word today.
If I say I am agnostic I am saying “I respect the belief in God in other people but I myself am not really sure.” I don’t have faith but I have not rejected the idea.
To say I am an atheist is to say “I have thought hard about this God question and I think that you are wrong God, does not exist” and, by extension, I am implying that the time believers spend praying or attending religious service is a waste of time or delusional.
Good points, Fitzie. I find it ironic, though, that often the people who respond strongly to the rejection of they worldview are the very people who have rigidly defined worldviews. Now, I’m not one of these people who really wishes that all religious people would follow washed-down versions of their faith, so that they don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. I think that when you take a handful of things for granted it’s easy to see how some very rigidly defined theological frameworks are incredibly logical. Of course, I have a problem with taking those things for granted.
I’d like to hope that we could all have respect for each other and engage in debate to try to get closer to truth. I’m not sure that’ll ever happen, though.