questionnaire for atheists...
I need your help!
Please note: These questions are aimed at those that DO identify with being an atheist.
This not a debate about the existence of God or scientific evidence, but about the existence of YOU...an Atheist!
I am attempting to accumulate information about how people identify with their atheism, and background information...
If you are willing and able to answer all or any of these questions I would be greatly appreciative.
* How do you define yourself as an atheist?
* Do you consider atheism a major part of your identity?
* Were you raised to be an atheist?
* How long have you considered yourself an atheist?
* If you became an atheist, why?
* Do you tell people that you are an atheist?
* Do you think atheism is a "belief system?"
* Do you hold any thoughts you consider "beliefs?"
* Do you think you are advantaged/disadvantaged by being an atheist?
* Do you think atheists have specific needs in society?
* Do you have anything else you want to add concerning being an atheist?
I'll apologise in advance: I
I'll apologise in advance: I tend to be a bit wordy. :P
I used to have trouble with this but I recently came across the term apatheist defined as
It's unfortunately erred on the other side though as I object to atheism with a capital A since many will assert certainty on some god's existence, whereas apathism states a complete lack of interest in any claims which is also not quite right (because you can take certain claims and point out the are either self contradictory or contradict science) but certainly closer. It would be better if there was a term for someone who "is not interested in accepting or denying any unprovable claims that gods exist".
Nope.
Uhhhh sort of? Both my parents are supposedly Christians but I think they've attended church a grand total of once since I was born and it was never really talked about when we were growing up. I went to an Anglican high school but other than having to attend chapel once a week (and noone chased you up if you didn't go) and religious studies classes also once a week (which more often than not were done as comparative and history of religion) there wasn't any overt religiosity in the school. In addition neither me nor my brother were baptised or christened or whatever as our parents felt we should make that decision for ourselves when we grew up.
As long as I can remember excluding a 3-year foray into neopaganism in my early uni days. I pulled out when I realised despite claims it's truths were no better or more convincing than anyone else's. Additionally even then I was still critical of tarot and astrology and various other things so I wasn't exactly popular.
"Not enough evidence, God, not enough evidence."
Not typically. I think most assume it based on my appearance and topics chosen for conversation.
Not inherently, it can be depending on the person though. It's the difference of asking 'where does the evidence point' and, to quote Godfree, 'the theist will never come up with anything I would consider proof. But I would say I know there is no god.' The latter I would consider a belief system, to think something regardless of any facts that come to light. In fact this is why I tend to avoid self-describing myself as an atheist because I don't want to be associated with the latter group.
Not in the sense I wouldn't roll over on them if sufficient evidence pointed that way. The closest things to beliefs I have would be in causal determinism (over free will), an incomplete theory of gravitation (better than dark matter), meta-ethical relativism, sympathetic to Epicurean ideas. Ummm probably some others I can't bring to mind right now. I guess being an open source advocate could be lumped in here as well.
Nope.
Nope. Having said that the recent bus campaign highlighted that atheism isn't considered equal to religion in terms of what it can/can't do however equity is something that everyone needs, not just atheists.
Nope.
Some public answers
* How do you define yourself as an atheist?
I don't believe in any god, or indeed "supernatural power"
* Do you consider atheism a major part of your identity?
Not really
* Were you raised to be an atheist?
No, Church of England, reasonably active family, at church every Sunday, even sang in the choir for several years as a kid. But it always seemed to be the social aspects that were more important than the spiritual ones
* How long have you considered yourself an atheist?
Pretty much all my life; I don't think I ever "believed" even though I "accepted" what was normal.
* If you became an atheist, why?
Probably the biggest part was discovering just how bad religion can be, and realising that ignoring it doesn't make it go away ... so I made it go away by having a "label" to use for myself
* Do you tell people that you are an atheist?
Rarely, it's none of their business unless they try to make it so. Its on my Facebook page, so I suppose my Mum might know by now!
* Do you think atheism is a "belief system?"
Almost, but not quite. If unexamined and advertised, it can be subject to belief, see the next Q.
* Do you hold any thoughts you consider "beliefs?"
Yes, loads. I may be a skeptic/rationalist, but I don't have time to examine all the evidence on every issue. I generally "believe" what the world of science believes. I used to believe there was such a thing as a Brontosaurus, for example.
* Do you think you are advantaged/disadvantaged by being an atheist?
In NZ or the UK, no.
* Do you think atheists have specific needs in society?
Yes, they need to be left alone and not bothered! They need equality (just like any human), which has been denied historically here, and currently in many other countries
* Do you have anything else you want to add concerning being an atheist?
I could work hard with the word definitions to try to be an agnostic, an apatheist, or possibly an anti-theist, but simplicity is useful. I know what the word means, even if others do not.
* How do you define yourself
* How do you define yourself as an atheist?
It's a position I hold of non-belief in deities.
* Do you consider atheism a major part of your identity?
It's part of who I am, but not a defining feature.
* Were you raised to be an atheist?
No, family nominally christian.
* How long have you considered yourself an atheist?
About 25 years after one experience crystallised it for me.
* If you became an atheist, why?
Partly as a result of rational inquiry, but it was more about an experience as a nursing student where I was confronted with the harm religious belief can cause - this was a death of a 9 year old child from diabetic ketoacidosis after her parents stopped her insulin after their pastor claimed god was going to heal her. It was particularly hard watching the parents be blamed for not having enough faith.
* Do you tell people that you are an atheist?
If the situation merits it.
* Do you think atheism is a "belief system?
No, it's not a religion, ideology or dogma either.
* Do you hold any thoughts you consider "beliefs?"
Possibly but can't think of any at the moment, really what I do is put my trust in the scientific method and/or the evidence. Can't research everything, so have to rely on other methods of determining conclusions sometimes.
* Do you think you are advantaged/disadvantaged by being an atheist?
No, not really.
* Do you think atheists have specific needs in society?
Not really, although atheists should have the same rights to express themselves as any other sector of society. Sometimes it's not always that easy, as the refusal to put the atheist ads on buses shows.
* Do you have anything else you want to add concerning being an atheist.
Can't think of anything at the moment.
Questionnaire for atheists
1. Only science, an understanding of material reality equips me to understand the world around me.
2. Yes.
3. No. Family walked away from Catholic Church while I was a kid. Attended protestant denominations till I decided atheism made the most sense. At age 13. Actually hung a few years longer because it still was the best place to meet girls. :-]
4. See 1.
5. Yes.
6. How could accepting measurable, verifiable reality qualify as "belief". Saying you can fly does not result in levitation.
7. Best guesses, not enough information to verify - I guess those could be beliefs - though as I reflect on the question, mathematical probabilities and physics wander through, guiding that "belief".
8. Advantaged - 99% of the time. It ain't easy accepting mortality. Anyone's mortality. A solid Stone Age reason [damn those genes!].
9. Not anymore than anyone else who tries to stick to reality to run their life, guide opinions. Folks with spooky superstitions and ideologies get all the extra tasks.
10. Only that by the time I reached 18 years, I passed beyond atheism, an essential rejection of time-wasting on useless belief in non-reality - and spent some time investigating philosophical systems grounded in philosophical materialism. And that other scary word, "dialectics". Both have stood me in good stead for the fifty-five years since.
One can't help but be wordy
Where can I buy a head-mounted lightning rod?
* How do you define yourself as an atheist?
Not sure that I can. Are those who don't believe in the Tooth-Fairy labelled Non-Tooth-Fairyists? Just because I don't believe in any sky-god, doesn't mean that I should be labelled as such. Perhaps the best way is to label those who DO believe in odd things. How about the believers be called Goddists, or something similar instead?
Hmmm... perhaps if you insist on a label, I would say that I am a Pearl-ist: Physical Evidence And Reasoned Logic
* Do you consider atheism a major part of your identity?
Absolutely.
* Were you raised to be an atheist?
Only in that my parents said that I should be able to make up my own mind about things.
* How long have you considered yourself an atheist?
Since teenage years when I could validly say that I could think and evaluate things for myself.
* If you became an atheist, why?
The religious arguments I heard were utterly ridiculous and totally unfulfilling from the point of view of an enquiring mind.
* Do you tell people that you are an atheist?
Only when they ask.
* Do you think atheism is a "belief system?"
Only in the inverse sense. It is surely a non-belief system.
* Do you hold any thoughts you consider "beliefs?"
A belief is a supposition that something is true. If the belief is supported by rational logic and evidence which stands up to scrutiny, then perhaps it might best be called a fact (and facts can change with new evidence). If the belief is not supported as above, then one must simply *trust* that it is true.
So, the answer to the question is no.
* Do you think you are advantaged/disadvantaged by being an atheist?
Certainly in my thought processes I consider myself personally advantaged that I don't hold any irrational sky-god beliefs.
* Do you think atheists have specific needs in society?
I *believe* that all children ought to be brought up without the poison of religion. When they are old enough to evaluate rationally on their own, then and only then may they be exposed to the utter stupidity of religion, and decide whether they want to follow or not.
* Do you have anything else you want to add concerning being an atheist?
Penn and Teller, The Hitch and Richard Dawkins are all awesome.