Hi! This is going to be relatively short, as I told you in my last post that Atheists don't have a unified dogma. Nevertheless, I believe anyone who claims the title of Atheist believes in some variation of the four following tenets (yay arbitrary numbers!).
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#1. There is no Reload, Restart or New Game Plus mode to life.
From a video game analogy. There is no reload, restart or NG+ available. This means that when you die, not only is the game over but that there is no chance to retry with what you have learned. In short, your existence is a speed-run on hardcore mode. When you die, the game's source code is wiped from your perspective.
What does this mean? Live your current life and don't waste any time thinking about the possibility of what might come after. An Atheist does not subscribe to the notion that 'there are no atheists in foxholes' - indeed, they are the people screaming obscenities as shells rain down. Because death is an ending, and an early ending means a low score.
#2. Truth is what we can observe and verify.
If I hear a voice, but no one else can, and the voice does not repeat: there was no voice. In short, the scientific method trumps personal experience and belief. You can stand there and honestly tell me that you heard the voice of G-d telling you to be a better person, but if no one else can hear it, I'm sorry that you are suffering from schizophrenia.
What does this mean? My own observable experiences will shape my likely beliefs, but the ability to verify your experiences will shape my certain beliefs. If you can't record All-h telling you to burn someone alive, I'm going to call you crazy and a lunatic rather that 'god-touched'.
#3. Any intelligent creator would be an active creator.
If there was a G-d that set the universe in motion, he would be interested in it from more than an observational standpoint. If he isn't, then worshiping him is a waste of time. To flip the old 'clock maker' analogy, if you stumbled across a working pocket watch in the desert, why would you think the clock maker is around and cares what happens to the watch? It's in the freaking desert!
What does this mean? That the Un-caused Cause (to be covered next week!) dilemma doesn't really bother Atheists. Yes, I can't prove that your G-d didn't cause the Big Bang. But since we don't see evidence of it's active involvement today, why should I live my life by what you say it's rules are?
#4. Don't you hate pants?
Waking up early on any weekend to sit around for an hour being told what to think either makes you a Theist or an old Republican. Sleeping in naked is a much better use of our time.
What does this mean? Whenever you are worshiping, I am spending my time on things that I value. That doesn't make me better than you, it just means I have different priorities in mind.
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So, I've stated that this blog is not meant to poke at active Theists, and I'm certain that someone reading this somewhere has steam coming out of their ears. Relax, buddy!
This is a very loose attempt to give you a view into how most Atheists set our worldview. It is not meant to criticize your own. I am deliberately exaggerating uncommon Theist viewpoints to try and set the parallel up.
If you are offended, I would encourage you to take each point and set up your counter argument. Finished? Congrats! You have laid out a few tenets of your own beliefs! This doesn't make me wrong or you right, instead it simply shows that we have different viewpoints.
Bourbon Count: 6
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