Atheism is self-deism

An atheist does not believe in God.

It is my opinion that everyone believes in a God of one sort or other; in the case of the atheist, the God they believe in is themselves. Atheism has a long laundry list of "reasons" why believing in God makes no sense whatsoever, and the appeal is made at one time or other to the lack of "proof" for God's existence (which makes me scratch my head and tilt my head like a puppy does when it hears a strange noise). You see, proof is a function of the ideological framework which interprets the proof in the first place. If I wanted to prove that 2 + 2 = 4, then the framework for evaluating this particular assertion would be mathematics. If I wanted to prove that dinosaurs existed, I would be appealing to paleontology's established framework. And if I wanted proof of God's existence, I would refer to religion. But "religion," from the atheistic perspective (and from some religious perspectives)  signifies more the folly of less intelligent human beings than it does prove God's existence. Actually, "proving" God's existence in scientific terms is a flawed enterprise from the very beginning since "God" belongs to the domain of "faith." In most cases, the atheist wants proof of God's existence in scientific terms.

One popular remark I've heard from friends and from the popular culture at large is that God is something that can't be seen, and therefore does not exist. In other words, this is the whole "I'll believe it when I see it" school of thought (which is flawed). The human eye perceives (rather poorly, I might add) the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. We know that there is more to the electromagnetic spectrum than visible light such as X-RAYs, gamma rays, microwaves, and ultra violet radiation. Our sun, which is a giant thermonuclear explosion in space that collapses on itself due to its huge mass, emits all kinds of invisible radiation which cannot be seen (directly) through the human eye. We infer that something "unseen" exists because of its effect on the surround space (which is how scientists postulate the presence of black holes). When we put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and begin to cook it, we cannot see the microwaves directly; but because the popcorn begins cooking, we can infer that microwaves exist because of their effect on the bag of popcorn. Using similar logic, we can infer that God exists because of all the wars and human squabbling that has been done in his name throughout history!

Hahaha. I jest, I jest. But seriously, though. I consider myself to be a person of faith, but I totally understand how some refuse to believe in God for whatever their personal reason is. For some people, atheism is a living rebellion to the value system of hurtful parents. For others, atheism is like the Socratic gadfly for those who believe every word coming from any person claiming that "God has put something" on their heart. Look, I know that religion has been used to achieve personal agendas from the beginning of time (if I wanted to convince people that it is "God's Will" that I philander with others, then I'd write a "Book" and say the inspiration for it came to me in a vision too!) ; and I know that some people use religion as an excuse to refute scientific evidence (and these people piss me off too). From my point of view, evolution and science are all part of God's plan. Did you read that? I said that evolution is part of God's plan.

In any case, religion (whether that religion is that of a God found in a church or a God found inside one's self) is a personal choice and a personal relationship, and it should be kept that way -- personal. Yeah, I know. I'm writing a blog for the whole world to read and I'm not following my own advice on keeping personal things personal. But you know what? I'm not a militant when it comes to getting others to believe in God. I'm not a Bible thumper or a Bible thrower. I have my personal way of looking at things, and I'll share my insights with others when the moment is right. It's not for me to judge the sexuality or the personal choices of another human being -- I'm not God, I don't claim to be, and I don't want to be. In Matt 5:45, it is written that God lets the rain fall on EVERYONE, and the sun shines on EVERYONE (though I must admit, I don't understand why).