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Atheism page

by Mark Humphrys.


I don't believe in the existence of God or gods, devils or Satan, angels, demons, or heaven or hell. These things are only inventions of our imaginations, and do not exist in reality.

I don't believe in human souls or spirits, or life after death. I don't believe in the existence of any kind of spiritual world or supernatural world. These are all inventions of the human imagination and have no basis in reality.

Well, fair enough. But so what, you might ask. Such atheistic beliefs are quite commonplace among educated, scientifically-literate people in the West. So why have a web page about it?

  1. Well, firstly I grew up in an environment in which you had to explain why you did not believe in the supernatural. Hence this page as an explanation. In particular, it is an explanation for those who knew me before age 17. Because I was religious before age 17. Like many young people, I was interested in the origin and nature of the universe, an interest which led naturally, at least initially, to religion. When I was 17 I finally read the counter-arguments, and became an unbeliever. But both before and after age 17, I had nothing in common with those (probably the majority of society) who believe it doesn't matter.

  2. So the second reason for this page is because, to a large extent, I remain interested in things I don't believe in (religions, New Age beliefs, Socialism, and others I deal with on my Scepticism page) - because I am interested in the process of constructing an argument from limited and conflicting evidence. Every hypothesis deserves its day in court, and should be picked over and debated endlessly. Silence or censorship have no place in rational discourse.

  3. And finally, perhaps for a political reason. Religion has caused as much grief (and maybe more) to humanity than any benefits it has brought. If people were a little less confident in their beliefs, and troubled by counter-arguments and doubts about their faith, then we may get the love from them without the hate, and the world will be a safer place.

Atheist or agnostic?

I am an atheist - I do not believe that God exists.

I am not an agnostic, because that is a stronger claim than atheism. It says that there is something special about the God idea that one has to be agnostic on it, whereas one does not have to be agnostic, say, about Father Christmas. Whether this is true or not, it is certainly a stronger claim than atheism, which simply says that the God idea lacks sufficient evidence. Agnostics are not more "open-minded". Agnosticism requires more faith than atheism, not less.



"The graveyard of the gods", 19th century cartoon by Watson Heston.
"Slumber on, dead gods, in your eternal sleep! You were created from the minds of men, and bear the imprint of the finite."
From Greg Erwin (died 1998).




Atheism


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My universe

It is interesting to list the vast number of concepts that other people believe are real but that I believe are imaginary:

  1. I don't believe in a creator or act of creation. There is no evidence that the universe was made or created by anybody.
  2. I don't believe in any of the miracles or supernatural events described in the Old or New Testament. These are just stories.
  3. I don't believe that any successful prophecies have ever occurred in human history.
  4. I don't believe that any miraculous cures have ever taken place in all of history.
  5. I don't believe in magic, ghosts, possession, witches, wizards, spells, signs, visions, or any supernatural or spiritual events, world, or beings. None of these things exist.
  6. I don't believe that any prayer has ever been answered in all of history.
  7. I don't believe that any god has ever spoken to humanity through any medium in all of history.
  8. I don't believe that such a thing as a first human existed, nor do I believe in original sin. I don't believe in the Garden of Eden, the Fall of Man, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, or the Exodus. These are just stories.
  9. I don't believe in the divinity of Christ. He was just a man like me. He never said anything that any ordinary man at the time could not have said.
  10. I don't believe in the virgin birth, the immaculate conception, the Ascension, the Assumption, the resurrection, or any of Christ's alleged miracles. All of these things are just stories, inventions of the human imagination. None of these things actually happened in reality.


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Earth seen from 4 billion miles away (40 AU, 6 light hours, as far away as Pluto).
Photo by Voyager 1, 1990.
This is called the "Pale Blue Dot" photo.
Voyager 1 is now 10 billion miles away (100 AU, 14 light hours, beyond the Kuiper belt).




"I am proud to be a human being. I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth - that we always make it just for the skin of our teeth - but that we will always make it, survive, endure. I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching oversized braincase and the opposable thumb - this animal barely up from the apes - will endure, will endure longer than his home planet, will spread out to the other planets - to the stars and beyond - carrying with him his honesty, his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage, and his noble essential decency. This I believe with all my heart."
- Robert A. Heinlein, "Our Noble, Essential Decency", 1950s.



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