Atheist Faq

Morality is defined as the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. Right and wrong or good and bad are labels that we put on actions that move us toward or away from a desired goal. For almost all people, the goal of life can be reduced to seeking pleasure and avoiding suffering. For most theists, this means that what is right, good, or moral is doing what pleases their god because of a belief that they will be granted pleasure and avoid suffering by doing what their god tells them.

Since atheists don’t believe any gods exist, we don’t factor god into the equation. Many atheists believe there is good evidence that maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering can be accomplished by prioritizing human well-being. This goal is a bit vague, but it can be very useful. It allows us to promote actions that move us toward making existence better for all life. We can learn from our past mistakes; we can change what actions we advocate for based on new information; we can support our beliefs with evidence and reason; and we can definitively state that certain actions are wrong with respect to the goal. Morality is a complicated subject, but there is no religious morality that can provide answers to problems that a secular morality can’t – except appeasing a non-existent god.

Atheists believe in a wide-ranging set of values, and they don’t always agree. It is very possible for two given people to both be unconvinced that any gods exist and disagree on everything else. However, a lot of atheists align their values with Skepticism and Humanism. Generally, atheists believe in truth, honesty, love, kindness, understanding, freedom, justice, and many other common human values.

Skepticism is an epistemological position in which one questions, doubts, suspends judgment, and criticizes the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. Skeptics will sometimes use the Carl Sagan phrase “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” as a shorthand for their epistemology. However, religious apologists have so often intentionally misunderstood this slogan that it becomes worthwhile to expound on it. Skeptics require sufficient evidence to believe a claim. If the evidence for a claim is insufficient, judgement must remain suspended.

From the American Humanist Association website; Humanism is a worldview which says that reason and science are the best ways to understand the world around us, and that dignity and compassion should be the basis for how you act toward someone else. Please visit the AHA to learn more about Humanism.

Do not assume that since atheists don’t believe in any gods, we don’t have meaning and purpose in our lives. Without a conscious creator (god), life cannot have any intrinsic meaning or purpose. However, meaning and purpose can be found in what we value. Atheists believe in common human values and often align their beliefs with Skepticism and Humanism. Fighting for what is right, moral, and humane is a plentiful source of meaning and purpose, but atheists can find meaning and purpose in many different things.

The simple answer is we don’t know. There are a lot of hypotheses about the origin of life and the origin of the Universe, but ultimately the answer is unknown. However, the natural processes that humans have observed and documented have accurate explanations without the need of any supernatural influences. Is this proof that no gods exist? No. But it is undeniable that the space occupied by the god explanation diminishes with every new discovery and observation from science.

This question also has widely varied answers among atheists. Generally, we do not believe in an afterlife. We think this is the only life we will get and that is a good thing, as it focuses our attention on living life the best way we can. A lot of atheists believe that the thought of an eternal life anywhere sounds terrible. The fact that we do not exist eternally is what makes our existence meaningful. What happens after we die can only ever be speculation, but some atheists think that death is the end of experience. Consciousness is what the brain does, and when the brain stops, our conscious experience just ends. Our bodies will release any stored energy back into the ecosystem, and provide material to support other life forms.

The short answer is yes, probably. Atheists’ backgrounds vary widely, and while it is common that atheists have been religious in the past, it is not universal. So, it is common that atheists know very well what it is like to believe in a god, and they have still become unconvinced.

The long answer involves deciding if faith is a good thing. Faith is another term where definitions vary and can cause confusion. So, as we would want people to try to understand our beliefs without assuming they know us based on labels, we would also want to understand what faith means to the questioner. Sometimes faith is used as synonymous with trust (e.g., you have faith in your spouse, you have faith that a chair will hold you). Sometimes faith is used as synonymous with hope (e.g., you have faith you’ll get the job, you have faith that someone’s health will improve). Sometimes faith is used as synonymous with knowledge. This last usage usually occurs in the face of counter evidence (e.g., I have faith that god will do what he promises no matter what, you just have to have faith the Bible is true).

Atheists absolutely have trust and hope, but we don’t call those things faith. Atheists absolutely have knowledge about some topics, but we vehemently disagree that when faith is used in place of knowledge, it is valid. Faith is never a legitimate path to knowledge nor is it a legitimate substitute for knowledge. Faith, when used this way, can be used to justify any belief – true or false. So generally, we will never accept this usage of faith as a good thing.