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Friday, July 26, 2013

Conversation Between Inquisitive Muslim and an Atheist

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".

-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.

-IN
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?

-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.

-IN
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.

-IN
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.

-IN
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.

-IN
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?

-IN
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.

-IN
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.

-IN
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.

-IN
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.

-IN
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.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Coming Out As an Atheist Can Mean Stepping into a Bizarro World

The religious are questioning their beliefs more than ever before, and for those who conclude their beliefs have no validity and no longer believe in a god struggle with how to tell their loved ones. Many keep it to themselves until they feel it’s the right time to “come out” because they know it will hurt the ones they love, and some never come out for fear of being discriminated against in the workplace and/or losing relationships.

For me, I was never a closet atheist. As soon as I came to the conclusion that I no longer believed in a god – I told the people who were closest to me. It never occurred to me that I should be ashamed or afraid to tell others that I discovered something new due to my skepticism and research. I naively assumed everyone valued the truth above everything else, but I quickly discovered this was not the case. It felt as if I just stepped into a bizarro world, where evidence and logic was suddenly bad and delusion was good.

I thought people would be curious how I came to my conclusion but instead they became uncomfortable and extremely defensive. So why do believers respond this way?

Atheists get this reaction because when they tell a believer they no longer believe in God, they are also inadvertently telling them they are wrong – this is something they don’t want to hear and the conversation becomes very emotional. Belief in god isn't based on reason or evidence; it is based on emotion and tradition. This is why believers aren't interested in having a conversation about the evidence or lack thereof which has brought someone to the conclusion of atheism - because evidence isn't what brought them to their belief in god in the first place.

Those who constantly try to convert one back to their belief are rarely doing it because they care about the person’s “soul”; we know this because they rarely try to convert those they love if they believe in a different god/religion. For example, from a Christian perspective, there shouldn't be any difference between an atheist and a Mormon – both are wrong in their view. However, according to the Bible the Mormon would be guilty of worshiping a false god, which is an added sin that atheists aren't guilty of. Yet, people try to convert atheists back to their belief because if someone doesn't believe in a god it makes them uncomfortable.

Religious people constantly have doubts about their beliefs whether they admit it or not. Anyone who doesn't doubt their religion are extremely brainwashed because a reasonable person can’t look at the world and see the 100’s of religions that exist which all claim to be correct and not doubt their own. A reasonable person sees this and asks, “How can so many people be convinced their god is real when everyone can’t be right?”

Sadly, many are satisfied with believing everyone else is just wrong and they are right. But if they take the first question even further they may ask, “If so many people can be convinced their god is real, could I be wrong as well?” Unfortunately, these questions are extremely uncomfortable for believers to ask themselves which is why it is so uncomfortable for them when they hear that someone they love no longer believes as they do.

Even though I understand why coming out as an atheist can be difficult for both atheists and believers, I’m still dumbfounded that those who have the courage to think for themselves and question their beliefs can suddenly be viewed as immoral and hateful simply for no longer believing in a god. Polls have shown that in America atheists are distrusted as much as rapists - this is astonishing! Although, it shouldn't be a surprise that when people disregard reason and logic and rely solely on their emotions that they can come to such illogical and absurd conclusions about others - it truly is like living in a bizarro world.