Atheism

Atheism is the lack of believe in a god or Supreme Being. In itself, according to some definition, atheism is a belief. For a long time, there have been the perception that atheism is immoral, paganism, heathenism and sinful. There has been an expression that atheism is neither a religion nor a belief system (American Atheists). Theists have however not been in a position to comprehend the fact that there are dogmas that they must follow from traditions despite the appearance or the tendency that they should have no beliefs. Atheists do not belief that there is life after death. Atheists differ from other groups in that they have no prescribed rules that they must follow. Therefore, much as they don’t belief in life after death, there would be expected very distinct ways of dealing with death (Arguments against the ideas of Atheism). Historically, atheists have been indicated to come from religious groupings after questioning the beliefs presented to them by the religions. The answers presented to them by the concerned leaders proved unsatisfactory, making them go and carry out some research of their theology and theology of other religions. In addition, there are those who have been indicated to have converted to atheism because of problems or crisis happening in their lives. However, this indication has been proved right to some extent because for the people to hate gods, they must have had a belief in them. From the definitions of what atheism is, it is clear that the people involved in atheism are those who want to exercise freedom of their mind, free themselves from religious oppression and its ideas and bigotry, and who do not want to exercise faith in the concept of god. The idea of the freedom of expression for the individuals can be manifested by the fact that they lack an “official organization” (Slick).

The first oldest document on the subject matter appeared at around 1650. This was entitled Theophrastus redivivus and was followed by the Symbolum sapientiae which appeared in the last quarter of the same century. Both of the manuscripts were anonymous. Such documents influenced latter “public atheists”. They were not popular at the time of their appearance and no genuine atheists were known to them (Berman, Smith; cited in University of Cambridge). People still thought that it was impossible not to belief in God in the mid 17^th Century and atheists were thought to be atheists against the evidence. It was not apparent how the view of atheism could be held rationally in such a time, and therefore atheism was taken to exist as a result of a perverse will and an illness. It was possible to name real atheists at the end of the aforementioned century after the idea of a virtuous society of atheists was raised by Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) (Schroeder, 76, 77).

There have been distinguished two categories of atheists; strong and weak atheists. Strong atheists are those that strongly denounce the existence of a god, and they “shoot holes in theistic beliefs” to defend their stands (Slick). Weak atheists would be expected to be more tolerant to the ideas of atheism and faiths. Atheist beliefs hang on two major conceptions; that there is “illogical” idea of existence of a god, and such idea is contrary to the evidence at hand; and that there is no “supporting evidence” for the atheist to affirm the existence of a god (Slick).

Atheists also differ as to what really happens after death, if no life after death. This is because of lack of a common guideline or belief amongst them. Some have chosen to adopt the feeling that there is some kind of immortality while others don’t. Atheists have come to largely disagree on the notion that there could be life after death, which has traditionally been mediated through the experiences people have, especially after death. These experiences include seeing figures of the people they have lost through death, and hearing their voices. Atheists adopt a free-thinking style concerning various issues.

According to the mission statement for atheists, anyone prescribing to this kind of belief must love himself and others instead of a god. In addition, atheists’ believe that the heaven they have top work on is the earth that people live on; it must be worked out for the benefit of all people. Atheists find themselves the inner conviction and strength to meet life and they are convinced that a prayer cannot offer help. In order to live a life of fulfillment, an atheist believes that all what is needed is to understanding and knowing himself and fellow man. Atheists have come to fail to belief in the afterlife because of lack of prove that there are gods. Atheism, therefore, may be assumed to be the reaction against the conception of a superstitious nature. Some of the things that have advanced atheism and its spread appear to be associated with issues such as the presence of evil in the world, whereas religions largely define the supernatural gods as all-powerful and good. The presence of evils and problems has in a way led to doubts of the supernatural gods, and lack of belief in them. This may be perceived as a weak argument in the sense that it basis on the establishment of atheism along other religious weaknesses and the assumption that the supernatural being cannot allow evil and problems to people. Thus the debate of atheism is largely unfinished business, first because of the various points of view over a wide range of issues because of lack of official grouping, and largely because of the need to prove other groups right.