Atheists Won't Believe In Anything Without Proof

Seven Things Many Christians Believe About Atheists and Why They're Not Necessarily True

7. Faith is a virtue. Atheists are too skeptical. They won’t believe anything without proof.

Actually we believe in stuff without proof all the time. I believe that Barack Obama is the President of the US, but I’ve never met him. I haven’t been to DC since he’s been in office to actually observe him personally. I’ve simply taken the available information (thousands of newscasts and other people who have met him) and concluded that it is reasonable to believe that Barack Obama is our President. It would take a lot more faith for me to believe that he isn’t real – that he is the result of a huge conspiracy to fool the world. It’s not that I put things like that past people. Not at all. It would simply be too enormous of a task to pull off successfully. It would require cooperation from too many people. Somebody would screw up.

I’ve had Christians ask me what it would take for me to change my mind and believe. I’m not sure what answer they’re wanting or expecting here. If I say, “There is nothing that could make me believe,” then I just look like a close-minded fool. I’m sure there are things that could make me believe, but the fact that none of them has ever happened makes me tend to think that they never will. It’s not proof that I require but I do require some kind of evidence. In every area of life we require evidence before we believe. It’s only with religion that we have suspended those rules. We’ve even taken it a step further and praised faith without evidence as a great virtue. Would you use faith to cross the street or would you look both ways for evidence of whether it’s safe? I have yet to hear anything said by any Christian ever that is compelling enough for me to believe that there is a God. There is tons of evidence that lots of others have believed in God, but that’s not the same thing.

The one thing that turned me from a very skeptical agnostic to an atheist was when I wondered what our world would look like if there was no God, and I realized (and was quite surprised by the realization) that it would look exactly like it does now. We would have people trying to convince others that they know there is a God because of how it makes them feel when they think about him. We would have people claiming that any time someone recovers from a serious illness that that is evidence of God (but no matter how many people don’t recover, that isn’t evidence that there is no God). People would say that belief is the most important thing – that you will be rewarded for believing, and punished for doubting. Various groups would claim to understand the real thoughts of God – what He really wants for the world. Candidates running for president would claim that they were doing the will of God. People who agree with each other on things like that would form groups to promote their ideas. They would be quick to inform people about the eternal torment awaiting those who believe differently.

I didn’t write this in the hopes of destroying anyone’s belief. If your belief in God gives you comfort and helps you treat others well then I’m all for it. Hopefully what I’ve written will help dispel some ideas that I hear often promoted by Christians regarding atheists. It’s my hope that with all the information available to each of us that religion is on its way out. If that does begin to happen then there will be more and more atheists in your lives – in your family, among your friends, at work and at the grocery store. The first step in living together is understanding each other.