Atheism and Other Beliefs

Although Andrew, my long-time sweetheart, and Frances, my closest
friend of half a century, are both proclaimed atheists, they are also
two of the most loving, generous, thoughtful people I know. Both are
deeply concerned about the large issues of our world today; both are
generous with charities; both passionately want peace and justice for
us all.

I admire them both tremendously. We're all three of us liberals
who accept evolution; we don’t believe in Heaven; we feel that all of the
world’s religions in their purist state can teach us some truths. Yet
we are aghast when we see what these same religions have justified and
even promoted in terms of hatred and violence throughout history.
But I simply cannot be an atheist.

Although Plato’s famous “cave allegory” is over 2,000 years old, I
feel that it still has some validity in describing the human condition. As
Plato explained, we are chained to a seat in a cave which allows us to
see only the shadows of the real truth which is behind us. We come to
believe that the shadows are the truth because we cannot turn around
and see what reality is being projected onto the wall in front of us.

Now some interpret this image as religious or philosophical blindness.
If we accept Jesus Christ, if we become sufficiently philosophical to
become unchained, then we will see what is real. But then if we study
the teachings of these people, we realize that there can be many kinds
of “reality” behind us, and who is to say which is true?

The existentialist would say that life is ultimately subjective, and
therefore we cannot ever see or learn of a universal truth. We must
simply work out the truth as we can best perceive it and then try to
live by it in order to make our lives worthwhile.

Then there was Einstein, who declared that there is a God, but he is
not personally involved in our lives. James Joyce apparently felt
similarly, saying of God, he is like the artist who “remains within or
behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of
existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails.”

Finally, I accept and believe that the beauty of the earth and the
power of human love have to have been created by a force much greater
than ourselves. This “force” has to exist in order to have brought
about all of life, from one-celled animals to us complicated,
sometimes-contentious human beings.

I certainly do not pray to this deity to make certain teams win
football games or even certain candidates win elections. But I can—and
do—thank this deity for life itself, for the wonders of this world,
this universe, and also for my believer friends and my atheist
friends. I don’t pray for the latter to be “converted”; I rather
express my gratitude for all of the people in my life who provide me
with such deep and real emotions, goals, and examples.

A note by me the blogger.
Some may point out that not only religious zealots, but atheists too, like Stalin and Hitler, have done horrible things. I might reply that they weren't true atheists, but then are the Taliban (for instance) true Muslims? The truth, as I see it, is that all human beings, whatever their professed religion or lack of it, seem to have the capacity for unfeeling cruelty, often in the name of religion or racial purity or some other concept. The Biblical Jesus exhorted us to love our neighbor as our self, and whether or not we love God, this is the best precept, to my mind. This is the essence of humanism in a broad sense, which can be the aspiration of not only atheists but people of all religious persuasions. 
- Andrew Leat