Understanding Atheism and Belief in God: A Thought-Provoking Exploration

Most atheists have a thorough understanding of the concepts and beliefs surrounding your god. They are often curious and possess a more profound insight into how your religious beliefs influence your thinking. Despite having rejected your god, they do not dehumanize or reject you as a person. This is a significant distinction that highlights the underlying issues between believers and non-believers.

Comparative Analysis: Christianity and Zeus

How many Christians could say they understood Zeus properly before having rejected him? The question does not make sense because Zeus is a mythological deity, and it is anachronistic to ask for a deep understanding of a figure that does not correspond to a living belief system.

As an atheist myself, I have not rejected any god because I see no evidence for their existence. This skepticism is based on a rational and logical perspective. Recently, I began to read the Bible and Quran, the primary texts of the Abrahamic faiths, as stand-alone works without the footnotes and apologetics that some suggest are essential. This is because I believe these texts are supposed to be so profound and inerrant that they should require no additional explanation to be understood.

A Personal Journey to Atheism

I conducted a survey of atheists, and one interesting finding was that 100 of them, including myself, were members of religious groups until their teenage years before eventually leaving. My story is unique, but it is not without its truth. Until the age of 13, I was an active member of the Emissaries of Divine Light, a religion very close to typical Christianity with New Age elements mixed in.

To me, there is nothing to understand beyond a collection of stories and beliefs born out of a pre-scientific age. It is a man-made belief system with no inherent 'God' to understand, and thus nothing to reject. From a young age, I found the idea of a magic man in the sky who watched and judged our actions to be completely absurd.

As I became more educated, I could see the role that religious beliefs play as a comfort blanket for people living under constant fear of death. In third-world countries where life is still harsh, religion has survived and provided solace. However, I do not understand why people in advanced modern societies still hold onto such beliefs, especially those who are well-educated.

Hopefully, this sheds some light on the reasoning behind atheism and the importance of evidence-based beliefs in our modern world.