In 2012 however, the world is rather different. Mass
immigration has meant a huge widening of the number of religions on public show
in our country; this has had the effect of reducing the dramatic hold which
Christianity once enjoyed. My movement away from the belief in God though was
not a result of these extraneous forces; it was due to my own personal
intellectual development. If you can follow my perhaps disjointed train of
thought, it became apparent that the fact one cannot prove the falsity of God could never prevent oneself from calling
themselves an atheist. Agnostics may maintain their stance that they are open
to religion since no atheist has ever proven to them its falsity… but no-one
can empirically state that God does not exist, and if this was a requirement of
atheism, then no-one could rightly call themselves atheist. That is a rather
long winded way of saying that I believe it is almost certainly right that
there is no God, but not definitely right. I would be lying if I said I could
prove that no God existed, I simply am not swayed by the arguments, if there
are any legitimate ones, in his favour- and that’s why I call myself an atheist.
I cannot address exactly the elaborate causes of this
descent into humanism, atheism, perhaps even existentialism, because I don’t
really know what amalgamation of influences my mind has been exposed to in its
decision making process; so rather, I will address what I believe to be the
effect of calling myself an atheist. Other people may say that they don’t feel
particularly different, like it is akin to the passing of an age, merely
symbolic; I do not share this experience. The rejection of God has reared its
head in my everyday life most obviously in the small things. I may no longer
unconsciously pray for a couple of seconds in my head for an outcome I desire,
nor may I use the expression ‘God help us’ or ‘by the grace of God.’ I may not
take comfort that my deceased grandparents are together in heaven, or that
indeed, there is a place after this life. The position with such religious
festivals as Christmas is a peculiar one too because I do not reject them
outright; I merely view them as a celebration of family, generosity and
relaxation, and look upon the tale of the nativity as a pleasant and
traditional story. I have perhaps also begun to give myself permission to act a
little immorally at times, without the subconscious threat of a supreme being
breathing down on me and refusing to grant me an eternity in heaven.
Additionally, atheism brings with it a grand levelling of the human down to its
base roots. Rather than viewing ourselves as something made in God’s image, we
view our existence as something quite natural, a little magical in a different
way, but being brought about purely as a result of chance. We are fantastic
creatures, but this perfection does not preclude our creation from being
natural or find its explanation purely from God. The Grand Canyon or Niagra
Falls do not look at their splendour and come to the conclusion that someone
must have chiselled them from the clay. We exist because we exist and I can
find no evidence to the contrary.
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