Just another untrustworthy atheist | Teen Ink

Just another untrustworthy atheist

January 26, 2010
By CruxClaire GOLD, Park Ridge, Illinois
CruxClaire GOLD, Park Ridge, Illinois
11 articles 1 photo 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
-Mark Twain


It’s a normal weekday afternoon. I’m kicking back in the computer chair, relaxing after a long day at school. I open up my amazingly speedy internet browser (Firefox, of course) and initiate my daily visit to Facebook. I glance at my news feed long enough to notice someone’s reposted chain message. It’s one I’ve seen before. It says something along the lines of “I am proud to call Jesus Christ my savior. 97% of facebook users will not repost this, but I am not ashamed of God. Repost this if you feel the same way.”

I frown. Where do people come up with these bizarre statistics, I wonder. Clearly, most Facebook users won’t even see this post, so this is irrelevant anyway.

Slightly annoyed, I proceed to my message inbox; a rare event has occurred! I’ve gotten a new message! My frown deepens as I open the message and read an angry proclamation that I have allowed the devil to overtake my life and that the sender is very disappointed that I do not see God the way she does – the way I SHOULD. So, I do what anyone else would do: I click on the sender’s profile link so I can glare at her profile. But alas! She has deleted me from her friend list, so there is no profile available for me to glare at!
While I hastily type a rational explanation of my religious beliefs to the de-friender, I sigh in exasperation, but deep inside, I’m hurting. Am I not worth talking to because of my religious beliefs? Would Jesus have deleted me like that?
Every day, atheists in the USA face scenarios like this one. Recent studies have shown atheists to be the least trusted people in the country, with more than half of people questioned in one survey proclaiming that they would flatly refuse to vote for an atheist presidential candidate (never mind that candidate’s policies – atheism is a clear indicator of a crooked politician).
Such statistics, as well as the remaining presence of God’s name in the USA’s motto and Pledge of Allegiance, as well as on its currency (and even federal weaponry, as recently revealed) show that despite its alleged separation of church and state, the US still has a ways to go in the way of secularism and religious tolerance. The US, according to yet more studies, has one of the highest rates of theism, as far as developed countries go.
Other counties, such as Sweden and the Czech Republic, have much higher rates of atheism, with a majority of citizens in both countries claiming to have no religion. Despite the apparent lack of trustworthiness among the people there, I really haven’t heard of any horrible riots or violent outbreaks or mass terrorism in those countries.

Theists have asked me what my purpose is in life and why I feel any obligation to remain moral. Apparently, since I don’t believe in an invisible, all-loving deity that will promptly throw me into hell for all eternity if I don’t life a sinless, conservative lifestyle, I must be a purposeless animal of no morals. There is absolutely nothing stopping me from stealing and killing right now. Since I’m an atheist, I must be too stupid to care about humans laws and too unfeeling to care about humans themselves. Regardless of the fact that every atheist I know, myself included, believes all humans have potential, dignity, and worth, I am moral-less, crude, and unfeeling.

I’ve also heard people complain that atheists are too adamant about their beliefs. They are intolerant of theists and they are completely arrogant. They shove their beliefs down the throats of theists. While I have definitely met some adamant and arrogant atheists, I can certainly say that I have never been approached by an atheist with threats of hell accompanied by a cordial invitation to the church that will save me from these fires. And when I was a Christian (which I was, meaning I have given theism a chance), I was never rejected as a friend by an atheist due to my theism.

One could also argue that every single person is born atheistic, before being instilled with religious dogma and beliefs by others, or, as a Christian might put it, “receiving the Good News.”

Finally, I can say that if I’m wrong and that the Christian God really is up there (and there’s a chance that he is), then I’m sure I’ll be going to heaven anyway. See, if God exists, he loves me and he has a plan for me. And since atheism is clearly part of his plan for me, I must be doing the will of God. Since he’s all merciful, he won’t condemn me to hell for my lack of belief, especially since he didn’t offer any actual evidence of his existence. Yup, I’m certain that if God exists, he’s saving a nice seat for me up in heaven.


The author's comments:
Richard Dawkins has challenged atheists to come out of the closet. If we can establish ourselves as less of a minority and more of a force to be reckoned with, maybe we can be more accepted and respected.

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This article has 75 comments.


brie13 GOLD said...
on May. 8 2010 at 12:41 pm
brie13 GOLD, Sparks, Nevada
11 articles 0 photos 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
What is the meaning of life? -- To live ( Mr.Swigart- Bio Teacher)

i am sorry you don't agree with what my article says but that is my point of view. Calling it "misinformed garbage" doesn't help with anything.

brie13 GOLD said...
on May. 8 2010 at 12:39 pm
brie13 GOLD, Sparks, Nevada
11 articles 0 photos 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
What is the meaning of life? -- To live ( Mr.Swigart- Bio Teacher)

your article was well written even though i dont agree with what you are saying. i do agree though that people shouldnt judge athiests and one problem with christians today is they take a more judge mental, you-are-going-to-hell-if-you-dont-go-to-god point of view instead of a loveing understanding view. I am christian myself and messages like the one you recieved on face book annoy me very much. And deleting you from her list of friends was not a very "christianly" thing to do. But i do not agree with what you said in the end. God didn't choose for you be athiest you chose that for yourself so that wasn't god's will. And god doesn't send people to hell as a punishment. God cannot be with sin. Sin sperates us from god's love. The only way to God is through belief in Jesus. THerefore being N thiest means you do not have faith in jeus so that seperation remains. We were created for the single purpose to have a relationship with god so we were not created with atheist point of views.

arimas SILVER said...
on May. 7 2010 at 8:57 pm
arimas SILVER, Columbia, South Carolina
9 articles 0 photos 35 comments
CruxClaire: after reading your response to some (haha) misinformed garbage, i read some of your other work. i must say, i respect you highly.

on May. 6 2010 at 9:50 pm
CruxClaire GOLD, Park Ridge, Illinois
11 articles 1 photo 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
-Mark Twain

While I think Dawkins is intelligent and, in some cases, a good example, he is, as you say, extremely intolerant of theists, which irritates me as well.

on May. 6 2010 at 4:23 pm
Midnight_Hum SILVER, Hearne, Texas
5 articles 0 photos 48 comments

Very Good!  Well thought out!

I would just like to say something about Richard Dawkins.  In an interview (with Ben Stein) he says that people believe who believe in God are "stupid" or "ignorant".  I don't believe that people who DON'T believe in a god are all "stupid" or "ignorant'.  In fact, there are some highly intelligent atheists out there (like Richard Dawkins).  But as Christian, this kind of thinking from atheists, is what irks ME.


MaeFlower said...
on Apr. 13 2010 at 9:41 pm
MaeFlower, Aurora, Colorado
0 articles 0 photos 27 comments
Ugh.. I'm sorry about the Christian school thing, a lot of Christian schools have people who claim to be Christian but most certainly aren't . I'm very sorry that you had a friend do that to you by the way, and I agree that this was a very well written article, even if I disagree patently with what it says, I understand your point. 

on Feb. 10 2010 at 2:40 pm
CruxClaire GOLD, Park Ridge, Illinois
11 articles 1 photo 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
-Mark Twain

Thanks for your feedback. I definitely don't think all Christians are intolerant. I went to a Christian school for all of middle school and my Christian teachers were absolutely wonderful. It was my peers who were less accepting, but then, most of them were just immature in general. I don't hate Christians or anything like that; I'm just speaking out against the hatred I am the subject of from those religious people who do happen to be intolerant and encouraging that such intolerance be let go of.

on Feb. 9 2010 at 10:04 pm
drhorriblylate BRONZE, Stanwood, Washington
3 articles 0 photos 18 comments
This is a well written article. I am a Christian , and I try to be as tolerant of other people's beliefs as I can. I urge you to not think of all Christians as annoying and disrespectful people. I will say that I disagree with your view on salvation, but for me it does not detract from the quality of your writing.

on Feb. 9 2010 at 9:24 pm
the_Horsegirl SILVER, Minneapolis, Minnesota
8 articles 0 photos 118 comments

Favorite Quote:
People need dreams, there's as much nourishment in 'em as food.
--Dorothy Gilman

If there is such a thing as truth, it is as intricate and hidden as a crown of feathers.
--Isaac Bashevis Singer

You make a good case, though I'm not sure I agree completely with you. This was very well written, and I especially like the last paragraph.

on Feb. 9 2010 at 8:34 pm
slightlymad BRONZE, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
“I can't dislike you, but I will say this to you: you haven't got long before you are all going to kill yourselves, because you are all crazy. And you can project it back at me ... but I am only what lives inside each and every one of you.”

Sure, whatever you say.

sanra SILVER said...
on Feb. 4 2010 at 8:02 pm
sanra SILVER, Far Rockaway, New York
8 articles 7 photos 62 comments
i agree to all of this, thanks for puting that out there, because atheist are so misjudged, like you stated, people always asume without a religion there's nothing to stop us from doing bad things, this conclusion just makes humanity so low, so brutal, while infact there's more to human nature than just a god, or a life after.

on Feb. 2 2010 at 2:12 pm
Nathaniel PLATINUM, Huntsville, Missouri
36 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
"For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." --William Shakespeare

An intelligent, honest work! Bravo!

on Feb. 1 2010 at 7:37 pm
YouthfulLight SILVER, Forest Park, Illinois
5 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
Whoever says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain

Your last paragraph got me thinking.
If God loved us all like that, and no matter what we did or how we lived, He would still love us; then there wouldn't have been any reason for Him to send His son down for us. There wouldn't have been any need for the Bible, and there certainly wouldn't have been any need for rules or laws.
God clearly states in His word that the only true way to heaven is belief. Believing what there isn't evidence for.
As to your friend who took treated you poorly because of your faith: it's beyond irriatating to me when people treat others that way, whether believers or not. It makes not only her look bad, but the whole population of Christians . I am sorry, on her behalf.
Though I don't agree with you or your beliefs, I must say that you have written it all out well.

on Feb. 1 2010 at 6:09 pm
Heck yes to all of this! I couldn't agree more, and you presented your case really well-- keep on writing!

on Feb. 1 2010 at 4:22 pm
HeyYouILoveYourSoul, Indianapolis, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you rotate the 'M' in McDonalds it becomes an 'E' for EMPIRE!" -- jk

"To find your life, you must lose it." --JESUS

Jesus wouldn't have deleted you.