On a personal note, let me again express my gratitude to you, Dr. Oliver, for making this class available. I had to skip taking one of my core classes in order to participate, and I have been very pleased with my decision to do so. This class has been an absolute delight, and I have you to thank for it.
To my classmates, let me also say "thank you" for making this experience one that I will always remember. This class was a big question mark, but the pleasantly diverse mix of worldviews guaranteed plenty of interesting conversation and introspection. I simply couldn't be more pleased with the wide-ranging variety of topics that we managed to touch on over the course of this semester. Good luck to you all.
Why I am an atheist
The reasons that I
am an atheist are really quite simple. Long ago, some very smart
people wrote a book that revealed the unquestionable truth of atheism
that would endure for all time. Literally billions of people
-including most of my ancestors, family, and friends- have been
convinced of the truth of this book and have lived their lives
according to its dictates. My parents were atheists, as were their
parents and their parents before them, and I am proud to carry on the
tradition of atheism by passing it along to my children. Many
atheists have suffered and died simply because they were atheists,
and I would be dishonoring their memory if I failed to live up to the
courage and intellectual honesty that they exemplified during their
lives. Who am I to question the sincerity and conviction that the
great atheists of the past showed in the face of such persecution?
Sounds pretty
silly, doesn't it? That’s precisely because it is. Statements
like those above are the product of lazy thinking, poor reasoning,
and an almost total lack of critical thinking. Making such
statements in the defense of any worldview, either secular or
religious, is simply ridiculous.
While our exponentially growing
knowledge and finite lifespans place limitations on the amount of
subjects that any one person can personally learn, thus forcing us to
take the word of experts in any given field, we certainly aren’t
obligated to treat all “experts” equally. A preacher extolling
the beauties of heaven and a doctor administering antibiotics could
hardly be further apart on the scale of credibility. One has
evidence, and the other has only wishful thinking.
The tired argument from populism likewise gets
us nowhere. The fact that a majority of people believe certain
things or act in certain ways says absolutely nothing about the
rightness of the belief or action in question. Certainly there have
been countless times that the majority of people were exactly wrong
on questions as easy as slavery or women's rights. If the views of
the majority always constituted what was “right”, we would be
incapable of making any progress whatsoever. Unless, of course, you
happen to think that our civilization doesn’t need to progress
beyond our past missteps, which brings us back to the lack of
critical thinking.
Appeals to heritage are equally
unconvincing. Why do we never (or very seldom) hear: “My parents
and their parents before them owned slaves, so it should be good
enough for me too.” Our ancestors did the best that they could
with the tools that they had available. We can and should strive to
do better, as our awareness of how our actions affect the lives of
our fellow beings increases.
Who are we to question the actions of
those that have gone before us? We are their successors, that’s
who. We are the product of a continually accumulating pool of shared
knowledge, both factual and moral, so we had damn well better have an
improved awareness of how our actions affect this planet and its
inhabitants. We all stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, giants
and otherwise, but those shoulders are only a foundation. It is up
to us to build on what has come before, and hopefully improve on it.
Why am I an atheist? Because it’s
the only intellectually responsible position to hold. Because I am
not a slave to tradition, revealed knowledge, or credulous authority.
Because that is where the evidence leads me. Because I do not
believe in any God or gods.
Very nicely stated, David.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing us all how a hard-line atheist can be "strident" while keeping a civil tongue and a sweet disposition.