I was at a show the other night and told my friend that another friend from an atheist message board I am on was coming to the show. My friend kinda laughed and asked what we talk about. Not that she didn't understand atheism, but rather, why do we have anything to talk about? We don't believe in God! Why are we going on and on about what we DON'T believe in?
Ricky Gervais put it so perfectly in the first episode of Extras, when, after being asked to defend his atheism he said something like "No, the burden of proof is on YOU," referring to the believer.
What is with us atheists who can't stop talking about how God doesn't exist? I'm sure believers would be quick to say that it's because we feel threatened. There is some truth to that, but not threatened by the power of their God or their faith, as they'd like to think. But rather the oppression that can be foisted upon you as a non-believer. People can think pretty poorly of you if you don't believe in something. Even the most liberal agnostics will frown as if we've gone too far by not believing at all. Like our souls are black holes with no hope for the future. So are we talking about it to justify our position?
Why do I think about it so much? Why do I spend so much time puzzling over something that I don't believe in? I think it's because, believer or not, gods and religions are something we're surrounded in. It poses so many questions that I feel I can't help but think about it. Being constantly confronted with people believing in something you believe to be a grand farce perpetuated by the human ego, is frustrating! It's like sitting back and watching everyone drink the Kool-Aid.
When someone talks about being blessed because they missed in a plane that hit the World Trade Centre, which is indirectly saying that those aboard were NOT blessed, it aggravates me to see someone spouting out such self serving tripe so I can't help but evaluate and dissect why that notion is utter crap.
Furthermore, it's a fascinating topic. What makes such great numbers seek the existence of a god? So it becomes a game to find all the things that don't add up, and still people hold a belief.
I use to think Agnostics were wishy washy people who just didn't believe in organized religion or couldn't be bothered thinking about anything, but said they believed in something "just in case." I've more recently realized that while some are simply disinterested, many think about it but just hold out that there is just no way they can be sure there isn't a god. When I look at that diplomatic stand point, I wonder whether or not I should ease up and open up to the possibility that there is something that I will never be able to understand. But all my logic argues against any existence and I just can't do it. Am I as bad as a determined believer, only determined to disbelieve? I don't want to argue against the unknown, but to me it's like saying, "After all the mechanics that make a plane take off, how do you know that magic isn't behind it?" And I suppose it very well might, but I have a fair idea that magic has nothing to do with it.
Maybe I should become a Buddhist. Then I'm basically an atheist who can just fucking chill out about it.
