I don't believe any gods exist, but I'm not an atheist any more than I am an asantaclausist or an aeasterbunnyist. Not believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny doesn't commit me to an ideology or belief system shared with others who reject the notion that such creatures exist. My disbelief in leprechauns doesn't unite me with millions of other aleprechaunists. The label of 'atheist' is one that theists use to create the illusion that their belief in spirits has some substance. I don't mind that theists devote themselves to illusions and delusions as long as they don't do me any harm. But they fill their concept of the atheist with a number of lies and falsehoods that attempt to denigrate those of us who don't share their belief in the existence of spirits. Theists are particularly prone to parading forth non sequiturs in their attempt to vilify those of us who don't believe that an invisible spirit created us or the world we live in.
The fact that I don't believe in an invisible being who is all-powerful and created everything in the universe for a reason does not mean that I think we are nothing but slime and might as well just kill ourselves. The fact that I don't believe in angels who watch over us and grant us wishes from time to time doesn't mean that I think life is meaningless and we might as well just kill our neighbors. From the fact that I don't believe in miracles it does not follow that I believe we are just dirt. It means I don't believe that things happen because of intervention by spirits. From the fact that I don't believe divine commands are necessary for moral values, it does not follow that I don't believe in right and wrong.
Theists use the term 'atheist' to designate those they claim don't believe in right or wrong, think existence is meaningless, and who corrupt society by not adhering to the codes of some religion like Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. But from the fact that there aren't any gods it does not follow that there is no right or wrong, that a meaningful life is impossible, or that society will disintegrate into a war of selfish egoists against selfish egoists. Why would theists want to believe such obvious nonsense? For one thing, it deceives them into thinking they are relieved from self-examination. Faith in their religious beliefs is all they need. The more vile they make the atheist look, the more beatific they make themselves look, or so they seem to think. One thing they might discover upon self-examination is that from the fact that one believes certain commands came from God it doesn't follow that they do.
The theist thinks he has an advantage over those of us who don't believe in any gods, but his books and beliefs are just props that he uses to justify his take on what is right or wrong. The theist has no more insight than anyone else into what the right thing to do is in any given situation. The fact that theists disagree about morals should be their first clue.
The theist would trick himself into believing that his life is meaningful because he is following some rules and thinks he'll be rewarded with eternal life. He believes that he was created to follow a set of rules laid down by his creator, and that if he follows the rules, he'll get to spend an eternity worshipping this rule maker. A meaningful life, however, is one that is productive, useful, creative, and enjoyable. A life spent obeying rules may be none of those things.
Theists claim that atheists think everything is an accident and a human being is a collection of material particles that will disintegrate at death. It apparently doesn't occur to the theist that that's true whether there is a god or not. Of course, they like to throw in the word 'just' to make the distortion complete. According to the theist, the atheist thinks we're just an accident and just a collection of particles.
The atheist is a straw man created by theists. Every day there are hundreds of pious theists who write articles and books against atheism, as if atheism were a belief system. They attack one chimera after another and pat themselves on the back for slaying these evil dragons they call atheists. In the meantime, they don't examine their own lives or beliefs. I'm not suggesting, however, that theists would do a better job of self-examination than they have tearing apart the straw man they've created. The books and articles promoting the positive side of theism are usually little more than pabulum and feel-good pieces on the level of Chicken Soup for the Soul or The Purpose Driven Life.
I'm not an atheist because the atheist is a figment of the theist's imagination, a figment that is used to divert attention away from the dangerous delusions theists harbor. The most dangerous theistic delusion, of course, is that faith is superior to reason and that reason should be used to distort the truth whenever needed in order to defend doctrines of faith. The promotion of irrationality is one of the most harmful effects of theism. Some theists even condemn atheists for promoting rationality and science, and they do this with a straight face. They mean it. They accuse us of preferring reason to faith, as if that were a bad thing.
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