25 Facts about Atheism
The most misunderstood group in the world
1. Atheism is not a religion, but rather a philosophical position. It has NO creeds, priests, or holy book. There is no founder, rituals, membership, or doctrine of any kind.
2. Atheism is the lack of belief in any god or gods. Most atheists do not claim that there is no god; just that they see no evidence to support the belief that any one of the many gods that people worship today are real. Everyone who believes that a certain god is real, is by definition, an atheist regarding all the other gods worshipped by devoted followers around the world.
3. Atheists often face discrimination and persecution, particularly in countries where religion plays a central role in society. It would seem that a real god would not need to depend on violence or coercion. All any god would need to do is show itself and no reasonable person could possibly deny its existence. Atheists would obviously accept the existence of a god if there was credible evidence for one. Most would even bow should that god be a good god who loved and protected children of all races.
4. Atheism is often misunderstood and stigmatized, with many people assuming that atheists are immoral, unhappy, or untrustworthy. This demonization became prevalent during the cold war. It became “the atheistic communists vs the freedom loving Americans.” If you attend a normal atheist-freethought-humanist conference you will usually find its agenda focused on science, equal rights, fair and equitable justice, with an emphasis to make the world a better and safer place for all to live. This misunderstanding is so great that one survey of Christians even had more members saying they would vote for a child molester before voting for an atheist. They often slander an entire group of people without having a clue as to what they are all about.
5. There is a group called the Clergy Project (a confidential support group) that has over a thousand active and former religious leaders who no longer believe. Many still actively preach in order to avoid financial ruin and/or loss of family and friends. Individuals are allowed access to the private web site only after being carefully screened, vetted, and attest that they no longer believe in a god or the supernatural. It continues to expand, and members are given free counseling, access to professional career advisors, and can be provided with funds for six months to help them transition into other employment. The confidentiality allows members to support and communicate with one another. If they prefer, once accepted, they can enter the group anonymously. Current members are from 49 states and 50 different countries. Without a doubt, these members represent just the tip of the iceberg. Two excellent books from members are by Dan Barker, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheist and by Jerry DeWitt, Hope after Faith.
6. Surveys indicate that there are many millions of individuals who have concluded that their faith was based only on hope and not on any objective evidence, but for many possible reasons have not publicly acknowledged it. They fear the loss of family, friends, jobs, and the entire social network that has been part of their entire lives. Thousands of youths have literally been thrown out of the house and/or financial support withdrawn when expressing honest doubts. Given the almost certain discrimination and risks, some experts have estimated that there are probably several times the number of professed atheists that remain in the “closet.”
7. While atheism is not a monolithic movement, there are a number of organizations and communities that advocate for atheist rights and promote secularism. Atheism is growing in popularity in most parts of the world, particularly due to the widespread availability of information and new discoveries in all the various fields of science. No longer can preachers and parents teach something that cannot be readily fact checked. It is no wonder why many conservative religious people hate science and try to restrict education.
8. Among well known people in a variety of fields who have publicly indicated that they do not believe in a god are Daniel Radcliffe, Mark Zuckerburg, Larry King, Brad Pitt, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, Richard Branson, Steven Fry, Sarah Silverman, and even god himself, Morgan Freeman. Google can show you hundreds more.
9. Atheism has been present throughout human history, with ancient philosophers such as Epicurus and Democritus espousing atheist beliefs. It is not a new phenomenon — there have always been people who did not believe in gods. However, let’s not forget that the vast majority of the world’s population had NO WAY to obtain information outside of what their family and immediate culture told them was true. Later, when some were learning to read, those in power did a lot of book burning.
10. Atheists tend to rely on evidence and reason rather than faith. The majority were raised in religious families but came to the point that they could no longer say they believed in something that was devoid of reasonable evidence. Many eventually realized that the Bible was full of contradictions while it also supported many immoral and inhumane events, such as slavery, genocide, rape, and the many slaughters of children and babies. The Bible itself is a major reason why literally millions of people have left Christianity.
11. Atheism is not a guarantee of moral superiority. They can be just as ethical (or unethical) as anyone else. Since many first became free thinkers (the use of independent thinking based on reason and evidence) and humanists before acknowledging atheism, on average, they are kind and caring people. Atheism was just the logical conclusion that many reached naturally.
12. Atheism is not a belief system. It is simply the lack of belief in a god or gods, due to a lack of credible evidence to the contrary. “Faith” does not cut it, as with “faith,” there is not a single thing that cannot be believed. Just think of the hundreds of gods throughout history who had devoted followers, many of whom sacrificed much in support of their faith, which turned out to be in error. “Faith” was the only basis for believing in any of them. None had an iota of evidence that they were real. Atheists can be found in all parts of the world and come from diverse backgrounds. Many have sacrificed the loss of families, friends, and jobs by withdrawing from a faith that they could no longer with integrity accept as true.
13. Not all atheists are “anti-religion”… they simply do not believe in a god or gods. In fact, most of us will gladly collaborate with religious people in projects that alleviate suffering and provide food, medical care, protection, education, etc. to the less advantaged. Most of us have family members and friends who we still love and care about who are still believers.
14. While many view atheism as being different from agnosticism, both share the same belief that it is impossible to know whether a god or gods exist. Since we know so little about the universe, it would require credible evidence to conclude either way. When you think about it, maybe most people are atheists. Even Billy Graham was not certain what happens when a person dies, despite his numerous sermons to the contrary. He admitted this to his close friend Francis Schaeffer as Francis was dying. Most religious people concede that they have doubts, some more than others, which makes their level of belief less than 100%. Is something less than a 100% certainty, a belief or is it just a hope? The fact is, throughout all of history, the vast majority of all children were taught that some other god was really the true one. And history records hundreds of them that had devoted followers who built huge temples and monuments to them. Their sincerity should not be questioned or dismissed. After all, it was by faith that they believed and acted upon what they thought was true, even though they were all wrong. Most had no other source of information available.
15. A few popular authors who have published extensively about this subject include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Dan Barker, Jerry Coyne, and Steven Pinker among many others.
16. Many atheists are also humanists, which is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings. If those who think that atheists are immoral and evil attended one of our conferences, they would be quite surprised. They would probably learn and be challenged about an issue or two, and likely would enjoy pleasant conversations with friendly and kind people.
17. Atheists tend to be more politically liberal than the general population. The reason is obvious in that most atheists identify first as humanists who view the political left as being much more supportive of the human beings who are struggling the most. Most will gladly pay higher taxes if more unfortunate people will have better food, medical care and prevention, housing, safer jobs, and education. Being kind to animals and the environment is also a common norm.
18. A much higher percentage of atheists are vegans and vegetarians than the general population.
19. Atheists tend to be more skeptical of paranormal phenomena and pseudoscience. It’s an undeniable fact that those who have bought into crazy conspiracy theories and who reject conclusive scientific facts are generally connected to religious groups. Most atheists require evidence and understand the necessity of critical thinking and fact checking.
20. Many atheists have a worldview that is not isolationist. Every human being is related to every other human being. We really are one family; and members of a family should support and care about each other.
21. Many atheists, at least in America, experience a crisis of faith after questioning religious beliefs that they were raised with. This is often triggered by the contradictions and the immorality advocated by scripture they find, which was seldom if ever taught in their church or by their parents. It is still a very difficult process to leave the faith due to basic childhood indoctrination which requires a radical change in one’s world view. Many suffer from what psychiatrists call “religious trauma.” (see link below)
22. Atheism is not incompatible with having a sense of wonder and meaning in life. Many atheists find inspiration and purpose in the natural world and in human relationships. It is sad that many religious people are so anti-science, since so many incredible things in the universe are always being discovered. Space telescopes show us the large, while electron microscopes the small. Archeology and geology take us to the far past, while new discoveries in all the fields of science give us a glimpse of the future. History and literature teach us about the joys and the struggles of our ancestors, without whom we would never have been born. All are fascinating and wonderful to learn and to observe.
23. The word “atheism” comes from the Greek “a-” (without) and “theos” (god). It does not mean “anti-god.” It is not possible to hate something you do not believe exists.
24. Most studies on the subject suggest that atheists tend to be more educated than the general population. This in no way makes them superior, just maybe a little more interested in things like science, literature, and history. Some studies also show that they score higher on Biblical knowledge than the average church goer.
25. Atheism is often associated with scientific and rational thinking. The concept of “faith” is something that can be used to believe in anything, requiring no evidence. In fact, by definition, it lacks evidence…that is why it is called faith. There was a time when it was quite reasonable to believe that lightning bolts and earthquakes resulted from an angry god. Science has taught us otherwise. Science has destroyed almost all of the historical gods, such as Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena, Thor, Osiris, Diana, Ra, and we could easily name many hundreds more. And yes, each one had many devoted followers despite the fact that there was zero evidence that any of them was actually real. All they needed and all they had to believe was their faith.
If you are one of these, Recovering from Religion has a wealth of information available to assist you in fully understanding that things you were taught are just not so. Recovering from Religion has a 24-hour chat line that can be accessed at https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org to chat by texting or call 844–368–2848 to talk with a trained volunteer. Recovering from Religion also has the Secular Therapy Project that can refer persons who seek mental health services with outstanding mental health professionals, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, and others who have been diligently screened to deal with this problem.
Keep studying. It usually takes a lot longer than it should, but millions have successfully escaped the terror and grip of childhood indoctrination. Join a like minded Meetup group and attend conferences of Humanists and Free Thought groups. Seek out the numerous websites, podcasts, and books that address these issues more fully. You will quickly see that you are not alone.
A few articles to get you started follows:
Ten Bible Stories Never Preached in Church
Bible Stories Never Preached in Church, Part 2
