Atheism: the vice of a few intelligent people.

The Importance of Being Atheist

by Kevin Solway

It is unfashionable to be an atheist in an agnostic world. It is unfashionable to think at all for that matter, in this our New Age of freedom and enlightenment. But some of us are doomed to think for no other reason than we have been led to believe that truth is valuable. That is, we few poor wretches have been led to believe that all truth is valuable, and not only some truths. Why then should we not share our ghastly burden with others?

What is an atheist? An atheist is the mortal enemy of theists, agnostics, and "floaters". Theists believe in a traditional God, an agnostic maintains that it is impossible to know for sure whether a God exists or not, and a floater takes no position at all. Atheists alone are certain that it is impossible for a God to exist, and because they put more value on truth than do others they necessarily see all other views as destructive. To see the importance of being atheist we should first establish the truth of atheism and then establish the importance of being truthful. The importance of truth is one thing very few people have ever considered. To understand why it is impossible for a God to exist we need to understand what we mean by existence. The only sensible definition for existence is that a thing is said to exist if it relates in some way to some other thing. That is, things exist in relation to each other. A thing must exist relative to an observer at the very least. Now, God is defined to be infinite, in which case it is not possible for there to be anything other than God because "infinite" is all-inclusive. But if there is nothing other than God then God cannot be said to exist for the reason just explained. God is simply another word for Nature, and Nature certainly does not "exist" - it just is.

It may then be argued in defense of the traditional God that there could be some manner of existence which is beyond our awareness. But no other manner of existence is possible, for the simple reason that we define what existence is, and it is logically impossible to have any other (sensible) definition than the one we have.

Having established the truth of atheism - and the impossibility of a God, it must then be asked "So what?" Indeed, what value is truth if it does not make life enjoyable? Well it does! I often find truth enjoyable. It is just a matter of approaching it with courage and humility, or with the courage of humility.

Everyone wants strength, freedom from fear, clarity, and permanence - only truth and reason can provide these things in any real way. That is, only atheism can provide one with a solid basis upon which concepts of what it is to be human can begin to form. And indeed it will be found that only the truly practicing atheist, free of God and of all Gods, living openly and with infinite understanding, can be called the truly human.

Is God dead?