A couple weeks ago, I received a message from a girl from
Saudi Arabia with questions about atheism. With her permission, I have decided
to share our conversation as I think many will find her willingness to ask
questions encouraging. I also ask her a few questions about living in Saudi
Arabia and her Muslim faith (which may expose my ignorance as I have no idea what it is actually
like to live there).
I've done very little editing (as you will see) in order to keep the feel of our casual conversation, so please excuse the grammar. I will be using her initials "IN".
I've done very little editing (as you will see) in order to keep the feel of our casual conversation, so please excuse the grammar. I will be using her initials "IN".
-Start of Conversation-
-IN
hello.. well im not an atheist i just wanna know what do you
atheists believe in? do you not believe in anything at all? and for who and why
do you think you live? im really curious how atheists think..
-Discovering Reason
IN, thanks for your questions, I think they are excellent
questions and I'm glad you are asking an atheist and not a believer what we
believe. Would you allow me to post this question on the page and you can see
answers from many other atheists and not just my own answer?
-IN
alright sure.. but without mentioning my name please
thank you
-Discovering Reason
But to answer your question, we believe in many things we
just don't believe a god exists. That is the only thing that atheism describes.
But for me I also don't believe in anything supernatural - I believe everything
can be explained through natural processes. I'm also a humanist, I believe that
people should treat everyone equally and that society should do everything it
can to make life better for everyone.
Why do I think I live? That is an interesting question, I
don't think there is any grand purpose for why I'm alive, but my consciousness
tells me I am alive and I want to make the best of it. Because I understand
that this is the only life I get, so it is important for me to make it the best
one I can. I could go in depth further, but not sure if you are interested. If
you have a question or would like me to go in depth further about anything I'd
be happy to do so. I hope my answer has helped.
so not all atheists are humanists right? i mean those who
aren't might harm people or something? And how do you think earth was created?
you believe in the big bang?
and yes thank you and sorry for disturbing
-Discovering Reason
Of course, I will definitely respect your privacy. Thanks,
I'll post your question now. Where are you from? It looks like you may be
Muslim? May I share your religion and what country you live in?
yes i am a muslim, and im lebanese living in saudi arabia,
thank you again
-Discovering Reason
You are not disturbing me at all, I appreciate the
questions! But yes, not all atheists are
humanists, but most are.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you ask, "those
who aren't might harm people or something?" I think there is an awful stereotype
that atheists are mean people or something and you have believed that
stereotype. People say awful things about people that are different from
themselves and unfortunately religious people say that about atheists all the
time. In my experience atheist are more caring and loving people than most
religious people because they realize that once they die it is over and they
want to treat people respectfully during their life. Atheists aren't prefect
just like everyone else, but you never see atheists bombing buildings because
of their atheism but you do see this with religious people. In fact in America,
less than 1% of the prison population is atheists and the other 99% is
religious. That may help answer that question.
one more question please.. do you believe in demons?
and yes it did thank you
-Discovering Reason
no, I don't believe in demons or angels, or heaven or hell.
I use to though, I grew up Christian and about 4 years ago after studying the
origins of religion and searching for answers to questions I always had but no
one ever had an answer to, I realized that it was not true. It is just a deep
seeded belief humans have that have been passed down generations and altered
through time.
I posted your question on the page, so check it out from
time to time to hear their answers. If you have a question you want to ask
someone about their answer, feel free to copy and paste their answer and the
question you have so you can keep your identity private.
thank you for making things clearer now and yes i will, i appreciate your help a lot.
-Discovering Reason
Oh I'm sorry I forgot to answer your question about how the
earth was created and the big bang. These may take longer to answer, but there
are many great videos on YouTube of my favorite scientists Carl Sagan and Neil
deGrasse Tyson answering them. If you want me to suggest some to you let me
know.
Alright I'll check them out
Next Day
-Discovering Reason
Hey IN, I was thinking about why you asked me if I believed
in demons, so why did you ask that? Were you told that atheists worshiped
demons or something? I'm just curious.
good guess, yeah well they gave me this idea that you drink
blood and do those crazy stuff or submit yourselves to satan, so i didnt wanna
judge the way they did, so i asked a real atheist ..
and im sorry i thought about atheists that way
-Discovering Reason
haha, I figured, it happens all the time unfortunately.
Drink blood? I think they are confusing atheists with vampires... very very
different things haha. Well I'm glad you asked and can now correct them.
Do you ever question your Muslim faith?
well they kind of gave me the idea that atheists are more
likely to be those gothic people who worship satan and doesnt believe in god,
thats why i asked what do you believe in, and well yeah i do, i wonder a lot,
but i dont think i can ever give up on religion, it makes me feel safer
somehow.
-Discovering Reason
I understand, many people feel that way about their
religion. If you gave up Islam, would you fear for your safety because of how
others would treat you? Do you ever fear being stoned? I see pictures of
horrible things like that happening to women in your part of the world and I
wonder how often girls think about that happening to them.
No thats not what ill be afraid of, in my religion when we
get scared from something we ask God to help us, and it feels safe to know he
is there listening to your prayers, and no such people cant represent the arab
world and the islam, in saudi arabia it might be a bit hard, but yet it's
really peaceful, when the woman respects her man he will respect her, if not he
will treat her the same way, but in our holy book such abuse is forbidden, and
as i mentioned above, i do wonder what if all of this was a lie, but then i
think what if it wasnt, hell isnt a good place to go to..
-Discovering Reason
I get that, when I was a Christian I used to pray to god in
the very same way and it was a comforting feeling. I just came to the
conclusion that I rather care what it true rather than how it makes me feel.
And yes, if hell existed it wouldn't be a good place to go and that was a
fear I always had as well. But the more you learn about the world and the
universe the easier it becomes to let go of those ideas.
But I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you to lose
your faith or anything, was just curious if you were questioning your faith or
what.
What do people think about Malala Yousafzai? I'm a big fan
of hers, I know she is Muslim but I have a feeling she will become an atheist
when she is older similar to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. If you don't know her - look her
up on YouTube or something. You might really enjoy listening to her.
well i never really heard about them, ill research them on
youtube, well the reason i wanted to know more about atheists was because i had
the scary image in my head and i thought they would kill me to give my blood to
Satan or something, i know it sounds crazy but this is what i thought, sorry,
moreover, i actually thought people would attack me when you told them im arab,
but they didnt, and thats why i made sure what i heard was untrue.. I got
ashamed of the way i pictured atheists in my head last night
-Discovering Reason
You have nothing to be ashamed of! Just by asking the
questions and seeking the truth puts you leaps and bounds ahead of people much
older than yourself. Too many people are afraid to ask questions and assumed
that what they hear is the truth and forever are fearful of something they know
nothing about. If only they had cared enough to learn more.
You remind me a lot of Malala, I think you will find her
story really inspiring. I can't believe you haven't heard of her!
Let me know what you think.
yeah ill listen to what she has to say, it's good to know
atheists are good people
-Discovering Reason
haha yes it is.
Well to give you a summary of Malala, she is about your age
maybe younger and I believe from Pakistan. She is an activist for education and
was shot in the head while on a bus to school by the Taliban. She survived and
is still fighting for girls to get an education.
yeah im watching this video where she speaks at the UN,
she's a great inspiration, her speech is beautiful
-End of Conversation-
Check out the Facebook post where I asked others to answer
her original question. If you have a few minutes, please consider answering her question
here in the comments section or on the Facebook page.