Some Thoughts on Atheism

Some Thoughts on Atheism by Shane W. Snyder


I heard on CBS News Sunday Morning that only 8% of Americans are atheists (or non-believers). The other 92% believe god, and this is almost always a belief in Christianity. They believe in all the miracles performed by Jesus, they believe in immaculate conception, they believe in heaven and hell, demons and angels, and they believe that Jesus is the son of god, but that he is god (so it's still a monotheistic religion).

I think it's remarkable that nearly 92% of Americans could believe in the miracles. They believe Jesus raised the dead, magically fed people, walked on water, and casted out demons (this must mean they believe in demonic possession, too).
I remember in Professor Boesche's class, when we were talking about Tacitus' Germania. So much of what he reports about the Germans rings true well into modern times. The point was that culture is lasting, that there is true power in upbringing. This is what I think of when I consider the astonishing number of Americans that still believe in Christian hocus-pocus.

I talked to my Jewish friend about Judaism. He says that the Jews don't believe literally in miracles. For example, he doesn't believe that Moses truely parted the Red Sea. I said that this must make him feel elite, since most Americans believe in biblical hocus-pocus. He said that the Jews aren't taught that they're the best. He said further that there is no harm in Christans believing in miracles, as long as it makes them more moral. This struck me as an arrogant attitude to have.
So the Jews get to live in reality while the rest of us are brainwashed into hocus-pocus in order to make us more moral.

I always notice the astonishing number of luxury cars and luxury homes I see. America is truely a country where showing one's success is acceptable. And yet, they worship a carpenter who said that it's easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven. They worship a man who rode on a borrowed donkey, and preached the casting-off of possessions. But somehow, it makes sense to them. They think it's okay to pay 60k for a car, when they could have paid only 20k and given the rest to charity. I just laugh at this. I have criticized the way Nietzsche referrs to the masses as herd animals, but maybe it's an appropriate and accurate term after all. I think my rich uncle is a typical Christian herd animal. He gives money to charity, to be sure, but not so much that it stops him from living in the luxury home of his choice; but not so much that it stops him from owning multiple luxury cars.

My parents didn't raise me to be religious. We never went to church. My parents have only basic religious beliefs. They believe in god and Jesus, and in salvation by faith alone. I am an atheist, so my beliefs don't mimick those of my parents.
I was, however, spared extensive brain-washing by the church. Maybe if I was indeed brainwashed from early childhood I would be writing an article against gays, evolution, abortion, and geologic time right now; maybe I would be writing an article about angels, heaven, and the virign Mary. I consider myself part of the lucky 8% that escaped brainwashing into biblical hocus-pocus. Though, Christians will still insist that I am an atheist because I was raised without the church. The way they see it, non-belief is a product of upbrining just as much as belief is. The way they see it, belief in miracles, heaven, hell, judgement, angels, demons, etc. is equal to non-belief vis'a'vis uprbringing. I'm not surprised they see it this way, considering they deal so extensively in hocus-pocus. Though, I talked to my Jewish friend, and he sees it this way too. He said "You are nothing because you were raised to be nothing". He believes that we are all brainwashed into the beliefs of our parents and that there's no escaping it. I don't completely agree. I think that escape is possible for a minority, and that I am part of this minority. Besides, my parents didn't brainwash me to be an atheist. And you can't say that lack of brainwashing is the same as brainwashing.

Nietzsche didn't criticize the supernatural in Christianity the way I have been doing. He didn't call it hocus-pocus. He didn't criticize the hypocricy vis'a'vis making money. Instead, he criticizes Christian morals. Primarily, he says that Christianity was a slave revolt in morality - that the noble, proud, and strong in morality was replaced with the meek and humble. This meek and humble herd - this rabble - is a problem when the leaders of society are rabble too. They have ruled with "equal before god" instead of "unequal in reality". He prophecized that masters in morality would arise from among the rabble and fight great battles for supremecy, and from these masters of morality would come a race of super-humans. Nietzsche is very inspirational. He puts his finger on the fact that we are still in our infancy as a species, and I think this is reflected in the infantile, superstitious world that most people still live in.

A picture of Jesus hangs in the house of my Mormon relatives. I heard it is a well-known Mormon image of him. He is depicted as a very handsome European-looking man. I never mentioned to them that this image has no basis in reality whatsoever, that Jesus was Semitic and would not have looked like a northern European.

Alot of Christians complain about popular culture. They find it too sexual, violent, and tasteless. At the house of my Mormon relatives, most of the channels were blocked. I have to give them credit for this. They are unlike the rest of the Christian mass of humanity who watch tasteless entertainment, giving it ratings and keeping it on TV. It's not the 8% of atheists who are responsible for everything that's wrong with popular culture. Christians could probably clean it up quite a bit by bringing more of their believers back into the flock. Most people already believe in the hocus-pocus, it's only a matter of getting them back into Church, and teaching them to watch only tasteful entertainment. But, I don't really think this will happen.

America is divided on the question of abortion. Considering that 92% believe all the Christian hocus-pocus , there must be alot of believers who support abortion rights. I guess the idea of miracles and after-life and so forth is easier for them than the prospect of having an unwanted child. Belief in hocus-pocus wont disrupt your merry little life. An unwanted child will. In any case, the question of abortion rights in America is one that is going to be decided among the believers, for they are the vast majority.

I took a course on the gospels when I was nineteen years old. I learned that they were authored separately, and many years, if not centuries, after Jesus' death. What I learned is a far cry from what most Christians believe, which is that the Bible is "written by God". I also learned that the Jesus story is unoriginal, that there were other stories of immaculate conception, of half-gods or full-gods being born into the world, of miracles and resurrections. As a modern person learning the Jesus story, one isn't aware that the elements of the story were ones people would perhaps have been familiar with already, from other stories.

I've said that Christianity is hocus-pocus. I've said that it is brainwashing. I've mentioned Nietzsche's argument that it represents a slave revolt in morality, and I've mentioned that it's hypocritical vis'a'vis making money. So what is one left when one rejects it? I'm especially attracted to science and to existentialism. I stay informed on the scientific projects that are in the works. I read a book on String Theory. I was really into Heidegger and Sartre when I was an undergraduate. They talk about fulfillment of one's potential. A human is capable of tremendous growth and learning. But, potential is also a source of inequality because people develop differently and unequally. Maybe this is why the concept of potential never made it into religion. Besides, religion is concerned with the after-life, whereas fulfillment of your potential is something to be achieved through hard work in this life. I feel like I have a special appreciation for geniuses like Einstein and Shakespeare - people who had gifts and who excelled in this life, because for me there is no veneration of saints or holy men.

One final thing I want to mention about Christianity deals with hard work in this life. Some labor helps you become more knowledgeable or skilled, other labor is just labor and you do it because you have to. Most labor is of this latter type.
In Christain thinking, this is not a problem. You simply do your little job, and earn your little pay and be a good cog in the system. What matters is that you get into heaven and experience an eternity of bliss. Meanwhile, in the captialist system we live in now, some people are splurging on luxury vacation homes, collecting cars, and dining out every night - and accumulating money so that their heirs can do the same. Yet, as long as they believe in Christianity they're all going to heaven. I think Christianity is still being used to suppress peoples' sense of injustice opposite luxury and inherited wealth.