Who is an atheist and how does he differ from an agnostic? Why do people become atheists or remain believers? Continuation of my spiritual search for God
Adrian BARNETT
Why do people become atheists or remain believers?
(Why do people become atheists?)
(Copyright by Adrian BARNETT.
Translated and reprinted
by permission of the author.)
(Copyright belongs to
Adrian BARNETT
Translated and published
with permission of the author.)1. Reasons
2.Why am I an atheist?
3. Where does faith in God come to people and on what does it rest?:A. Belief in God from parents
B. Everything is put in its place for a purpose.
B. There must be Justice and Justice
D. Man is not an animal.
D. “Blessed is he who believes, he is warm in the world”
E. Afterlife4. Conclusion
1. Reasons
People become atheists for many reasons. Believers most often see the reason for this in some kind of personal drama, like betrayal in love, after which the former believer asks: “How can you believe in God if this happened to me?” and begin to hate God. But in this apparent case, one must keep in mind that in order to hate God, you have to believe in Him. People who hate God for whatever reason are not atheists. (“An atheist” is, by name and content, a person who does not believe in God.) An atheist may not like religions or hate what people do in the name of God or on behalf of, in the name of God. But an atheist cannot hate what he does not believe in the existence, just as we cannot hate a fairy-tale dragon that eats beautiful princesses. (However, we may like individual legends about God, like the fairy tale about the dragon, because of their artistic and or pedagogical merits. But to believe in a real God or a real dragon is too much for an adult, and even more so for an atheist. )
Some believers are mistakenly convinced that people themselves, by their own evil intent, are elected atheism for yourself. In their opinion, atheists seem to inspire/order themselves: “In reality, I believe that God exists, but I will pretend to be an unbeliever.” But atheism is not an arbitrary choice. You cannot imagine yourself in such a way that a certain believer wakes up one morning and, having nothing to do, wishes on a coin: “Heads” - I will believe in God, “Tails” - I will become an atheist. He tossed a coin and it came up heads up: “That’s it!” Stopped!! From now on I declare myself an atheist!!!”
Atheism is not the result of a boyish prank or an act of disobedience or protest. (although the impetus for atheism can be the annoying pestering of a religious preacher towards a believer). Atheism is also not an act of arbitrary choice, like thinking in a cafe: “Well, what will I have for afternoon tea today? Uh-uh... Okay, let's stop with a slice of cake and a cup of coffee!” Or in a furniture store: “What color rug for the floor will we buy? Uh-uh... Okay, I think this green one will suit us best. Although – stop! What color rug will our grandfather like?.. Okay, we won’t buy it this time.” Or passing by a majestic temple: “Now let’s think about which God, for the sake of decency, we should believe in?.. It’s a little difficult to choose, we have to think... Okay, let’s not tempt fate. Let's stop believing in any God... And the trick is in the bag! Not a single believer in the world has approached atheism along such paths. The idea that atheism is some kind of rebellion against God. - completely absurd .
I often receive emails accusing me of rebelling against God because I don't like the idea of a Being greater than myself, or because I don't want to be responsible to a Being greater than myself, or something else like that. But if this is really inherent in me, then I am in no way and by no means an atheist, since in this case I continue to believe in the existence of God, but I just try, so to speak, to move away from him. But I not only say that I am an atheist in order to somehow “make my life easier”, I really am an atheist. I do not believe in the gods of Judaism, Islam, Christianity and the gods of all other religions. And if I just “rebel,” then I am internally convinced and know to myself that God is next to me and is waiting to “get even” with me after my death.
The reduction of atheism to a rebellion against God comes from those theologians, and believers with them, who are simply unable to reckon with the fact that there are hundreds of millions of people in the world who do not believe in the God they preach, just as they do not believe in the gods of all others religions. The idea is deeply ingrained in the minds of theists: “Since every person believes in something, in something and somehow, then this faith is their faith in God.” They, theologians and believers who adhere to their opinion, cannot personally imagine themselves without faith in God and therefore, when meeting with atheists, they completely deny their existence, atheists, and begin to say: “Atheism, the rejection of God - this is your faith, your religion." (or they start saying that atheism is itself a religion). It's funny, but I've never heard a Christian preacher say to a Hindu or Buddhist:
- Oh! Are you saying you don't believe in God Jesus Christ? In this case, you are a real Christian, because by denying, you are thereby recognizing the God of Jesus Christ. And don't pretend to be not a Christian. Your worship of Vishnu, Shiva and Krishna is only a rebellion, a rebellion against Jesus Christ. But in the depths of your heart, you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your God.
People don't choose atheism. Atheists simply do not have faith in God; and those who have lost faith in God, found themselves without faith into God, that is, they became atheists. They did not choose, did not choose, did not take anything. They simply threw away their faith in God as unnecessary. - That's all!
True, some of the atheists among the former believers tragically experienced the loss of faith in God, a faith that had once been a significant part of their personal lives. One of the reasons for this was that former believers clearly realized, at least for themselves, that a comprehensive and clear understanding of the problems of Life, the Universe and Everything Else could be found outside of religion; that everything in the world finds its truer explanation without turning to God. We see no traces of God either in the Universe or in living nature. In all known reality there is not a single case or fact for which we would need to turn to faith in the existence of God to understand it. Nothing can be explained by God's intervention in events or processes in the world.
Many, if not all, answers offered by religion begin with vague and ambiguous assumptions, are filled with incoherent and contradictory statements (which are designed to be assimilated by blind faith), and end with bare statements about the supposed impossibility of experimentally testing this or that statement (often churchmen refuse to publicly demonstrate and provide for verification a pseudoscientific fact invented or falsified by them). Many implanted beliefs and dogmas are created arbitrarily by preachers of religion, are highly irrational and certainly do not indicate their divinely revealed origin. And when believers realize that their religion does not give them anything significant and that they can find answers to vital questions outside of religion: in science, in philosophy, and ultimately in sanity and free-thinking, then they, believers, get rid of faith in God, break with religion and, naturally, become atheists.
We must not forget that everyone, including you, dear reader of my article, is born an atheist. The baby does not believe in God, has no faith in God. He is an atheistic diamond of the purest, unadulterated water! The belief in God that you developed later is the result of your wrong upbringing. If your parents are Baptist believers, then you are more likely to become a Baptist. If your parents are Muslim, then you will be a Muslim.
What God does this or that person believe in? This does not depend on God himself, who does not exist, but on the geography of your birth and on the faith of your parents. A believer receives his God in much the same way as a gambler receives winnings in the lottery. It’s even worse, since in the hands of all believers without exception there is always an empty lottery - under no circumstances can you win God with it.
And now how can we not rejoice that we are so lucky to be born by chance in a country where the One True God is worshiped? :-))
2. Why am I an atheist?
I was born into a hereditary Christian family of Anlicans (Church Of England - Church of England). With the exception of weddings and funerals, we did not go to church, did not say prayers before meals, and did not scare anyone in the family with hellfire.
God, Jesus, the Bible are often considered an integral part of the way of life, and since children still do not know much, they, and I too, believed everything that adults told them. So, at school, every day before and after classes we read a prayer and thought that this was done all over the world. Each of us believed that bad people would go to hell, and good people, like ourselves, would live in the palaces of heaven. Religious education at school was based exclusively on the Bible - on the story of Abraham and Sarah, the tribes of Israel, and so on. Nothing was said about other religions, and if it was said, it was only in passing. The students were told in more or less detail about Judeo-Christian mythology, but, naturally, there was no talk about atheism, the abominations and atrocities of God’s chosen ones, or the absurdity and inconsistency of biblical stories. Atheism was not mentioned, and we had no idea of its existence. But at the same time, Christian religious life was in the background for all schoolchildren. In my, like other students’, bedroom there was a Bible on the nightstand, which I sometimes read because I had nothing to do.
When I became a senior, around 18, I began to put my faith to the test. Doubts arose. I began to get acquainted with the history and beliefs of other religions. At first I was surprised by the content of the beliefs of other religions, but when I then began to look closely at Christian beliefs, they turned out to be no less strange. And then I asked myself the question: “Why do I believe in Christian stories, dogmas and teachings?” Over the years of studying at school, my head was filled with quite a large number of religious, cloudy for me, positions and concepts that, well, did not coincide with the real situation in reality. From biology, geology, evolutionary teaching, cosmology, and so on, I already knew something about the world around me, but this reliable scientific knowledge did not in any way coincide with the stories of the Bible, with the teachings of the Anglican Church. Religious beliefs and ideas were too vague, vague and unsubstantiated. Especially in comparison with the clear and demonstrative presentation of the subject in the same school textbooks. Eg. I have already seen many contradictions and obvious nonsense in the Bible. If a physics textbook had been written the way the prophets wrote the Bible “by the inspiration of God,” I wouldn’t give this textbook a penny, I would throw it out because it was unnecessary. And then I seemed to ask a question to the Lord God himself: “Why does the good and almighty God, who sees everything and can do everything, plunge many people into suffering and spread death throughout the world?”; “Is the good and all-powerful God really, really bad at his job?” The answer of the churchmen that the good and omnipotent God does an excellent job of his work for the benefit of man, but this good has... a mystical meaning that cannot be comprehended by the mind of a mortal man, looks like a complete mockery...
Over time, I developed a suspicious attitude towards all kinds of church organizations. Here I have heard preachers many times who called on their believers to accept as truth something that I knew for sure could not be so. Many of those present in the temple only pretend to believe everything they hear, since everyone present expects such behavior from them. This is clearly seen in the examples of televangelist speeches. Listening to his sermon, no one jumps up with words of indignation: “Shut up! Is it possible to talk such nonsense in public!” On the contrary, believers sit quietly, and after the end of the TV program they say with senseless reverence: “Amen” or “Lord save you!” When the rector of the church speaks during a service, no one speaks, no one asks him for further clarification, no one poses questions, but obediently listens, no matter what kind of noodles are thrown at him. A believing preacher suppresses those listening by reference to the ineffable wisdom and authority of “divine verbs,” thereby suppressing their own thoughts, preventing them from thinking more deeply about the meaning of what they heard, and nipping the emergence of tricky questions in the bud.
In addition to all this, I firmly learned that Christians are not the only ones who deeply believe in their God. There are such deep believers in every religion that preaches non-Christian truths. Consequently, the truth of faith in God cannot be measured by the depth of religious beliefs. After all, Christians and non-Christians believe in completely different gods and completely different religious truths. In this case, why should we consider Christian beliefs as truth, and not the beliefs of other religions? But every religion always and everywhere claims a monopoly in the possession of Truth, Love, Happiness, Justice, Morality and all other spiritual values. All this slowly, gradually and confidently led me to the conclusion that perhaps all religious beliefs without exception are all wrong...
I gradually realized that the world, the Universe in which we live, is one and there is no place in it for God, there is no Mind that controls everything. There is no reason and no sense to believe in a God of any kind or content. God is a phantom in whose existence people believe (believe, believe, but do not know!) due to the absence of the slightest evidence of this. In this regard, the phantom of God is no different from the phantoms of Bigfoot (Yetty, Bigfoot) or from the Loch Ness Monster, or from Aliens, or some other monsters that are talked about a lot, but do not have any supporting evidence for these conversations.
I do not at all think that all other non-Christian believers indulged in false delusions due to the fact that Adam and Eve tasted the forbidden fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in paradise, or were godlessly deceived by their clergy (although on my Internet pages I show how hardened prophets and saints deceive gullible simpletons). But I am deeply convinced that all believers are mistaken in their ideological beliefs, and all this despite the fact that they themselves, having thought carefully, can reasonably and consistently discover the reasons and content of their errors.
According to my observations, different believers have different reasons for their belief in God. I will list them in a generalized and somewhat simplified form:
3. Where does faith in God come to people and on what does it rest?
A. Belief in God from parents
They, simply, were accustomed, indoctrinated (been indoctrinated) into religion from childhood. In religious families, children, so to speak, with their mother's milk absorb the faith in God of their parents. Religion entered into their flesh and blood, became such a significant part of their spiritual life that they never once had the thought of examining or doubting the content of the faith in God that was instilled in them. They believe, because they always knew for themselves that their faith in God is the purest truth.
B. Everything is put in its place for a purpose.
They feel that we are here in this world with a predetermined purpose. The Universe, its harmony, the beauty in it cannot be the result of blind chance. The most understandable reason for the purpose given to us and the Universe is the existence of God. We have a destiny that is known only to God, and we have no choice but to rely on Him and trust Him. They feel with every fiber of their soul that only faith in God will help them fulfill their destiny, achieve the meaning of life prepared for them. And without faith in God, they do not see or understand the meaning of their lives.
B. There must be Justice and Justice
The need for justice can only be satisfied if there is a God. For believers, our world is not a farce for vicious people who uncontrollably commit various types of crimes with the hope of avoiding all kinds of punishment immediately after death. Faith in God gives hope that good people will ultimately be fully rewarded in heaven, and that wicked people will receive their due punishment.
D. Man is not an animal.
Believers have a certain biological snobbery. Believers are offended by the teaching that man appeared as a result of evolution, that he is organically connected with the animal world. It is more pleasant for them to believe that God created them by a separate creative act and gave them an immortal soul, which animals lack. In their opinion, only faith in God separates man from the world of beasts.
D. “Blessed is he who believes, he has warmth in the world”
Faith in God is comfortable for a person. Believers are pleased to realize that the God who loves them is constantly vigilant and busy with them; if something good or something bad happens to them, then they accept it all as something done or allowed by a caring God for their future good. It is especially important that religion helps one survive the death of one’s loved ones and come to terms with their death. It is much more pleasant to think that the deceased grandmother is no longer suffering, taken to heaven to Jesus, where she awaits a reunion with us, than to admit that the grandmother has ceased to exist forever, has disappeared into the universe and will be completely forgotten in a few generations.
E. Afterlife.
Sensation, understanding, the whole complex of spiritual life occupies the dominant part of our personality. It seems that the personality, a certain “I,” stands not only above my body, but also independently of it. Believers call this “I” the soul.
It is difficult to imagine that our consciousness, our “I”, soul, will one day cease to exist, although we know this for sure. After all, even to imagine ourselves dead (which is not difficult) it is necessary that our consciousness be alive, active and “imagining”.
Try, for example, to imagine that a huge meteorite fell on your house and killed you before you finish reading this paragraph. You can easily imagine this: “I was killed, I am dead,” I realize this. And for me, killed by the meteorite, nothing happens anymore.” But, to your surprise, you can just as easily imagine the events that follow after your death, although nothing happens for you after your death. It really doesn’t happen, but something remains of me, thanks to which I can easily continue to imagine, imagining the rescuers searching for my body, my burial, and so on and so forth. Thus, it is easy to imagine that after the death and burial of our body, something remains of us that continues my conscious life, what remains, they say, is a non-dying soul...
But with this line of thinking, we completely ignore two important things. Firstly, I only imagine, I imagine, my conscious existence after death, and therefore this existence is not real, but only imaginary, imaginary. A Secondly, the specificity of the imagination lies in the fact that it, the imagination, always imagines everything, both existing and non-existent, only as existing. In order to understand and imagine oneself - together with body and soul - not existing, one must not imagine at all. After all, when we die, we will not only stop physically moving, changing, feeling, we will also stop being aware, stop imagining. This, completely unconscious, feature of our consciousness serves for a religious person as an indirect reason for belief in an immortal soul, in the afterlife, in the reincarnation of souls and other very heart-warming nonsense.
4. Conclusion
It is in these areas of the reasons for religiosity that I carefully analyzed the measure of the consistency of faith in God. I threw away religion, since it does not offer me anything worthy of my attention (by the way, religion has never played any significant role in my life) and firmly took the only atheistic path that leads to the Truth.
Many visitors to my Internet page sent me their confessions about why and how they abandoned faith in God and came to atheism, or about how they, being non-believers, became stronger in their atheistic views. For those interested, I offer an account of the confessions of my recipients in their own words. Only in one or two places did I omit their strong expressions, marking them with an *. Among these stories there are all kinds: funny, tragic, inspired, and every single one is sincere and frank.
[Note: We did not translate the confessions of English former believers and atheists into Russian. Those interested can read them (about 40 in the last two years) on Adrian Barnett's website at the following Internet address:
Translation, notes and table of contents
Hello my beloved friends. I should have made this video a long time ago, but I wasn't ready for it. And finally I have matured. The topic is serious and responsible, and you will agree that most people who discuss this topic only demonstrate the primitiveness of their thinking. Like sectarians, religious fanatics shine with their manic, crazy faith, which pushes people away from faith. Likewise, militant atheists, with their truly sectarian fanaticism and obsession, direct people to the path of faith. Agree, you need to think broadly and globally on this issue,
after all, narrow and limited thinking at the level of “God does not exist because I cannot see him” or “God exists because my grandmother taught me so” is not suitable here. And the most important thing to understand is that faith in God does not require any evidence, and does not depend on the level of a person’s intelligence and education. This feeling, let's call it the sixth sense of a person. When you feel warmth or an electric discharge, or love, you do not have to know about the nature of this phenomenon, you just feel that you have been shocked by an electric current, or that, on the contrary, you feel very good, and that this is definitely happening.
In the same way, feeling God, feeling Divinity, you cannot and most likely will never be able to understand the origin of this supernatural phenomenon, but you know for sure that you felt it. After this, a person begins to believe when he feels that God exists, or when he encounters something supernatural in his life and understands that his material worldview was erroneous.
Why is atheism stupid? Suppose you tell me how can you prove to me that God exists? I'll ask a counter question. How can you prove that it doesn't exist? And we are already 50/50.
There is no evidence that God does not exist and cannot exist. If we imagine that God is you, and the universe that the creator created is, for example, this matchbox, then the microbes living in this box are unlikely to ever be able to prove whether you exist or not. After all, it is logically assumed that the creator is an infinite number of times more powerful and more complex than the object of creation, and a microbe cannot study a person, just as a person cannot know God. It turns out that an atheist, that is, a microbe who is trying to prove that there is no God, is some kind of absurdity. Let the microbes there prove to themselves that you do not exist, with their logic, you will not cease to exist because of this.
That is, atheists are people who stupidly deny the existence of God, these are people who affirm something that they simply cannot know, that is, primitive people devoid of elementary logic. If God exists, then he is definitely beyond human understanding. Agnostics are a little more reasonable than atheists - Agnosticism - in general, is a worldview that asserts that the world around us cannot be known objectively. Simply put, agnostics deny the existence of any Absolute Truth, Which You, a Miserable Sinner, Must Accept Or Burn at the Righteous Bonfire For the Glory of the Inquisition, or which you, a pathetic Believer, must accept or I will burn your temple and your bible and you in the name of the wise and fair atheism. As we see, both militant believers and militant atheists are equally manic, maddened people in the style of terrorists, ready to blow up millions of lives for the sake of their crazy ideas.
In fact, many people who think they are atheists are not. Jesus Christ said whoever is not against us is in our dreams. This means that if you admit that there are some higher powers, even if there is a universal mind, or a divine universe, then you are definitely no longer an atheist, and you definitely won’t be accused of stupidity. You are not trying to prove something you cannot know for sure.
I don’t want to go into all types of religious beliefs today, but I can’t help but say a few words about theism. The essence of theism lies in the idea that there is, that an absolute beginning, some higher power,
a certain concept of the absolute spirit of the universe, that the order of our universe of our world does not allow much for the idea of the emergence of the universe from chance, that is, the big bang theory. Theists believe that God or a higher power, a higher intelligence, created the universe and is directly involved in its management. Hence the idea of divine providence - that is, that some higher powers care about the fate of this world and each person individually. That is, if you don’t believe in rituals, don’t believe in the temple of God as a building where you need to go and pray, don’t believe in priests who drive 600 Mercedes and wear gold, this does not mean that you are a limited atheist, if you feel or You understand that higher powers beyond our understanding exist.
And God forbid you think that I hate priests, or insult the temple of God, I am simply saving people who believe in God but are incompetent in terminology from being tainted by the word atheist, you are anyone, but you are certainly not atheists. What do you think is more naive, to believe that God exists despite the fact that you cannot see or touch him, or that the universe originated from a point of infinite density, dimensions equal to zero, as a result of a random explosion, and from this point it expanded, expanded to infinity as a result of the big bang and continues to constantly expand, while we know for sure that we are alone in the universe, although we cannot yet study even a billionth part of this universe. Don't you think that scientific theories are much more fantastic than the most daring science fiction?
So why do I still believe in God - first of all, because I feel the infinite greatness of this world. Because I feel and realize the infinite scale of my own inner world. I sense supernatural Divinity in my awareness. WHAT I feel and see is somewhat larger in size than that model
the universe that atheists defend. The second reason is the beauty and amazing complexity and perfection of the universe and our world, nature, and, ultimately, the amazing structure of the human body. I don’t believe that such a complex pattern could have occurred as a result of the explosion of two accidentally colliding particles rushing through infinite space, I feel and think differently. And finally, the third reason is the supernatural events happening in my life. It very often happens that some young atheist talks smart about the fact that there is no God, there is no soul, and then this or that misfortune happens in his life, in despair he begins to believe, in the face of danger or imminent death he begins to ask God for help, although he understands that there is no chance, and then, lo and behold, he is saved. Hundreds of bullets fly past him, a millimeter from his head, but they don’t hit him, and he remains alive, rescuers come to the rescue, although there was no chance of salvation,
he finds the document he needs among hundreds of thousands of other documents, although according to the theory of probability there is only one chance in a million that he could do this, incredible requests are fulfilled if he strongly and sincerely asks God for help, and then the person begins to believe, and then time passes, and when we don’t need anything from God, everything is fine with us - we stop believing, or, as it were, begin to do it formally, it’s not for nothing that they say that when a person feels bad, he becomes better, and when he’s good, he gets worse.
And then there will be people who are described in the Bible as a form of non-believer, who will say: “No, well, if God appears to me personally, talks to me, I see him, he will give me
proof that he exists, then I’ll believe it.” No, this will no longer be faith. This will be the knowledge that God exists, and the fear of punishment. Then you will no longer be a good or bad person who chooses the path of good or the path of evil you need to go. You will be a person for whom God is a dictator, and who is simply forced to follow the path of good! I think it is completely logical that God should not appear to a person and prove something to him. Believe it or not, life gives you enough lessons to decide for yourself which path you will take or what you will believe.
Friends, share this video if you liked my vision, support it by reposting it on your pages on social networks, and refrain from swearing in the comments if you want someone to answer you and your comment not to be deleted. Mat is the same nonentity of the lexicon as atheism is a nonentity of imagination and thinking.
Yuri Spasokukotsky was with you. Subscribe to the channel - bye
. This booklet is a printed copy of the "Does God Exist?" series of lessons taught by John Clayton.
Yes, I really didn’t believe in God and was an atheist!
Very often, when I talk to religious groups or people of faith, someone will ask me incredulously: “So, were you really an atheist? And didn’t really believe in God?” I want to assure you that the answer to these questions is a resounding “yes.” During this period of my life, I was absolutely convinced that there was no God, and I considered all believers to be stupid, superstitious, ignorant and simply simply not taking into account obvious facts. I thought that believers are uneducated people who simply follow traditions, religious prejudices and other things that are completely unnecessary for a person who knows what is really happening around him. Of course, such a life and such beliefs led me to say unpleasant things and do unpleasant things. My life was immoral and completely reflected my lack of faith in God. I behaved very selfishly, satisfying my needs and preferences regardless of whether I hurt other people or not. Some of the things I did influenced the rest of my life. And so I present these materials to you in the hope that perhaps some of you will not make similar mistakes and suffer the way I suffered. I cannot remember exactly all the events that took place, nor the exact sequence of events, because I did not write them down. I never thought that I would have to remember past events, much less tell someone about them. Still, I can recall those events in my memory in general terms. I am also quite sure about the general idea, this idea will be useful to you.
I guess the reason why I couldn't believe in God and was an atheist is the same as those who believe in God. This is because I was instilled with exactly these beliefs. My background and the influences I was exposed to as a child set me on this path. Just like many of you believe in God because your parents believe in Him and because they instilled that belief in you, I also questioned, challenged and rejected God because that was the kind of indoctrination I received in childhood. I remember my mother who told me as a child: “Do you really believe that there is some old man living in heaven who can create things here on earth? And you think that shabby building on the corner might actually have the beautiful name of “church?” And do you really think that there is a hole in the ground that I will be thrown into and burn there forever if I don’t live like some preacher thinks?” Of course, I could not comprehend these things as a child, and I also could not understand what it was teaching. As a result, I came to the conclusion that everyone who believes in God is very stupid, superstitious, ignorant, and uneducated. You may wonder how it is possible that a man with such a background and with such an education acquired such a strong faith in God, became a person who devoted his life to telling people about God and heaven, that the Bible is the Word , inspired by God.
My love for science helped me believe in God
In high school, I grew very quickly in theoretical knowledge. I liked doing science and decided to become a scientist. I went to Indiana University to major in physics. And just then one of the most significant changes occurred in my life. I took an astronomy course under the auspices of one of the greatest astronomers of our day. In this course we dealt with the problem of origin - the creation of matter from nothing. When discussing this subject, we adhered to all the theories that are listed in this article. Theory, quasi-static theory, planetary theory and others.
When we summed up the conclusions of this discussion, I asked the professor which of all these theories was the most acceptable and which satisfactorily explained the creation of matter from nothing. He leaned over the desk and, looking me straight in the eyes, said: “Young man, you need to learn to ask smart questions.” This upset me very much, I did not accept what he told me, and asked: “What do you mean?” He said: “This is not a question that a scientist is trying to answer. This is a headache for the philosopher or theologian, but it has nothing to do with the realm of science.” In today's discussion of black holes and parallel universes, things have not changed. The basic question of how matter/energy was created from absolutely nothing cannot be answered by scientific methods. I was concerned about his answer because I have always thought that science can answer absolutely all of humanity's questions - and there is nothing that man questions or wants to know about that science cannot do. If even this scientist, an expert in his field, said that a scientist should not even try to explain this area, then this was completely beyond the ability of science to study and research.
Immediately after that, I took a biology course under the auspices of the greatest scientist specializing in the study of the life of primitive people. When we discussed the beginning of life on Earth, we talked about the synthesis of simple chemicals such as DNA. During the discussion, I asked a question related to what I had asked earlier. I asked the professor by what process the original living cell came into existence. How is DNA formed? Again the man said, “Young man, this matter has nothing to do with the realm of science.” In the modern world we understand more about biochemical processes, but we cannot answer the question of how these processes came into force in the primitive world. I guess what happened to me is reminiscent of the situation that happened to Lord Kelvin, the famous British scientist, which he described in his work, when he came to the following conclusion: “If you study science deeply enough and long enough, it will make you you to believe in God." And that's what happened to me, I realized that science is limited, that science points to other explanations that are natural.
And then one woman appeared in my life...
And then another thing happened to me, a woman appeared in my life. This young girl was the most stubborn, strong-willed girl I have met in my entire life. I am able to draw these conclusions because six years later I married her. She was the first girl out of all of them who deserved my respect. Sometimes you will hear preachers who have no idea what they are talking about based on life experience. They will say: “If you stick to your virtues and adhere to moral standards, people will respect you.” Let me, as someone who has been on the other side of the fence, who thought he was separate from what God thinks, say that this statement is absolutely correct. I guarantee you that I never seriously thought about getting married until I met this girl who I respected and who really stood for something. She not only supported something moral, she specifically believed in God and. Although she could not answer all my questions, she kept returning to the Bible. I also quickly learned how to keep her from understanding where I really stood morally. I knew that if she found out, there would be nothing she could do about it. It didn’t even seem possible to me - to break her faith, as I did with other people, and as a result of her persistence, she finally achieved that I began to read the Bible.
I read the Bible cover to cover four times during my sophomore year of college for an obvious reason: I wanted to find scientific inconsistencies in it. I mean statements that I could throw in her face in order to prove how insignificant her faith in God is. I even decided to write a book called “The Stupidity of the Bible.” And something amazing happened as I pondered and thought about these things, I realized that I could not find any inconsistency, any scientific inaccuracy in the Bible. I just wasn't able to do it, and I got stuck in writing the book because I didn't find enough material. And it was surprising to learn that people who considered themselves Christians and had been for many years did not read the entire Bible even once. I found it hard to believe that they believed in God but didn't want to know what God said.
My epiphany and gaining faith in God
And as I read the Bible over and over again, I began to realize that not everything I was told about God and religion was in accordance with the Bible. It could be what religion says or what people teach, but not what the Bible teaches. For example, the Bible does not say that God is an old man who lives in heaven who creates things on earth. The Bible says, “God is spirit...” (John 4:24), and that God is not flesh and blood. said: “...it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” (Gospel of Matthew 16:17). There are many people today who do not understand this. A Russian astronaut once said: “Look, there is no God; I didn’t see Him when I was in orbit.” The question might be, “What was he looking for?” I began to understand that God is not an old man in heaven. My anthropology professor once said in all seriousness: “We all know what God is like. This is an old man with a white beard in a flowing robe.” I'm sure this is his vision of "God". And I began to realize that this was not the biblical vision of God.
I began to understand that the Christian life is not the same as the altruistic life. I was told by several people as a child that if I became a Christian, I would not be able to be happy and would not be able to have anything of my own. And I will have to walk around with a long sad face and a beard dragging along the ground. When I read the Bible, I read the following: “So ought husbands to love their wives as their own bodies: he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it...” (Ephesians 5:28-29). I read about an Ethiopian eunuch who became joyful and cheerful because he found Jesus Christ. Many problems have appeared in my life, but all I can do is look back at the miserable life I had without Christ, and compared to that, my life now is great.
I began to understand that the church is not a building. I remember that while we were living in Alabama, some religious group met on our street. My mother used to point me to this place and say, “Look at this. How can anyone believe in God if the church is like this.” I think the Bible did not teach that the church is such a structure. 1 Corinthians 3:16 states, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God.” As an atheist, I have learned that whether you meet on the moon, on a submarine, in the desert, or anywhere else, it will still be a church. After all, a church is not a building. Today large sums of money are being invested in temples and churches and it is a real tragedy while large numbers of people are starving nearby.
I began to gradually understand that hypocrisy was not contained in religion. I didn’t even think that all the hypocrites in the world were sitting and listening to a church sermon while all those who were not at this church sermon were, on the contrary, not hypocrites at all. I remember the lesson I learned from this. I remember a young man sitting next to me arguing with me against religious fanatics. One day he was in the hospital with a very serious illness. I came to visit him one day, and as soon as I opened the door, I saw him on his knees, praying to God. I stood on the threshold, accusing him of being a real hypocrite. I screamed until they escorted me out of the hospital.
And I gradually began to understand that hypocrisy is an activity of humanity, not of religion. You deal with hypocrites at the grocery store, at the gas station, at work, at school, while playing golf. You won't stop buying groceries because the salesperson says one thing and does another. Also, you won't quit your job just because your employer tells you to do something that he himself wouldn't touch. And you will not deprive yourself or your child of a good education, because the teacher teaches one thing, but lives absolutely perfectly. You also won't stop playing golf if your teammate misses a shot you didn't see.
Of course, there is hypocrisy in the church, because there are people in the church too. As long as you deal with people, you will deal with hypocrisy. Do you want to avoid hypocrisy? Dig a deep hole in your backyard, jump into it, have someone fill you up, and even there we will be forced to be left alone with one hypocrite. It's not the one who breathes fresh air, but the one who says, “I'm not going to be a Christian. I’m not going to serve God and work in the church, because there are only hypocrites in the church.” We would never have thought that if we were talking about something other than the church. And how can we do this in our relationship with God? And we need to free ourselves from many ideas in order to understand what the Bible teaches us.
I think that I should also say here what constituted my happiness. When I was quite young, I remember imagining what an ideal home would be like by worldly standards. My parents were wonderful people; there was no talk of divorce, neglect or injustice in my family. We were always everywhere together. And we liked it until I ran away from home. I was very rebellious. Looking back through God's Word today, I can tell why these things happened. Colossians 3:20 says, “Children, be obedient to your parents, for this is pleasing to the Lord.” And obedience was by no means a character trait of mine in my youth. Living in Bloomington, Indiana, I would go to Indianapolis if I wanted to have fun. When my mom said she didn't want me to go there, I disconnected the speedometer and left. I did everything I wanted. All my parents did was limit my fun and pleasure, and why should I be obedient? I was living a life that was completely contrary to what my parents believed. And it is amazing to me now that some parents who do not believe in God and demonstrate a lack of faith to their children through what they say and what they do, but then they are surprised that the children do not listen to them. Should they? They destroyed the only source of power they had and why should children obey parents who destroyed the source of power. And I am convinced that most of our problems of obedience and order are at the center of this issue.
Several years ago I spoke with a young man from Michigan. He took part in the uprising at the University of Michigan. He told me that he was there and I asked him why he did not obey the law. He asked: “What is the law?” And I said, “Earthly law, the law that God established.” He looked at me and laughed and said, “Hey, I don’t believe in God!” I don't believe we will have law and order because we have removed the source of power. And it is also written: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, so that they do not lose heart.” My parents had a tradition when I was a little boy they called it cocktail hour. I never saw my parents drunk, but when they drank a few martinis, my mother asked me questions she didn't usually ask. I remember her once asking what I was doing with my girlfriend the night before. And that was the very last thing I wanted to tell my mom, so I learned to look her straight in the eye and lie. I can lie to her and anyone else without even blinking an eye.
I trained myself on how to do the wrong things. I practiced stealing. I remember the first time I stole something. I stole a package of raisins from the store. I felt so guilty that I took it back and apologized. A little later, I stole comic books from a drug store; I returned them, but did not apologize. Six months later I was stealing everything I could lay my hands on, not because I needed it, but because it brought me pleasure and was difficult to do. I even went so far as to be caught stealing money from my parents. And this led me to the next thing.
When I read verses from the Bible, such as in Psalm 53, for example, I saw that this was an exact description of John Clayton years ago. For example, Psalm 52:2-4: “The fool said in his heart, “There is no God.” They became corrupt and committed heinous crimes; there is no one who does good. God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there was one who understood, seeking God. They all deviated and became equally obscene; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
The following statement was made by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:2 - 3, 14:
“Vanity of vanities,” said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, all is vanity! What profit does a man get from all his labors with which he labors under the sun?...I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, everything is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
I tried absolutely everything that gave me pleasure and brought me happiness. I won't lie to you that I didn't find joy in following my dreams on my own terms, but I can guarantee that I never found happiness. I've tried every conceivable thing you can think of. I've tried all the things - the immoral, the wrong, the things that hurt other people, the things I don't want to share. I did these things because I tried to find pleasure and happiness in them, and as I said, sometimes they gave me pleasure. But I never went to bed happy and satisfied with my life. I never woke up looking forward to the day ahead. And my life was just a continuous chain of unfortunate events.
Judge Roy Moore, who lived in Lawton, Oklahoma, dealt with the legal problems that arose due to the presence of Fort Sill in the city. He once told me, “I have never seen a young man on drugs live more than seven years.” You may not be able to understand it, but I was sitting on the edge of my bed with a .22 rifle held between my legs, working up the courage to pull the trigger. I descended into the deepest abyss, I was emotionally devastated and destroyed, trying to find happiness. Please listen to what I am telling you and try to benefit from my words. You can try everything this world has to offer. You may try sex, drugs, alcohol, theft, and more in a desperate attempt to find happiness. I can confirm from experience that you may find pleasure, but you will not find happiness. I can go back to Bloomington now and meet people who will refuse to believe that I have changed—people who I have harmed and who know the kind of life I have led.
I think the reason most things happen to young people today is the desire to find happiness by living the life they want. And it just simply doesn't work. Have you ever wondered why people who are clean from drugs, freed from alcohol addiction or the influence of the problems that I had, tend to begin to pursue some kind of religious goal in their lives, begin to visit rehabilitation institutions or anything else. Why? I can tell you from my own experience that people like me have realized that the only way to find happiness is by using God's system by following Him in your life. Perhaps people who have lived without God are more grateful than those who grew up in religious structures, in the church. You will definitely not find happiness by living according to your system, but only by living by God's laws and being part of God's family.
There were a huge number of things that helped me believe and come to God. Another thing that I think should be noted is the fact that at this time I began serving in the army. For the first time in my life I faced death. I began to think about the rationality of death, since I looked at it through the eyes of an atheist. Perhaps the best way to put it is this: I had to look at life because of death. As an atheist, I realized that I had to look at life, with all its problems, difficulties and horrors that I had to endure, as the best that I could possibly hope for. How can I look at life, with all its joy, beauty and amazing things, as the absolute worst thing I will ever experience. Philosophically, I began to realize that Christianity offered a great deal in this particular area of life. It didn't discourage me from believing in God, but it combined with other things to help me realize that there had been significant changes in my understanding of Christianity and God. I began to realize that perhaps there was something that the church had to offer me that was important to me.
It was also during this time that I decided that other religious beliefs were perhaps equivalent to the Bible. To check, I decided to read the Vedas, the Koran, the Tales of Buddha, the works of Bahá'u'lláh and Zoroaster. I have found that not everything that other religions teach I can accept. The teachings viewed the life after this life as undeserved and unrealistic, and the descriptions of God were illogical and contradictory. There were also many scientific inaccuracies in these works. Many of the teachings on how to live were impossible to implement. These included: the role of women in the Qur'an, Prophet Muhammad's concept of the Holy War, pantheism, reincarnation, worship of idols, polygamy, and countless other ideas that I expected to find in the Bible but did not. I began to realize that none of these things were consistent with the Bible's system of living. Only in the Bible did I find statements that stood firm in the face of scientific facts that I knew were true, and only in the Bible did I find a system of life that was reasonable and consistent. I decided that if I ever came to God, it would be through faith based on the Bible.
Continuing my spiritual search for God
And the next question I asked myself was which of all the religious organizations considered Christian is the only true one. I realized that I did not want to attend traditional religious organizations that were themselves wrong and teaching others to do the same. And I began visiting religious organizations in Southern Indiana. I visited almost every religious organization I could get my hands on, trying to find out what they were teaching, trying to find out if they were following the Bible and understanding what the Bible said, or if they were following the teachings of men. As I moved from one organization to another, I learned that each previous one taught something that was not in the Bible. Some elevated some people above others, others taught that religious scriptures were equivalent to the Bible. They did not follow the Bible to the letter.
I've had enough of the confusion and mistakes. I kept searching. I am truly searching to this day, I am still trying to find the true church. I found a religious group that seemed to me to follow the beliefs of the Bible very closely. In Bloomington, this religious group met at the corner of Fourth and Lincoln streets. They were called the Church of Christ. But these people still did not fully follow what I understood by the biblical system. My challenge to young people today will be the complete restoration of New Testament Christianity. The doctrine of this Christian group was quite restored. I realized that the meaning of the passage 1 Peter 3:21, “So now we also are like unto this image, not the washing away of the uncleanness of the flesh, but the promise to God of a good conscience, saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” they understood accurately. The meaning of the passage Acts 2:38 “…every one of you is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”.. was also understood here.
I remember the first lesson I heard here, preached by Raymond Muncy. He was talking about how we shouldn't rely on people, and I want to tell you that you don't have to believe everything the preacher says. Never listen to a preacher, under any circumstances, unless you yourself can find confirmation of his words in the Bible. This is a summary of what Mr. Muncy said. And it amazed me. A group of people served God as God had shown, but they did not really understand grace. They did not teach their neighbors about Jesus Christ. A small percentage of the people were active in the work, and they did not show love and kindness to one another to the extent that I believe the Bible taught. The generation that came before you restored Christian doctrine—I believe that. Be that as it may, they still need to restore the spirit of New Testament Christianity, and this is our challenge. The spirit of New Testament Christianity, which is to love one another, to be interested in one another. I realized that the Church of Christ was the closest thing to what I believed the Bible taught. I was determined that if I were ever to be a Christian, I would be a member of this group—a group whose members strive to follow the Bible in all things, without relying on human teaching or being influenced by the traditions of the past.
I think the real impetus was something that happened six months ago. I took the first organized course in geology at Indiana University. The professor was an outstanding and widely known atheist. In the first lesson, in response to a question, he said something like, “I’m going to show you that the Bible is a bunch of junk.” And I thought that would be great because I was worried. I still told those who knew me well that I was an atheist. I still denied God and firmly stood on the fact that I do not believe. It was difficult to change the course of life, but an incident occurred that forced it to change its direction. I was completely unprepared for this. I thought the professor would give me some arguments against dating a girl I had been dating for many years. She was a Christian—perhaps not as strong as she could have been. I wanted to show her that all this religion was actually nonsense. I even believed that I could show Rey Mansi that this religion was not realistic. Mr. Muncy was a man who had great patience and knowledge, but he did not have the opportunity to teach me anything.
The professor began the course by exploring different ways to date archaeological finds and other creatures. He then stated that, as everyone knows, the Bible says that the earth came into existence 6,000 years ago. I asked where it was written, he replied that in the 52nd chapter of Genesis. I started searching. I looked at Genesis 40, 49 and 50, the first chapter of Exodus. And I said, “How come, there are only 50 chapters in the book of Genesis.” He searched for several minutes, but did not find this passage. Of course, the Bible does not say that the earth was formed 6,000 years ago. The Bible is completely silent about the age of the Earth. This man claimed that God made two cocker spaniels, two terriers and two German shepherds, and we all laughed in unison at how big the Ark would have to be then to accommodate 20 million of these groupings. I once asked where exactly the word “species” is interpreted in this sense. I don't think that's what the word "view" meant. We looked attentively together, and he finally said that he believed that by “view” they meant something else. 1 Corinthians 15:39 gives the only explanation for the word “kind,” and it is quite extensive. (“Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is some flesh among men, and another flesh among beasts, and another among fish, and another among birds.”) Genesis 1 uses exactly the same terminology and classification as Corinthians 15. I won't bore you with a long story, except to say that on the final exam I said to this learned professor, "Sir, you have not shown me any contradiction between what we taught in class and what the Bible teaches." He snatched my exam paper from me and said: “I believe that if you really taught, then there were no contradictions.”
I was shocked, I was appalled. Standing before me was a Ph.D., a leading atheist, and he could not answer the stupid questions of the ignorant student who was on his side. I denied God; I was dishonest. I was a fool and didn't appreciate what was happening to me. I didn't like people who refused to accept the obvious and came to reasonable conclusions. I didn't like people who couldn't abandon their parents' belief system and start living by their own mind. I always blamed religious people for this, and without knowing it, I was doing the same thing. I refused to be honest—to look at the obvious. I refused the alternatives that were available to me. I was miserable.
It was time for dinner and I was sitting there. My neighbor came and asked: “Are you going to have dinner?” I said I'm not hungry. He asked: “Are you feeling bad?” I said that I felt bad about myself, that I felt bad about my selfishness, about the way I used people, sick about the fact that I was never honest with myself. I still continued to say why I felt bad when he had already left for dinner. At that time I did not understand what was happening, but now I understand: I repented. And it comes when you feel bad from selfishness, conceit, self-destruction, this is a turn to God - to a life that has value, meaning and direction. My neighbor left for dinner, and I continued to sit there, determined that I needed to do something. I could no longer sit, continue to deny the obvious things that concerned me. At 18.30 I got ready and went to the building where the Church of Christ met on Wednesdays. Invitations were distributed to everyone who wanted to accept Christ and live with Him further. I went forward, realizing that I believed in God completely. I realized that I needed to start a new life, and I wanted to tell people that I believed in the existence of God and recognized Jesus Christ as His son. I also realized that I was completely drowned in my sins and that I needed to be baptized to be saved (so the Bible commanded).
I stopped in the aisle and saw Raymond Muncy, who was somewhat shocked. I remember his facial expression. I think he never expected God to work in the life of a man so removed from all that was good, decent, and righteous. I was baptized this evening and all my sins were forgiven. I understood what the Bible teaches. To show you how far I was from God, I called a girl I had been dating for six years. I said, "Phyllis, I've become a Christian!" She said, "I don't believe you, don't lie to me." The preacher's wife had to talk to her to convince her that I wasn't lying. Some people still don't believe me - they don't believe that Divine power can change a person who has been so far removed from God. But I must tell you that this is just the beginning of the story. God has promised that He will help those who follow Him. By having a close relationship with God and with other Christians, we can overcome problems that we could not solve alone (see Philippians 4:13).
I had to overcome a lot. I could not speak without using profanity. I had to learn to talk in a new way, to live in a new way, to learn new values, new morals, because I was living a life that was opposite to God. I asked God for help with these things and realized that it was possible to overcome these problems. I had a bunch of new problems - a lot of issues to work on, but the problems I have today are nothing compared to what I had in the past. If someone had told me twenty years ago that I would openly use my limited abilities to convince those who don't believe in God that He exists, I would have thought he was crazy. And God blessed my feeble attempts in such a way that the result surpassed anything I had ever done.
Are you an atheist? Then read on.
I want to end this article by asking you a very simple question - a question that you need to answer for yourself, and a question that I think every person should ask themselves almost every day. Are you an atheist (not as man sees it, but as God sees it)? Are you an atheist? I understand that you may not be an atheist like I was. You may not be immoral, you don't harm people, you're honest, and you don't do the things I did. I'm grateful you're not like that. But do you understand how Jesus views atheists? Matthew 12:30: “He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.” What is He talking about? He says that you are either with God or against God. You are either an atheist or a Christian, and you cannot be both at the same time. I can understand how a person can be an atheist. I have been an atheist most of my life. When I was an atheist, I believed that my life was consistent, sane.
For many years I have been trying to live the life that I believe a Christian should live. And again, I believe that my life is consistent and complete, but I will never understand (and if you understand, then I ask you to explain it to me) how a man or woman or girl or boy can say: “Yes, I am I believe in God. Yes, I understand that the Bible is the Word of God,” and at the same time do nothing within their power to live as God teaches. It is not a consistent or integrated life, although I think many people live lives that do not correspond to the life that God offers. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.” Are you with Jesus? Are you serving Him? Are you spreading what Jesus taught? Are you truly a Christian or are you an atheist? There is no middle ground here. I hope that by revealing to you the kind of person I was and the mistakes I made, you will understand that God is the only true path. I pray that you will understand that there is nothing in your life that God will not help you with, and that you will understand that the best time to start living as a Christian is right now.
Translation: Elena Butakova
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Some people call themselves atheists. But not everyone has a clear idea of what an atheist is.
Why do they come to this worldview, and how has it manifested itself in history?
Let's try to figure it out.
What is an atheist
An atheist, or atheist, is one who does not believe in the existence of God.
It is important that he does not share any of the various religions.
Atheism is a holistic worldview, a position that determines the entire lifestyle and thinking of an individual.
Such a person denies both God and the devil, questions everything miraculous, and tries to give a scientific explanation to the supernatural.
Why do people become atheists
People become atheists for various reasons. This is often the result of being raised by unbelieving parents who pass on their worldview to their children.
But it happens that a believer becomes disillusioned with religion and leaves it. However, more often the opposite situation arises: an atheist suddenly gains faith and says goodbye to his previous stereotypes.
Atheist arguments
Atheists base their beliefs primarily on science. From it they take arguments for disputes. After all, many phenomena that were previously explained by divine intervention over time acquired scientific justification.
For example, the study of the structure of the solar system once greatly shook the religious view of the creation of the universe. Or the theory of evolution, which many perceive as the main proof of the absence of God.
Atheists often make the argument that since the presence of God cannot be confirmed using the methods of science, it means he does not exist. They also look for contradictions in the foundations of beliefs. Another favorite hobby of atheists is the presence of evil on Earth, which is incompatible with the thought of an All-Good God.
Religion for Atheists
According to non-believers, all world religions were invented by people. Some believe that the main purpose of religious institutions is to keep adherents obedient and subservient to authorities.
However, some atheists are quite loyal to religions, while others actively fight against the Church and similar institutions. It was they who invented the term “militant atheism”, so popular in Soviet times.
Which country has the most atheists?
If we take statistics, then most of the non-believers live in communist states or in countries with a communist past.
Also leading the list are Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. There are slightly fewer atheists in the southern states and the United States.
Atheist philosophers
Leonardo da Vinci
The philosophy of atheism arose in ancient times. The first recorded evidence can be considered the ancient Egyptian "Harper's Song", which questions life after death.
The ancient Greek thinkers Diagoras, Democritus and Epicurus thought in the spirit of godlessness. The Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus, in his poem “On the Nature of Things,” replaced religion with scientific knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli and François Rabelais criticized Catholicism during the Renaissance.
In modern times, Thomas Hobbes and David Hume developed arguments against theology. The Great French Revolution was marked by a wave of anti-clericalism. Then, already in the 19th century, Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche criticized religious consciousness.
Famous atheists
Bernard Show
In the recent past of our Motherland there were many atheists.
Among them are famous personalities: statesmen - Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev and the entire top party; Soviet writers - Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Sholokhov and others.
However, there were no fewer atheists in Western countries: writers Bernard Shaw and Jean Paul Sartre, psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Erich Fromm, film directors Stanley Kubrick and James Cameron and other celebrities.
What atheists believe
There is an expression that an atheist is one who believes in the absence of God. It turns out that he also has to rely on faith, that’s the paradox!
According to classical atheism, the universe consists solely of matter. Spiritual substances do not exist. If there is a soul in the body, then it is explained as a certain material substance; it is usually associated with the activity of the brain.
The human being is the pinnacle of evolution, and humanism is the basis of morality. Science is the only tool for understanding the world.
How atheists are buried
Atheists do not recognize the afterlife, therefore they are opponents of church rituals.
They are buried according to secular custom, without services. During the civil memorial service, everyone can say goodbye to the deceased.
Atheists often agree to cremation; some of them bequeath their organs for transplantation. During the Soviet period, five-pointed stars were installed on the graves of atheist soldiers instead of crosses. Now this role is played by various monuments. Thus, by a person’s burial it is possible to determine whether he believed in God during his lifetime.
Nowadays, everyone is free to choose whether to give preference to any religion or ignore them all. The main thing is that this is not a screen, an attempt to avoid important life issues, but your own hard-won position.
