In a world where mass shootings cover the TV and the world seems to be at war with one another, it is easy to see why one would not believe that there is a god. Over the past few decades, atheism and skepticism have grown in numbers in the United States and continues most predominately in the western parts of our country.
In fact, in religions surveys Wyoming is ranked number three in the nation for being a state with the highest percentage of the population that would affiliate themselves with atheism or skepticism.
The other day in class, I had a conversation with a person who refers to himself as an atheist. I asked him why he practices atheism and “what exactly he believes.” I was taken aback as he got somewhat offended when he claimed that “atheists do not believe.”
I found this to be a rather paradoxical way to explain a religious affiliation, so I decided to dive into it more. I wanted to know if it is really possible for atheists to simply not believe.
When we look at the Greek roots of the term “atheist,” “a” means without or absent of and theist (or theos) means god or deity. It is pretty easy to understand the basic crust of the atheist philosophy in that it does not accept a supreme being or a deity. However, do they believe in anything?
Some would say no. Atheism is simply a lack of belief as opposed to having a belief. Many would claim that they do not know with 100 percent certainty that god doesn’t exist, but they simply choose to not accept a god.
Instead, atheists tend to focus their morals and ideals upon things that can be proven such as science and experiences. It is a fairly compelling idea and one that deserves some attention.
However, when it comes to an atheist saying that their views are a lack of belief, I find that to be theoretically impossible. In order to conclude that there is no god, there has to be at least a small degree of belief and faith because there is no proof that a god does or does not exist. Does this mean that all atheists believe this? Absolutely not; others would concur with me when they say that atheists have faith that god does not exist.
However, the over arching theme that is understood by this is that everyone has a little bit of faith in them. Even those who are the least religious have some beliefs. That is why religion is a great topic, because, whether you know it or not, all of us are believers in our own way.
