What an atheist is, for Splendour

[MaxWeiss]

Note: for some reason, when I preview the post, quotation marks are always changed to ". So just assume " means something's quoted.

Splendour keeps posting all this weird stuff, and it's clogging the forum IMHO, so I am going to try to answer him, since he stated in one of his posts that he is just trying to find out "what makes an atheist tick".

I can't speak for all of course, but I've found most vocal atheists who have jumped on the Dawkins/Harris/Hitchens bandwagon to be similar to myself.

I don't believe that there is a god, or any higher power, being, or whatever. That's because I see no evidence for this. "Feeling" he is there or "knowing" or wanting it to be true do not make it more likely. Although there are many things that I don't understand and/or things which do not yet have an explanation--or may never have an explanation (how the universe began, for example)-- those do not necessitate god. The "god of the gaps" has been closed throughout history and these are just larger gaps. I would find the notion --if it were published in a science magazine-- of our universe being the singularity of a black hole in a larger universe to be infinitely more likely than a creator, because (assuming it was published) there is some kind of physical researched data which that hypothesis might reasonably fit. Again though, even if we find no answers, that does not in any way invoke the necessity of a god.

I do not wish I could believe in god. I find such majesty in the universe as it is, and I also see the irrational and pointless harm faith (not just religion, but individual faith) does to the world. I get "hope" not through god, but through seeing people be decent to each other and teaming up to do good things--because they know the benefits of being kind and decent.

I would discard evolution in an instant if new fossils and data and analysis showed it to be incorrect. Those things have shown it to be true; thus, I believe it to be the best fitting explanation we have and am sure it will continue to perform well under further scrutiny.

Now then, on to the false dichotomy of reason and emotion. Logic and emotion are not mutually exclusive. I derive much pleasure from my ability to make better decisions in my everyday life, and I'm sure my life is better due to the decisions I have made. When I have emotional needs, they are factored into my thought process and weighted appropriately.

I am creative and find "divine" inspiration just like anybody else. My analytical abilities and my ability analyze various inspirations or creative thoughts in no way detracts from them or hinders my ability to have such thoughts--it simply allows me to view them from a logical view point. I play the saxophone very well and find that my thorough knowledge of various scales and techniques allows me to better express whatever ideas I have while soloing--the fact that I can analyze the chord structure after the fact does not negate its beauty or emotional impact.

I consider myself a moral person. I have sacrificed many things which would help me in order to help others. This in turn helps me for many reasons: the emotional gratification I get, the betterment of humanity, and of course it makes me a person who other people want to help. I rarely lie because the truth just makes life easier. All of this also goes hand in hand with the philosophy of not doing things which you would not want society at large to do. It's all about reciprocity and the mutual benefits. I would act the same if laws against rape, theft, murder, etc. were all repealed.

The fact that I will one day cease to exist does not bother me at all. It inspires me to do what I can while I'm here. I figure if a person can do the following three things, he has led a successful life: treat the people you care about with love, leave a lasting positive contribution to the world, and be happy. Those three things will give you a good life, give those you care about a good life, and give the chance at a good life to future humans. After survival, I believe general human happiness to be the only important goal, since in 10 billion years anything we do probably won't matter anyway. While we're here, we might as well enjoy it.

I hope I have cleared things up for you Splendour. The majesty of the cosmos and the beauty of the nature world far exceeds any emotional high I would receive from "knowing" the god who looks after one meaningless pale blue dot.