Tag Archives: atheists

Atheist Confesses Heavy Price to Pay for Not Believing in God

UMass professor of philosophy Dr. Louise Antony confesses two distinct drawbacks to being an atheist.

During her closing statement at a 2008 academic debate on the , Dr. Louise Antony made a startling admission:

She said there’s a heavy price or two to pay for being an atheist.

Heavy Price One

First, Antony said that an atheist has no confidence that goodness will win out in the end.

The theist has a story with a happy ending. The atheist, on the other hand, no such hope.

In fact, Dr. Antony said there’s no reason at all to believe that the world just won’t destroy itself. That evil won’t win out.

Heavy Price Two

The second price Antony said the atheist has to pay is that there is no redemption.

She said if you’ve done something terribly wrong, something you deeply regret…that you know is awful…there is no mechanism to erase that. Nothing can remove that stain.

You can apologize and ask for forgiveness…but you carry that guilt with you until the day you die.

The Advantages of Being a Christian

Naturally, this doesn’t prove that atheism is false. What it does suggest, however, is that you better have a very compelling reason to abandon belief in God.

One of the advantages of being a Christian is the blessings of having a clear conscience. How wonderful it is to wake up in the middle of the night with a peaceful, clear conscience…and not one tormented by guilt and shame.

The other advantage is knowing that even though Christ was crucified he rose from the dead and demonstrated in one final flourish that, indeed, he was God, that Satan was defeated and that good will triumph in the end.

The atheist, unfortunately, even in his darkest moment, has no such comfort.

Hemant Mehta: 10 Questions with an Atheist

Part of the 10 Questions with an Atheist series.

Hemant Mehta, blogger at  and author of , is probably best known for putting his .

Before then he attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he graduated with honors in both Mathematics and Biology. He is now earning his Masters in Math Education at DePaul University.

While at U of I Chicago, Hemant helped establish their first secular student group, Students WithOut Religious Dogma (SWORD).

Mehta is also the Chair of the  (SSA) Board of Directors and has worked with the Center for Inquiry. He’s an SSA representative to the .

He currently works as a high school Math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. Everyone, welcome Hemant.

1. How would you describe yourself: atheist, agnostic or skeptic? Explain.

Atheist.  It’s the word I first came to identify with and it’s stuck with me ever since.  It’s also the one that has the worst stigma and I’d like to confront that stigma head-on by embracing the word.

 2. When did you know you were an atheist? Did it scare you or was it a non-issue?

It was scary… I was raised with religion and I prayed and believed in a god.  So when it started dawning on me that God might not exist, it was a freaky thought.  The first night I went to bed without praying, I remember waking up and checking for bruises or some other sign that a god had punished me.  I was scratch-free, so I figured I was onto something.

3. Ever suffer persecution as an atheist?

Not as much as other people I know.  I’ve never lost a job or relationships with family members because of it.  I have had a few first dates never call back because they knew I didn’t believe in God, but that’s about the worst of it…

4. What do you want to accomplish with your life?

Wow.  I’m not sure.  I enjoy teaching students right now (I work at a high school).  I also love writing and talking about atheism and spreading the “good word.”  For the time being, it’d thrill me to know I’m helping religious people make the transition into atheism because they can relate to things I write or talk about.

5. Who are your heroes? Why?

I think anyone who confronts authority for good reason deserves to be commended.  I’ve heard from high school students who try to start an atheist group in the Bible Belt… and atheists who have risked friendships and popularity by standing up for what they believe.  They’re regular people doing amazing things.  I love that.

6. What would you like to accomplish with your blog?

I’d love for my website to be a place for real conversations about religion — with atheists and religious people commenting freely.  I want to help people feel safe coming out as an atheist.  I want them to bounce ideas off my readers.  And I hope it will let me have a voice in the broader atheist community.

7. What’s your favorite part about being an atheist?

Umm… the women.  Obviously.

8. Are there any Christian concepts that you respect?

As cheesy as they might be, I like the people who believe Jesus = love.  Those are not the gay-bashers.  They believe in church/state separation and compassion for others and caring for the poor and social justice.  If they get that motivation from their faith, great.  There are plenty of good reasons for those things outside religion, but Christians who are doing good works deserve respect for their actions, at least, if not their supernatural beliefs.

9. Does it irritate you when Christians try to share their faith with you?

Only if they’re not listening to what I have to say in response.

10. Were you ever a Christian? Would you go back?

Nope.

Bonus question: What’s your take on Peter Singer?

I’ve never really read his stuff, so I’m not one to comment.  Yay for vegetarianism, though.

Your Turn

Hemant, I think I speak for all my readers when I say thank you for opening up to us. I appreciate the time and thought you put into answering these questions. Feel free to expand on anything above.

Now, anybody have any comments or questions for Hemant? Ask away. Looking forward to hearing from you.

10 Questions with an Atheist Series

This is my way of learning how to speak clearly and compellingly to non-believers.

Ever wonder what God might write if he wrote you a letter?

Or what a Unitarian Universalist raised by a park ranger dad thinks of God?

Maybe you’d like to hear a 23-year-old former Christian-turned-atheist rake weak arguments–whether theist or atheist–through the coals.

Or maybe the musings of an ex-fundamentalist from Arkansas is more your style.

Whatever your bent, I’ve got a good range of interviews with atheists, agnostics and skeptics in my 10 Questions Series.

Why an Interview Series with Atheists?

Back in early February I said that if I wanted to speak clearly and compellingly to non-believers, then I needed to enter their world.

Since then I’ve been trying to work out what that looks like.

So far I’ve ranted against Reformed bloggers. I’ve asked “Are atheists irrelevant?” I even gave you a summary of extreme atheist Peter Singer.

This all leads up to this series on understanding atheists.

Now, I have a vague idea of where I want this series to go. That’s the direction I’m pushing this snowball. Let’s just hope there’s snow on the ground. If you know what I mean.

Hemant Mehta I don’t know, consider him the playboy of atheists [you’ll see what I mean in his interview]. We know this, he’s the most famous. Having sold his soul and all.

Eshu A consistent and intelligent contributor on my blog, Eshu’s got a firm grasp of comparative religion. He makes for good competition.

Robert Madewell A former evangelical Christian who even entertained the ministry tinkers at the edges of Christianity with thought-provoking challenges to his Arkansas and blog neighbors.

Luke Muehlhauser By far the feistiest…23-year-old Luke astonishes with his sweeping range of logical and scientific arguments.

The Postman A writer/actor who plays God’s messenger in the blogosphere, The Postman makes for a good belly laugh…no matter what side of the debate you are on.

Lorette C. Luzajic My only agnostic so far, Lorette brings a barrage of arguments and convictions that demonstrates her voracious appetite for books.

(((Billy))) the Atheist Ever wonder what a Unitarian Universalist raised by a park ranger dad thinks of God of the supernatural? Wonder no more.

John Loftus The only thing Loftus had known since he was 18 was learning, teaching and defending Christianity. So when he walked away from his faith, it wasn’t easy.