Is it possible to ever change the mind of someone who absolutely believes in god/gods? Is it possible to cause them to question? I have come to believe that it is absolutely true. It happened to me. It was a process of getting older – coming to understand the world a little better. I began to see things a little bit clearer. I fought the loss of faith. I ran from it. After I stopped running, things became clear. My thinking has evolved to the understanding that faith is a crutch, and it is hard to let go of. Faith relies on the individual. How much is this person willing to close their mind to truth? Faith stands in the way of reality. My purpose in this blog is to examine exactly what faith is.

Definition of Faith

confidence or trust in a person or thing
belief that is not based on proof
belief in god/gods or in the doctrines or teachings of religion

I will sum it up as believing in god/gods without definite proof.

Why faith?

The end result of a debate with a religious individual will always lead an answer declaring the importance of faith. Faith is an absolute REQUIREMENT to believe in god/gods. It is because of this that I declare war on the idea of god/gods.

Why war?

I declare war because the hardest and most rewarding things in life come from the hardest fights. The war can be internal or external. In the Bible Belt, atheism is both.

Faith is Unacceptable

Your eternal faith depends on whether you worship god/gods or not. This is completely unacceptable. I have read and heard arguments for the existence of god/gods, but all of them use inductive reasoning – using effect in order to prove the cause (i.e. the universe shows a design, so there must be a designer). It is impossible to use deductive reasoning in regards to faith. If a person says, “god/gods did it,” they provide no proof.

Everyone on earth who does not suffer from a disability stopping a sense has five senses – sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. Everything on earth can be detected with at least one of these senses. Not one of these senses can detect god/gods. You cannot see, smell, taste, touch, or hear him. This is the NUMBER ONE REASON why religion requires faith. No one can sense god/gods with the senses they have. Deductive reasoning – we know through our senses. These senses cannot sense god/gods. God/gods are unknowable.

The religious world still tries to search for reasons why god/gods exist. They look at the constants that we know about the Earth. This is a fallacy. The only thing constants prove is that there are certain conditions that must exist to sustain not only human life, but all life on Earth. This is NOT a reason for god/gods. It is just the reason we are here. As Richard Carrier so eloquently put it, “If the Earth and mankind is the center of god/gods’ tension and focus, why wouldn’t the Sun revolve around the earth?” He also described how the brain is a nutrient hog, as well as an extremely sensitive organ. This organ is easily damaged permanently, yet is completely responsible for our senses, actions, reactions, and thoughts. This is not the creation of a perfect being. It is an imperfect creation. Most religions claim that the person has a soul which is eternally responsible for all actions by the body. Why does the body need a brain at all?

Faith is Essential

My conclusion is that faith is not only the most important reason for believing in god/gods, but is the only reason for a person to believe in god/gods. This makes faith incredibly dangerous. It makes religion incredibly dangerous. People believe in god/gods who let their ETERNAL FATE rest on whether they guess right or not. He provides no proof of his existence. He says you should love, worship, and obey him, but you don’t even know if he exists or not. This is what faith really is – basing your entire life on a possibility (an extremely small possibility).

People always ask what the purpose of everything is if there is no god/gods. This question is easy to answer – The betterment of myself and humanity without the fear of punishment from an invisible, all-powerful being.

I have been asked what my purpose is more times than I can count. I am an atheist. The question is always asked by a religious individual – always asked by a Christian I should say. I live in the “Bible Belt.” I heard an interesting comment yesterday. “What’s the purpose of everything? If there is none, here is a gun – show me.” This person wasn’t attempting to be rude. He was attempting to make his point. He is what you might call an intellectual. He holds a Ph.D. in English, but the argument was just a stronger version of what I have heard time and time again.

I feel the common mistake comes from believing that God is the point and purpose of everything. He, she, it, they are the end all be all. That is the point of view you are supposed to have as a Christian, but the fact is there can be purpose without God. What most people cannot see is that every person on Earth creates or chooses their own purpose. A Christian has chosen God as their purpose. I feel it can be quite dangerous because their entire worldview is defined by this purpose. Christians will argue against this, but the Bible is a long book. The Old Testament contains an extensive list of laws. The New Testament upholds these laws and adds a few more. Modern America has created a society in which laws are passed, or attempted, trying to force Christian law to become governmental law, thereby pushing their own created purpose on every person living in America. This view has made it difficult for America’s citizens to understand how anyone can have a purpose outside of their idea of God.

As I said before, people choose their purpose. What makes atheism so special is no longer relying on God for this purpose. We can create any purpose. If I want to, I can live for cheese. Obviously, this is ridiculous. This leads Christians to call us dangerous. Are they wrong? Absolutely! For most atheists, the purpose is not self indulgence. It is humanity. We do enjoy ourselves more, because we are not bound to the zombie filled realm of fundamental Christianity. We are allowed to look at the world with an open mind and see it for what it is. Most often, the atheist purpose becomes a struggle to make mankind better. How do we make sure that man survives until the Earth is no longer inhabitable?

My conclusion – purpose does not rely on God, but on the individual.