I had a discussion with a Christian yesterday and our conversation moved on to a topic that ended in me trying to explain a quote that I really love.

She had many questions about Atheism but she was more curious about an Atheist Quote that I randomly used.

I contend that we are both atheists. I just go one god further than you. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. -Stephen Robert

I gave her only the first half of this quote since I wasn’t trying to disprove her God. I was expecting her show signs of discomfort for calling her an Atheist but to my surprise, Her immediate response to it was that she does not understand what it means to say “I just go one god further than you“.

That was when it hit me. I see Atheist quotes & phrases on bumper stickers, T-shits and graffiti all the time and always thought that It was also read and understood by the Theists who walk the same path. But it never occurred to me that they do not understand what it means.

I explained it to her and she understood the quote the same way Atheists do (way to go, me!). Here I’ll try to elaborate on the quote so that more Christians would understand the quote that she herself asked me to post on my web-log. But first, its time to define Atheism & Theism.

* Theism: The doctrine or belief in the existence of a God or gods. Any belief system that includes at least one concept of divinity, god, or the supernatural.

* Atheism: The disbelief or non-belief in the Existence of a God or gods. A state that includes the lack of belief in at least one concept of divinity, god, or the supernatural.

Please note, I don’t worship Satan, Humans, Dragons, the Dead, or Aliens. Atheism is merely the lack of belief (or disbelief) in Theism.

That said, lets move on to the quote of the day. Everyone is an Atheist once they reject or show disbelief in any kind of Theology. A Christian does not follow the Holy Quran, A Muslim does not follow the Holy book of Bhagvath Gita & a Satanist does not follow the Holy Bible. I’m an Atheist because I do not follow any of the above mentioned books, I chose to go one god further than the Christian, the Hindu, the Muslim & the Satanist. Therefore we are all Atheists, in respect of the theology that we simply choose not to subscribe to.

But once you get there, what is it that an atheist would worship? Himself? Humanity?

These few questions from her were totally unexpected, I believed she was smarter than this, but maybe it could all have been curiosity. Of course, I do not laugh at these questions because who else is she going to ask? Who else to get better an answers than from an Atheist himself?

Atheists do not follow a set of theology and hence there is nothing that an atheist would worship. Then again, Its up to the Atheist to choose what he worships (remember, even a Christian is an Atheist). But generally speaking, referring to the true Atheists, They simply do not worship anything. Living does not require the need to worship. Sure I recognize the awesome feeling you get while praying. The sense of security you receive at Gods arms (If he/she has any), for I have prayed too, many moons ago when I was a Christian. But one can live without this false sense of security because once he puts away the idea of a protecting father above, he puts away the idea of the mean little red devil below too. Therefore, they do not require prayer. And is free from what I like to call “mind police”

Praying to Humanity & Himself is an interesting topic, but The Atheist does neither of this. In Satanism, The book of Lucifer has many essays, It follows up on the concept of “I am my own god” with a full explanation of the Satanic egocentric view of the world. An Atheist never prays to himself or Humanity. But shares love for all human kind, out of compassion and just because we see the suffering the world is in because it is our compassion that sets us apart from other non-social animals.

I am my own god has somewhat become catch phrase for teen atheists, but its just because they want to piss off a few theists. Pagans have often been confused with Satanism, which is not true. I have respect for that religion, I’m yet to learn more about it, so I better leave it here.

She agreed and said it was clear to her, but she further said,

Only difference is that I believe I know and you are still unsure and are still searching.

As an Atheist, I disagree with that statement. Simply by going one god further does not mean I’m in an eternal search for the unknown or to find the true GOD(s). The planet offers hundreds of religions that I can subscribe to or go looking for a God. It is humanly impossible to test the validity of every bit of theology that was ever written. But this does not mean an Atheists will just sit & relax drinking tequila all day long once he looses faith in a particular religion. He further researches about God, if he feels the need for it. Who said God is necessary for living? Millions of Atheists on this planet are living proof that its wrong. Unlike Theists, Atheists are comfortable with the unknown. Instead of filling the gap with a theology or a Magical being, he simply says “I doesn’t know” and moves on with his life, enjoying every bit of time he has, watching movies, taking dates and doing all the wild things that every other human does. If you know me, you will know what a fun guy I am [*grin goes here*]. For an Atheist like me, to find the right sort of church or place of worship would require quite a bit of research and testing. Therefore I am able to think like a Theist (Maybe because I was a theist myself for 14 years), most theists are unable to think like their opposites.

I would really like to go on and explain about Morals since the need & no-need for worship & God came up in my blog, but I think I should reserve that for another day.

-Ruben The AnswerMan

Update: this post alone caused a Slashdot on August 5 2007

Ruben is really bored. So you can email him by clicking here. He usually gets back in 3 minutes or it could take up to 3 weeks depending on how addicted he is, to stumbleupon.  Been a little busy for a while, so I'm averaging about a blog every 2 moon cycles. If you are lucky, you'll get to see a new blog entry and know what I'm upto. And when you are here, just let me know by leaving a comment.