I’m too sexy for your god!
A common argument I hear is that atheism is arrogant. I’m always reminded of that preacher dude who came to my door in the dead of winter. I was surprised; they almost always come by on nice sunny days. When I told him I was an atheist, he asked how I thought the world began. I said I didn’t know how the world began, but I saw no reason to think it began with a god. He told me that if I couldn’t explain how the world began, that blew my atheism “out of the water”. No, it doesn’t. Yes, it does. No, it doesn’t. This continued until I decided he was warm enough and let him back into the cold and snow.
There seems to be this idea that if you’re an atheist, you’ve replaced the “god answer” with some “atheist answer”. But the truth is, the believer never really understood the question in the first place. Deep Thought would agree with me.
For some reason, believers think that since they believe the universe began with god, the Big Bang Theory must be a “god replacement”. Or since they believe god created the earth in 6 days, the theory of evolution must be a “god replacement”. I hear over and over again the deejay on the Christian radio refer to colleges and universities as the “lion’s den”. He seems to think that science and education are “god replacements”.
I don’t have a god replacement. Don’t need one. I once thought I did, but I don’t. I tried to replace my catholic religion with all sorts of other religions. I even made up my own. But in the end it was like trying on a series of straight-jackets looking for one that fit comfortably. Atheism has allowed me the freedom of streaking.
I don’t think I have the answers; I just know the wrong answers when I see them. I see no need to have a replacement. So I wonder, why do I so often hear people say atheism is arrogant?
I think the answer is that many believers know deep down that their beliefs are ridiculous. But they remain believers because of its comfort. They wish they could have the same comfort without silly superstitions, but don’t think it is possible. The atheist has accomplished this. It seems when the believer asks the atheist why the atheist feels superior to the believer, this is a projection of the believer’s desire to be free of delusion. But I could be wrong.
