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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
I guess Im trying to understand exactly what it means to be an atheist?
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What does it mean to not believe in ghosts?
All it means to me is that I don't hold any religious beliefs. I believe that no being is a god, or god like. Everything and everyone follows the same basic rules, even when we don't fully understand them. I believe that with enough time and effort, anything can be understood. I believe nothing is magical, nothing is miracle, and nothing is a Divine act. I believe we are the source of all the good and all the evil in our world. I believe that when we die, we die.
I have religious friends who are convinced I'm cheating my self. I don't think I am. I simply don't feel the need for a god in my life. I get along fine with out Him (or Her or They or any variation you want). Meaning in my life comes from my desire to do good for the sake of my fellow man, not to please Him or because He wants it to be so. I strive to make things better, just as any religious practitioner would, but with out the religion. I relish being a good person because I want to be a good person, not because I've been told to be. Maybe some people need religion, I don't.
No one event or situation 'drove' me to atheism. I didn't decide one day that I was going to be an atheist from then on. I just never felt that any religious explanation fit, or that I required any religious guidance to be a good person. So if I don't believe in any god, I am an atheist by definition.
I don't mean to say that Atheism is right, and religious beliefs are wrong. But they are for me. We must all chose what explanations we want to believe. As long as you follow the basic rule (Be good), I don't really care what you believe. It simply doesn't, and shouldn't, matter to anyone but you what god you do or do not believe in. Just be good.
Thats my take on it, anyway. Others are likely to disagree, and thats OK. Everyone needs to figure this stuff out for themselves.
I do get really annoyed when people call Atheism a religion though. It's like calling bald a hair colour.
-Andy A.