It All Boils Down to This The most obvious thing on which to focus when we consider this particular form of theism is the view of god. What, exactly, does it mean to say that god is all-knowing, all-powerful, and wholly good? These are very vague characterizations of a god that does all sorts of incredible things. If, for the moment, we suppose the existence of something that we humans can neither comprehend nor experience and yet can perform feats that we cannot imagine, what can we say about god that won’t be very illuminating? This god is powerful enough to give humans the ability to do unimaginable things, and capable enough to do them! The question we’re left with is, “Where is the goodness in that?” God has the power to change the future by altering the present; is that a good thing? Is it a bad thing? What’s the best way to avoid future suffering? Is it okay to kill an innocent person because it will result in the extinction of countless innocent people? What about a child? Can we kill a child because we could save countless lives? The innocent have less chance to be rewarded in the next life; does that mean they should suffer now to ensure that they receive a reward in the next life? How about if they are only being threatened by their parents’ death? Should we let them die now? Can we punish the parents for their child’s death? If someone is starving and their child is going to die soon anyway, should they starve to death to save their child? The thing is, if you’re a nonbeliever you can say all sorts of things and think all sorts of things, but you know what you believe, you know what you’re going to act on. You’re not going to say “We will starve to death because it is a better future.” No one believes that. If you’re a nonbeliever, you’re going to say “You’ve got to eat, but don’t starve.” Some may say that God is a metaphor for Love and that God is love. Is that love for you? Is that love for everyone? If it is, it makes me wonder if it is love at all. Do you love me? Yes, you do, or else you would not have done all this. A better question would be: Do you care about me? Is that love? Can I prove it? What proof is there that god loves me? What kind of love is that? “It’s real love!” It just sounds like religion. You’d have to accept someone’s claim that god exists before you can begin to talk to them about anything else. That’s not a discussion. It’s a monologue. If someone claimed to know that an alien race of humanoids were trying to create life on Mars, you’d be interested and you’d start a conversation. You can’t argue with me about an unknown existence. You can talk about people who do that all you want, but they’re the ones you’re arguing with. And then you go home and live your life and everything is fine. Why do people fear that the world will fall apart if we don’t accept their claims of an unknown existence? Will we all be killed? No. Will the world end? No. If a man came forward today and said he was responsible for all of the world’s problems and that he was going to kill all of us, we wouldn’t agree with him. The only thing that would happen is that we’d kill him, and we would move on. That’s how all of this should be. And so, when confronted with atheism, your friend may start talking about miracles. As an atheist I have no problem with those. I’ve done a lot of them in my life and I’m glad I did. But there is no god in the world, I’m happy to announce. I didn’t think there was. I would never have told you I did. Why did you say so? Just a moment ago you told me you didn’t believe in him! And what about the miracle of free will? Are you not glad that you have that? The miracle of being able to ask a question and then to receive an answer? What about the miracle of consciousness? What if we were all the same? Can you imagine if everyone was like you? When I was in high school, my religion teacher said something that seemed very profound to me: “If there’s a God, and I’m going to hell because I don’t believe, why are you going to hell if you do believe?” The teacher made it sound like this great dilemma, but it was just a good question. She should have asked why she, not me, was going to hell. I could have told her that she was going to hell because she taught me that the answer to the question was “Yes.” But that’s the same reason why she was going to hell. It’s because of her. It’s the same reason why you will go to hell. It’s for the same reason. It’s because you are godless. You’ve been taught that belief is what makes someone worthy. And there’s a very simple way to tell if someone is worthy: Does he believe? And if he doesn’t, that’s why he is going to hell. To end on a positive note: I hope I’ve done a decent job of communicating why I would disagree with your friend when it comes to atheism. You should be happy that you don’t believe. You should be able to sleep at night, and the people who deserve to go to hell should worry. This conversation is not new. This is not like “You know how they all say we’re being oppressed? I think I know why.” No one has ever said this to me before. This is why I am not religious. This is why I am a humanist. This is why I reject faith-based religion. 1 Peter 2:1-3 NRSV (originally written in Greek) In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you receive the outcome of your[a] faith, the salvation of your[a] souls. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. If your religious friend really wants to convince me that he’s right and I’m wrong, I would be more impressed if he answered my questions. Let’s see some real challenges to atheism, and let’s look at the reasons for believing. I’m not an expert on atheism, but I do happen to know a thing or two about it. I don’t think that if an atheist were confronted with evidence that could reasonably be said to have any sort of explanatory power, he would have any difficulty accepting it. If he were confronted with a claim that the world was constructed by a god using a super-computer that made sure that it could not be disproven, he would say, “No, you’re talking about God. It doesn’t matter what you say. Don’t you know anything?” He wouldn’t be intimidated and he would be unmoved by rhetoric. Atheism is too small of a word, because it’s what is left when you dismiss religion. If you reject the idea that the supernatural exists, there is nothing left. You have nothing left. There is a word for something like that: nihilism. Atheism is an ideology that requires a worldview. Atheists will argue for atheism because they are not satisfied with a purely scientific worldview, nor with a purely religious one. Atheism requires that the world is created by natural events, and yet is not the product of random chance. This is why it is also a metaphysical system. Without any way of accounting for the existence of everything in our experience, atheism requires the existence of supernatural events. However, the existence of supernatural events is entirely unverifiable. The existence of god cannot be observed, proven, or disproven. This is an important point. Many of us atheists have heard someone say, “If I can’t see god, then he must not exist.” Let me tell you something: I can’t see angels, fairies, or Santa Claus either. If they do exist