Atheists Pray Too
As a self-proclaimed Atheist I often get the question “What do you believe in?” Well, that’s hard to answer. The first thing I respond with is, “Well, you mean, in the terms of what?” Do you see the dilemma with this question? Atheists believe in a whole bunch of things. Spirits, ghosts, witches, aliens, etc. What they do have in common is the disbelief in God or Gods (see any definition). So what we should ask is: “Why don’t you believe in God or Gods?” This is because the previous question makes little sense, unless you wanted to know all the sundry things that the specific Atheist you are asking prescribes to. Atheism isn’t the absence of faith, it is the disbelief in God or Gods.
Before I answer this “Why” question, I’ll talk about something I alluded to earlier: faith. It is ignorant to believe that Atheists are science worshipers, or are masters (or wannabe philosophy scholars) in logic and reasoning. Sure, those people exist, but really most Atheists are everyday people who believe in all sorts of things non-science and academically related. Atheists therefore have faith, or the absolute certainty in something regardless of the evidence that measures its truth value. Does this mean Atheists pray?
Whoa now, I just asked you if Atheists pray. You know, the thing only people who are spiritual or religious do? Well, what if I told you it was true? Prayer isn’t exclusive to only religion. In fact, prayer can be as simple as a hope, as an idea of salvation, a way to will oneself to weather the storm of adversity. Who hasn’t done this? What human on Earth hasn’t given themselves a pep talk, a well wish to another or to oneself? I’d go out on a limb and say everyone does to some extent. So even Atheists pray, but we keep the assertion of God, Gods, or any divine beings out of the prayer.
Now I’ll answer “Why.” My disbelief in God, or Gods is because I am unable to accept that humans have the answers to all of existence. Those who subscribe to religion must also realize that humans have survived without the knowledge of the modern religions, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism being the largest for quite some time. This is not to discount the other many religions which are no more or less important or significant belief-wise than their counterparts. The point is, what makes subscribing to any religion closer to realizing the ultimate truth of the universe, how everything came to be? Another problem is the absence of discovery on our own planet and surrounding universe. We have not explored Earth in its entirety, much less other planets and yet we want to explain all of existence? That’s like making a claim that the world is dangerous and yet you haven’t been outside your own home. What do you know about truth if you are so far from discovery, so far from witnessing a universe that is much bigger than the tiny existence you live on the small rocky planet you call home? Yet we make big claims about creation, while knowing little to nothing about it at all.
Atheists pray. They poop, breathe, cry, die, lie, and have faith just like anyone else. They aren’t a mentally deranged group of people who have drifted from religiosity because they want to hunt down anything theist. Simply put: they don’t believe in God or Gods.
