“belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.”

 (source: Dictionary.com)

The word faith is thrown around a lot.  It is typically met with praise and warm fuzzy feelings.  I had a Christian try to prove to me that Atheists have the same kind of faith, we just do not realize it!  I believe the exact analogy used was “You have to have faith in something, don’t you have faith that the chair your sitting in is not going to fall apart”.  I thought about it for a second (exactly one second) and realized this line of thinking is total bullshit.  The difference between my chair’s reliability and God, is my chair is testable through experimentation.  My “faith” in the chair comes from the fact that I sit on it with my fat ass everyday, it does not collapse.  I could have “faith” in a God, if I had a way to test him.  Up to this point, there is zero evidence that gives me any kind of “faith” that a God exists.  I am very open to this evidence coming along, but thus far it has alluded me.  Below is a list of things I explored and could not find “faith” in.

1) The Bible:  I would call its reliability questionable at best.  Most of its science is wrong.  Most of its historical claims are unsubstantiated.  Simple as that.

2) Biblical Jesus: Lets be honest, the only proof of Biblical Jesus comes from the Bible.  There are zero contemporary historians (and there were many in the region at the time) that recorded some of the noteworthy events Christians claim Jesus to be involved in.

3) Anything Supernatural: I have found zero evidence for ghosts, spirits, demons, homeopathy, psycics, ect…  All can be explained through natural phenomena.

You are welcome to argue any of the above points.  You will have your work cut out for you.  Of the billions of Christians that have lived thus far, not a single one has produced something that I find convincing.  Maybe my standards of proof are too high?  Or maybe yours is too low.

I am an atheist.  I have been one since December 2007.  I was a Christian for roughly seven years starting around age fourteen.  Since deconverting, I have been on an incredible knowledge collecting expedition.  My quest for knowledge feels like a thirst that cannot be quenched.  In a way, I wish I could spread a message of freethinking to everyone.  I want them to experience the freedom that I experience; a freedom that I cannot describe that only atheism can offer.  Most people do not consider the consequences of believing in a supernatural creator that has the ability to control everything in the universe.  A creator that can view your most intimate thoughts and moments at will.  This is what the vast majority of Americans believe to at least some degree.  I think beliefs like this, must have consequences; particularly when it comes to free thought and the free expression of ideas. 

This fact becomes obvious to me when I talk to creationists.  It is almost surreal to me.  Most of them, otherwise rational, have created special exceptions in their thought processes for the supernatural.  I ask them would you do this <insert immoral thing in bible that God takes credit for> and I usually get a emphatic “No” answer.  Then I tell them that their God did that very same thing, and then the excuses start coming.  “He must have known that those children he killed were going to grow up to be evil”.  Are you fucking kidding me?  There are so many holes in that statement, it’s not even worth me discussing.  I have even heard a few admit that they would kill if they thought God was ordering them to (these may be cases of genuine mental disorder).  If I was hearing voices, being what I consider a rational person, the first thing I would NOT conclude, is that it was from a supernatural source.  Occam’s razor compels me to look at the obvious answers first, which in this case is mental disorder.

The thing that bothers me most is when fanatical parent’s beliefs destroy a child’s otherwise healthy body or mind.  In this country, the courts/laws tend to favor religious freedom.  Several states have exemptions for child deaths caused by religious beliefs.  Many children of Jehovah’s Witnesses (these kinds of beliefs are not exclusive to JW’s) have died because that religion does not permit blood transfusion or organ donation based on some obscure verse in their bible.  This sickens me (and it should you).  Many faiths believe that its ungodly to seek science based medical care and they view this as an unfaithful act.  They must have an unwavering trust in God, or God will not heal them.  How many more people (especially children) have to die before this segment of the population wakes up?  I am not sure there is a numerical limit for the answer to that question.  I wish it was zero.