What Is An Atheist?

Nan Atheism, Religion, ,

No_God

There are many people (especially Christians) who have a mistaken definition of an Atheist. They offer all sorts of (inaccurate) descriptions –quite frequently accompanied by negative remarks– most of which are colored by religious teachings.

From my perspective, I tend to think this happens because those who believe in god(s) are simply unable to understand/accept that there are individuals who view life … As It Is.

In other words, there are innumerable people who do not harbor ANY thoughts about Invisible Entities directing and/or influencing what happens in their lives.  They simply go about their daily living as Nature intends. They eat. They sleep. And during their waking hours, they fill their time with personal activities and/or responsibilities.

Absent from their lives is any dependency on some “outside” force to help them if they experience sickness, accidents, loss, disappointments … even daily upsets.  Nor do they concern themselves with events that are said to occur After Death.

Instead, they are confident in their abilities to face whatever comes their way. Good or Bad. Simply put: They feel fully capable of confronting whatever life has in store for them.

Merriam-Webster Definition of Atheist
A person who does not believe in the existence
of a god or any gods.

111 thoughts on “What Is An Atheist?”

  1. That’s generally the definition that I use. There is no objectively correct definitions, and other definitions are certainly acceptable, but if they use a different definition I may not accept that as a label I’d use for myself.

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  3. I’ve had conversations with pushy theists who will say stuff like “Well since you are an atheist, that means that you must also believe (this thing) and (this other thing) and hold to this specific worldview that I think you have. It sounds like they are getting that stuff from apologetics classes, and usually none of it is correct.

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    • I just realized that this is almost the same knee-jerk response when someone asks how many kids you have and you say “none’. they look saaaad and say, maybe if you adopted… or oh, I’m so sorry…someone actually suggested a surrogate mother.
      The religious folks have that same mindset, if you don’t believe, there must be a major problem in your life, you poor thing, out there in the cold with no warm Jesus blanket…

      Neither group can understand that it might be a choice and not an accident of nature.

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  4. Well, as a devout Muslim, I find all people who don’t accept the Quran as the true word of Allah as atheists. Christians in particular are annoying because they believe in utter nonsense and refuse to accept it as the fake crap it is. Without Allah and the Quran, all will burn forever in hell. That is an empirical fact which cannot be denied by anyone who can read these words in the Quran: “this book is not to be doubted.”. Allahu Akbar

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  5. Most animals band together for protection from other, larger species; our ancestors went to war against their own species. About the only way you can instill any measure of sanity is to let them think that Someone Is Watching and Taking Names.

    It did seem to work, perhaps too well, and now different religions fight each other.

    The bright spot in this, perhaps, is that it is no longer a terrible offense to announce that you are no longer praying to God, to Mary, to baby Jesus, Allah, Mohammed, or Hari Krishna.

    I’d really love to hang around for a few more decades to see what comes next, but if that happens, I probably won’t know what I’m seeing anyway. Or care.

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      • well, let’s just say that we don’t exactly shout it from the front porch, now, and if somone is fool enough to ask, then I’m fool enough to respond. But unlike many sects, I don’t think we go around trying to pass out leaflets and teeny car stickers declaring our beliefs, now, do we.

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    • But Judy!!! You are making brave assumptions about it not being an offence, not praying to those various questionable entities. Come judgment day you could be in for a nasty shock!!!!
      If it’s of any consolation to you, rest assured that I will be in a similarly embarrassing predicament there with you, and holding your hand.

      In the mean time, if you do weaken in resolve and start praying to Gods, I’d strongly suggest that you pick just one. The choice is entirely random, each being a long shot (I’m planning on Zeus as a fallback death-bed option, cause he seems like my kind of guy) because going for each way bets is a sure sign of insincerity and will be spotted a mile off by any God paying attention. Gods are notoriously jealous about each other and it doesn’t pay to insult the whole lot of them.
      Even an atheist knows that.
      In fact, especially, an atheist knows that.

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    • I’m not so sure about that…..”if you don’t believe, then where do you get your morals?” That one always makes me laugh!

      You mean if the Bible didn’t say “Thou shall Not Murder” you wouldn’t know it was wrong? Is it ok to beat people like slaves since the Bible seems to approve? The whole idea is ludicrous.

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      • Ludicrous indeed! Yet there are those who (apparently) have no clue and must depend on the “Word of God” to direct their lives. It does tend at times to make one question their mental capacity.

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        • Yes, we call those people “conservatives” and “repugnantcans” and there are plenty of them.

          “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public…” H.L. Mencken

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  8. there is that. And I’ve noticed that when the Jehovah Witnesses struggle up our 1/2 mile driveway, they always bring extra people, as protection. And a small child, so the heathens won’t use cuss words and scare the kid…

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  10. I think I have to pull you up on something here, Nan. You make reference to we atheists going about our daily business (mainly focused upon ever more creative means of fornication) ‘as nature intended’, suggesting that nature itself could really give a flying fuck (bad pun) about it one way or another. Worse still there is thus an implication that nature has some sort of intelligent planning going on ….. so one who didn’t know you better might suspect that you were awarding some kind of deity like qualities to nature itself, rather than it being the cheerful accident we atheists recognise it to be.

    For my own part, I do have an annoying tendency to be somewhat evangelical in my atheism, which renders me a bit self-contradictory. I guess that’s the way God planned it.

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    • **GASP!** To think you would actually read such **crap** into my remarks … 😮!!

      But to allay your concern, my reference to nature was simply a way of saying “we” just do as “we” choose to do … or as our bodies (nature?) direct. IOW, “we” are not dependent upon ANY external ghosts/spirits/ethereal beings.

      Are we on the same page now? 🙃

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  11. I can relate to agnosticism more than atheism, if an atheist is defined as being absolute certain there is no eternal “creator” (a word I much prefer to “god,” which is the basis of religion (a human creation and matter of faith, not a serious basis for serious thinking about what, if anything, lies beyond our reach). Agnosticism, to me, respects that we don’t know what we can’t know. However, any atheist humble enough to acknowledge that he or she only believes there is no god (or creator), but DOES NOT KNOW, also deserves respect, IMHO (but does that person still qualify as an atheist?).

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      • We’re all given names, but our names aren’t us. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” and so would a skunk, bu when it comes to the god of religion(s), I smell a rat. Beyond that, I smell nothing….but that doesn’t mean there is nothing beyond. Who knows?

        And with that, I’ll stop before I stink up the joint. 😥

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        • I just never get the feel that atheists understand that God (whatever that is or isn’t) and religion have little if anything to do with each other. Why must one be against god to be against religion? Religions are obviously the creations of men. This is easily seen in the pride exhibited by the men who created them like Moses, Muhammad and Smith. A lot of people claim to speak for the Lord. It’s hard to hear when your talking.

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          • I don’t really get that ryinger. The concept of God is as described by religion (many religions, hence many Gods) but is a meaningless term outside of that perspective. Religion can exist without God, but God cannot exist without religion.

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          • That’s fine. But I don’t understand what the word ‘God’ actually means to you. In what way is your God necessary? From your perspective what would be the practical difference between God existing or not existing?

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          • A fundamental force of Nature. A type of gravity or electromagnetism. A relation to the weak and strong forces likely to be discovered with the resolution of the unified field theory. There is no difference between God and everything. You asked me if nothing is a thing. How do you describe the bump passed over to get from positive to negative numbers?
            I’m prejudiced. I have a degree in biology. Chemist and physicist get to study the Universe making phantasmagorical claims of stellar processes millions of light years away. Biologist are stuck on Earth. Life in our existential plane is unique to this rock. Suppose that is true, only here is life. I would like an explanation.

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          • From my perspective and your description, I would tend to say your use of the term “god” is actually Science. UNLESS you actually believe a supernatural being is behind the “fundamental force of Nature.”

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          • Fair enough. I’m happy to go with the ‘God is everything’ line, but for clarity I’d just be inclined to call that ‘Everything’. And since we understand almost nothing of everything it does have a certain magical quality about it. But if we’re not talking about some intelligent universal entity I think that using the term ‘God’ rather clouds the issue.

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          • This is the part of atheist argument I don’t understand if there isn’t some intelligent universal entity what is the issue?

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    • mm, in a way, I can see your point. Technically, none of us can be absolutely certain that some “creator” (of us or this universe) actually exists. However, from my perspective, the entire idea was generated by humans to “explain” the unknown. There simply is NO PROOF of ANY kind that such a supernatural being exists.

      But this is a decision that each person must make on their own. It’s just unfortunate that so many are taken in by legends and stories and fables.

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  12. You’re so right, Nan … it’s just as simple as that. Some people need to believe that there is some ‘higher power’ in charge, for to do otherwise would be too difficult/depressing. Others among us don’t have that need … we simply cannot look at the carnage after a commercial jetliner crashing, or after a hotel fire, or a mass shooting, and believe that there is a deity with a kind heart directing things from somewhere in the clouds. It is simply a non-belief in the myths that others are comforted by. Nothing mysterious, nothing to analyze.

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    • and that’s where I struggle, Jill. Given the horrors, man made but especially natural afflicting not only humans but other sentient life, why is it a comfort to blithely believe in a benign overseer with some kind of plan thst makes the death of half of the population in some Renaissance cities due to the plague all worth it somehow. More logical is the concept of the omnimalevolent deity…and who would worship such anyway?

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      • It is perplexing, but that’s where “the church” comes in. “All those bad things happening? They won’t happen to you as long as you do what we tell you, for we are ‘god’s’ messengers and we know what’s best. So, reject people who don’t look, act, and think like we do, pray all the time, read the bible every day, have lots of children, and don’t ask questions … just do as we say.” The church effectively brainwashes the people so that they wear blinders, cannot or will not see the world as it is, but as the church tells them it is. Their minds are as putty in the hands of their church. And yet … how many church pastors, reverends, youth leaders, etc., have been convicted lately of sex abuse???

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  13. Fortunately, I feel no need to explain myself here. Most religions in the UK, and religious people, accept my atheism without argument. The one exception being the ‘doorstep evangelists’, (Mormons and Jehova’s Witnesses) who want to argue the point.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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    • I’m not basically a rude person, but when people come to my door hatless in the winter, bearing tracts and prayers, I tend to go all out rude. I so do not wish to stand there in the cold being converted to anything, so my tendency is to suggest they go home and get warm. and close the door gently in their faces.
      And I have learned from sad experience if you let them in, they settle in like pigeons at a picnic and you almost have to point guns at them to make them leave.

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      • I’ve had some interesting conversations with them, especially Mormons. I’ll talk about how they are sent out to be salesmen for a product no one needs, and that the church makes them do this not to make converts, but to lock them more solidly into the religion. I’ll talk about the idea of the hard-to-fake expensive symbol of commitment, and the sunk cost fallacy. Then I’ll throw in the “problem of confusion” and how their all-powerful god is such a lousy communicator that there are 40,000 different sects of christianity. And I may tell them all about His Noodliness if I’m feeling extra mischievous.
        After a good talk with me, they tend not to ever come back. I’ve probably been blacklisted, at least I hope so!

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        • On occasion I have “reluctantly” confessed to them that I am Catholic (raised eyebrows all around) and sometimes I admit my Jewish heritage (they usually go very still at that point and back away).

          One group came to the house one day when I was outside and unable to escape. They brought their guard child, and a “confessed and recovered’ sinner. That I had gone to school with. Who had been notoriously getting it on with a neighbor’s husband. And now she was staring at me very very hard, sending me blatant silent messages to not “out her”–and with that litlle kid watching, it would have been a cruelty to both of them. I just smiled and nodded. I really felt kind of sorry for her, being dragged through the muck in front of someone she knew…

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      • Shortly after we moved to where we currently live, we received the obligatory visit. I told the two fellows –in no uncertain terms– that we were NOT interested and to spread the word among their group NOT to stop by again. Guess what? We’ve not had one visit since then.

        Prior to our move, it was JW’s that “stopped by” our other home — and I used the same tactics with them. And it worked.

        Now I realize that some folks actually enjoy the chit-chat (bored?). I just happen to not be one of them.

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  14. Agnostics are fence sitters. I wouldn’t object to this if we were really talking about a 50/50 choice. But that is not the case. Any sensible analysis of the situation makes it more like 9 million to 1, and I don’t think atheists entirely deny the possibility that they might be wrong. They view it (arrogantly perhaps) as such a remote possibility that it is not worth seriously considering.

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      • Hmmmmm …. is nothing a thing? I’m not sure that calculation would stand up to mathematical scrutiny. Like the earth is either flat or it’s not, but I think the not case might have better odds than 50/50. On the other hand, if God is somehow simultaneously something and nothing, non-existent yet existent, then it’s a sure thing ….. assuming we can make sense out of the nonsensical, which, of course, is the absolute specialty of religion.

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    • Respectfully, agnosticism and atheism are answers to two different questions. One as to knowledge, the other as to belief. Truth is, we are all “fence sitters” as to actually knowing. The only question remaining and able to be answered is do we Believe. That must be answered by all of us individually. “Seek and you will find”. I believe God is there and available to the seeking heart.

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      • You’re correct. None of us can KNOW whether any god or gods exist … so on both sides it boils down to belief.

        Atheists do not believe in a god, agnostics are unsure but think “maybe” so they semi-believe, and Christians feel certain that such an entity does exist (as your last sentence indicates).

        The point of my post is that non-believers generally feel confident in their own lives and thus do not feel the need to depend on any external force to help (or direct) them. Of course, not everyone is capable of such self-assurance.

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      • I see your point, Barabbas, but, in practical terms, I’m not sure that I agree. If one believes or otherwise, surely the logical next question is why does one believe or otherwise. If one is to remain logical then the non-believer argument outweighs its opposite a million fold. If one is to substitute faith for logic then the whole thing becomes nonsensical.

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        • Oh ark… it’s really nothing that would convince you. And that’s not really my job. See Luke 16.31. Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. It’s all response. Both yours and His.

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          • So, it’s all about feeling, imagination and credulity?
            Why is your experience any different than a Hindu, Muslim etc may experience?

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          • sorry Doug, i’m just not that interested in justifying my experiences or why i believe to you. as if i could, or even should. my ‘story’ isn’t the one that changes people’s lives and destinies. Only His does that. have a great day. i’m getting ready for work. – Barabbas

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          • I see. So, while you are brazen enough to make baseless assertions regarding your god, the Canaanite deity, Yahweh you feel that justifying or even explaining your experience is beneath you.
            In truth you are little more than a coward who is unable to deal with reality without your god, but feel it necessary to lord it over others.( pun intended)

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          • Careful, Ark. You’re walking a thin line here. Barabbas has been polite and civil in his decision not to delve deeper into the reasons for his faith. And that’s his prerogative.

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          • Indeed it is. However, whenever he comments and introduces his god it is like a predator slipping a woman a Mickey Finn into her drink.

            His attitude always comes across as condescending and sanctimonious.

            You can see a similar style of interaction with Don Camp.

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          • Well, variety is the spice of life and Your blog your rules.

            Although I would be interested to know how you discern between a dishonest Christian and … well whatever the opposite might be?

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          • It’s not up to me to make this judgement. Having been on the “Christian” side of things, I can understand where these folks are coming from. Of course I don’t agree, but it’s been proven on numerous blogs that trying to change their thinking is next to impossible and frequently results in some pretty gnarly discussions (reference: “Rejecting Jesus”). I prefer not to entertain such discussions on my blog. Thanks for understanding.

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  17. I would argue, that most people go about their lives without any dependance to any outside forces. Religion is like some custom and not much more to the everyday people, who belong to this, or that church, temple, congrecation, or what ever, but gods play no part in their lives, exept when tradition demands it, or they are in distress.

    The hyper religious at least have more offten, than not, thought about their beliefs, while the ordinary person just goes along with cultural concepts, such as gods, without a second thought. In my experience these normal people who believe merely out of habit (no pun intended), get a lot more aggressive, if they feel the mere existance of an atheist in the room challenges their core beliefs, that they hold, but have never explained even to themselves why. This may of course be a very cultural thing, as I live in a very secular country, where religion is seen as a personal issue, so people can hide their beliefs, lack of any, but also, that they never even gave the matter a second thought, despite being raised and indoctrinated to believe something they have no arguments to defend, if ever questioned.

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  18. Religion is the root of all evil and has no place in the modern world, but it, unfortunately still does.
    As I was reading this post, I had a pop down on my IPad, saying an Okla. person running for the senate, said a couple using IVF (in vitro) were waging an assault to god. What on earth is wrong with these people! Do they not possess any brain at all?

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    • Have to admit I am squeamish about a lot of the “We gotta breed at any cost” crowd. IVF can involve painful and dangerous extraction of eggs from a donor. surrogacy is even more icky to me as it involves renting a body for a dangerous activity. If surrogacy is ok, why not agree with the new but in Argentina and facilitate a free market in human organs???

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      • Evil has been defined as That which causes harm, destruction or misfortune. That’s pretty clear, in my estimation. But of course, there are those who feel the word can ONLY be associated with the “something unchanging and superior” that you mentioned. However, this is simply a belief. Nothing more.

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        • So, for example, slavery was a GOOD thing because it introduced those benighted savages to Jay-zusss. (and taught them useful skills according to the ultimate Floriduh Man, DeSantossss). sarc

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  21. Pretty much nailed it, Nan.

    I do not think I am exactly like other atheists or agnostics. Some. But we do not all share the same experiences. Yes, I am open about the fact that I do NOT think there is a god. It begins there, but it does not end there. I do not believe in any spirits of any kind existing outside of the natural world or universe. Everything that would flow downward from a god I do not accept as reality. Pick a religion.

    I cannot prove that something (any god) does not exist. However, the total, complete, and udder absence of evidence of existence of any of the 5K (or so) gods leads me to the conclusion that none of the gods, or Jesus, or who or whatever exist. No heaven, no hell. Probably not an afterlife, but that is good news for some of us.

    I am the same man who was baptized, confirmed, and raised (and taught, often rudely) to believe in god. The same guy who sat in church and gave (lots of) money to “the church.” I am the same dude who had all 3 kids baptized. I prayed my ass off for years.

    I am the same man who taught bible study and religious education. I am the same man who was to be ordained (whew, that was a close call). I am the same man who spent a career in the military (and practiced all the religious things there). I am the same person who spend four years as an elected member of the church/parish council, two as it’s president.

    I am just the person down the street who has come to a conclusion. Believing in any god makes no sense to me (now). Period. My morality has not changed. I still treat my neighbors well. I still refrain from rape and murder. I love children and healthy happy babies make me smile, and not because I started consuming them for lunch.

    I am more than a little sensitive to this topic because of all the bull shit. A friend of mine sat next to me one day and said, “Well, you’re one of the good ones.” I did not respond, but, oh god, I so wanted to. But I would have been rude to her–a “Christian” who is rather demonstrative about her wonderfulness. 🙂

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  22. As a Christian, I agree. Atheism isn’t a belief THAT God or gods do not exist. Its simple non belief. I pray that God reveals Himself to each one of you. In His own way. God does exist. And although I can’t “prove” it to you, He can.

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