This is the second of a three-part series by Alex DiBranco.  Read part one here.

Time Out: What is Atheism?

Most simplistically, atheism is defined as disbelief in God. Which explains very little.

Some nonreligious students consider their beliefs to derive in large part from their “feelings” about doing wrong. Others don’t “believe in ‘being good for good’s sake,’” and are not convinced of universal morality, rather seeing morality as stemming from evolution and “necessary for a stable human coexistence.” Ben identified as a Quaker Atheist, and along with some friends constructed a morality that shared some of their tenets, and was largely based on utilitarian principles and Rousseau’s rules of society. He listed “treating others as intrinsically equal,” pacifism, and “living simply” amongst his core beliefs.

As with theist religions, many forms of atheism exist. From secular humanism to existential atheism to utilitarianism to skeptical atheism and more, there are a variety of belief systems an atheist can ascribe to. Some atheists even consider themselves somehow spiritual or consider the idea of an afterlife or mystic occurrences, simply ones not stemming from a god, although this is much more rare.

And then there’s what atheism is: a religion or a non-religion. To some people, atheism is just another religion. “Being a religion major,” Catholic junior Peter stated, “I see atheism as just another kind of religious belief structure.” He elaborated, “I suppose most people would find it anti-religious because their idea of religion is seen solely from a western Christian lens.”

On the other hand, Bart, a senior religion major, was less certain, indicating that “there are many definition of religion,” with the most common involving the supernatural or superhuman. However, he indicated that if religion is simply defined as a belief system, then atheism would be included—“It’s at least an ideology.”

To yet others students, atheism is purely a non-religion. Many atheists believe the term “atheist” shouldn’t even be required, any more than a rational person who does not believe in UFOs would need a special term to describe that disbelief.

My beliefs derive from existential, or ethical, atheism, which I consider to be described well by Albert Camus’ basic principle that the world is absurd but as members of humanity we must do our best to help others. I don’t really see atheism as a belief system per se, except that it’s important for me to live my life as if it’s the only life available, and appeals to an otherworldly force are futile and should be replaced with human action.

On the other hand, I also consider myself a secular humanist, which offers nonreligious persons a more structured set of beliefs derived from a rational ethical basis. These principles, codified in “A Secular Humanist Agenda” issued in 1980 by what is now the Council for Secular Humanism, include such tenets as supporting liberty, free inquiry, separation of church and state, toleration, evidence-based moral and universal education, and commitment to reason and the benefits of science and technology.

The line that most resonates with me: “As secular humanists we believe in the central importance of the value of human happiness here and now.”

The Arrogant Atheist

Beside being seen as immoral, the most widespread negative characterization of atheists is that they are arrogant. Becca, an Anglican/Jewish student, complained that, “what bothers me most about atheists is that they act as if it is some terrific feat of logic and intellect to deny the existence of God.” She went on to say, “There might be humble atheists, but I have never encountered one.” Another nominally Jewish student stated, “claiming to be sure something intangible such as god does not exist strikes me as a little arrogant.”

Where does this perception of atheists come from? It’s helpful to look at the definitions of atheism students provided to see how their very concept of what an atheist is biases them toward seeing atheists as arrogant. The nominally Jewish respondent quoted above defined atheism as “adamantly believing that god does not exist.” When presented with the simple definition that atheism is “the belief that there is no God,” Becca said she assumes that if pressed, “any person who called themselves an atheist...would cite the lack of proof for God’s existence as proof for God’s non-existence,” and thus still play the role of arrogant intellectual. Furthermore, she would not vote for an atheist for president because “atheism, in my mind, cannot be tolerant of faith by definition.”

Agnosticism is generally viewed more favorably by religious persons as an acceptable neutral stance (although some see it as a “wishy-washy” cop-out). Atheists are distinct from agnostics because, while they still admit human fallibility and thus don’t claim that they can absolutely know there is no God (or gods, but for the sake of ease of language and understanding, and since we live in a country that mainly thinks of the supernatural as the Judeo-Christian God with a capital G), their personal belief is that there is not one, and they structure their lives in accordance with that belief. Most atheist respondents defined atheism along the lines of the belief that there is no God; occasionally, they left out mention of God and citied something else as the core value, such as belief in human agency.

Atheists are distinct from other groups like agnostics because, while they admit human fallibility and thus don’t claim that they can absolutely know there is no God (or gods), their personal belief is that there is not one, and they structure their lives in accordance with that belief. Some atheists prefer not to mention God in defining their beliefs and cite something else as the core value of atheism, such as belief in human agency. However, my survey indicated that many religious people think atheism is defined as “adamantly” refusing to believe in God, or “rejecting” God. This misunderstanding of what atheism is feeds a lot of the negative reaction to it. In reality, atheists do not “reject” God, because if you don’t believe that a god or gods exist in the first place, then you aren’t rejecting him/her/them. While I understand that it might seem arrogant to state something so vast and powerful does not exist if you believe in it, for an atheist not believing in God is no more arrogant than not believing in Santa Claus. This comparison might be taken as offensive, but it’s the best way I can think of to illustrate that atheism is not a question of arrogance but rather a simple an absence of belief.

It is certainly no less arrogant to believe that there is a God and that your religion, out of all the religions present, former, and future, is the true one that knows what God wants from us; that you know what God wants of you; that you know better than what scientific evidence points to; that God will answer your prayers above someone else’s; or that you are one of the chosen people who God actually created specifically to be one of the lucky ones who gets to be a part of his true religion; or that you are going to be saved while everybody else is tormented in Hell.

On the whole, I personally don’t think this is how religious people view their belief in God (except for those televangelists that request money and condemn all unbelievers to hellfire while they’re certain they’re going to be raptured), but I don’t think it would be difficult to conceptualize religion, and particularly the Judeo-Christian belief system, along most of those lines. While plenty of arrogant people exist, and both atheists and religious persons number amongst them, most of the negative perspectives of atheists as arrogant seem to stem more from a given religious person’s conceptualization of what “atheist” means, and a difficulty or unwillingness to view the belief, or disbelief, in God from an atheist’s perspective.

Alex DiBranco is a senior at Dartmouth College studying Creative Writing and Government. She is the editor-in-chief of the progressive campus paper the Dartmouth Free Press, vice president of the Dartmouth Coalition for Progress, and just finished an internship with the progressive think tank Political Research Associates. Atheism and feminism are a couple of her favorite topics of conversation, and she hopes to work for a progressive non-profit or publication after graduation.