I am an atheist, it's NOT a religion

reposted from StoneMonkey via Stumbleupon.com

I describe myself as an atheist ONLY because in a world where so many people require faith / belief, religion, spirituality, a god / supreme being / creator / divine architect its a quick way to tell you I have no need for any of these things.

Atheism is merely (from my point of view) a lack of something. Simple logic should tell you that a lack of something is not a something.

Although I personally see evolution as a fact, Charles Darwin is not my hero and I have never read (or had any great urge to read) The Origin of the Species. So don't try and pretend Darwin is a new Messiah for anyone who has no supernatural beliefs. I respect his importance in terms of the history of science, nothing more.

I don't care how the universe came into being, maybe it was as theoretical astrophysics suggest the result of the "Big Bang", then again maybe it wasn't. I don't care and am not a good enough mathematician / physicist to pretend I fully understand the theory or have an answer. How ever just because I don't have the answer and am not entirely convinced anyone does, it does not mean I by default am going to say an uber-being did it and even if I did that would only replace one question with an even more complex one ... where did it (the uber-being) come from? Realistically while I hope that science can unlock the secret of the universe and explain it in a way I understand, it has no bearing on my life, I can live with the fact its there for reasons (scientific) as yet unknown.

When I die I will rot, there will be no heaven or hell and I fear death for the very reason that it's the end, but its an honest natural fear, staying alive is the primary concern of most living creatures, certainly sentient ones and as such I am not likely to become a suicide bomber anytime soon.

I don't want to attack any-one's faith, I would ask how ever that you kept it within your personal life / place of worship / fellow believers and not try and bring it into the government, schools and other such places and certainly would say you should keep it out of the science class. Faith is not science and thousands of species did not fit on The Ark. A secular state helps us all live together, those of different faiths and those like me with no faith at all.

If you can't see how someone can have morals and empathy for their fellow man without it coming from religious rules, then you will just have to sit and think about it won't you.

I have no common bond with other atheists ... because it's not a religion and I do not like group mentality. However I would consider throwing my support behind others in cases such as keeping creationism (nonsense) out of schools.

I did not become an atheist, I have never had any belief in anything supernatural.

If your religion gives you something and makes you happy, I am happy for you. I just don't believe the world is on the eve of destruction because a few people enjoy anal sex and women wear shorter garments over their legs these days. Surely you can live your life according to your beliefs without forcing them on others, I am pretty sure I can.

Thank you for reading and may YOUR god, go with YOU.