There are many misconceptions regarding certain religious beliefs. Lots of people like to say that atheists are people without faith, for instance, when atheists have just as much faith as those who consider themselves religious. Also, atheism is not Satan-worshipping, as has been suggested before.
Atheism is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as “a disbelief in the existence of deity” or “the doctrine that there is no deity.” In other words, it is the belief that there is no God, instead of believing there can be no way of knowing for sure. If you believe that it is irrational to believe in God, but also see it as irrational to believe that God does not exist, then by definition you are not atheist but actually are agnostic.
Agnosticism is the belief that there is not enough evidence for or against the existence of God to decide one way or another. Agnosticism is compatible with theism and atheism in that one can believe that there is not enough evidence either way, but think that one is more likely than the other.
By contrast, it seems as though it would require much less faith to be an agnostic. Unlike atheists and those in religious communities, agnostics are making no definitive statement about the existence of a higher power. The only act of faith it takes to be an agnostic is to believe that there is not enough evidence to take a definitive stand on the issue while religious people and atheists believe that there is enough evidence to make a judgment.
There are infinite possibilities for what can exist in the spiritual realm, from an old bearded guy, to a flying spaghetti monster, to a complete lack of any kind of higher power within the spiritual realm. It just so happens that religious people have their own version of what exists in that spiritual realm, while atheists have a contrary belief. Atheists can use facts to argue against religious texts such as the Bible or even by citing specific interpretations of God, but there is no way to use science or facts to argue against the existence of a spiritual realm or, simply, a God.
It is never too late to re-evaluate your beliefs, and people should do so constantly and people should be honest about what they believe. There is nothing wrong with having faith or not having faith, but if someone does not believe in God they should be honest about the amount of faith that this requires. If someone wants to believe in God or have any other religious belief, they should also be able to admit that there is no physical evidence for God’s existence, and that this, also, is faith.
Religious people and atheists alike are making judgments about the immeasurable and taking a stance on it, but to believe something without evidence is to believe in something on faith, and since there is no evidence either way, to believe anything about God requires faith.
Atheists are quick to point out that there is no evidence for the existence of a God, and on this point they are absolutely correct, but there is also no evidence that there is no God. Anybody with a basic understanding of the scientific method or even logic will tell you that just because there is no evidence for something does not mean that it does not exist.
There is no way that our five senses or science can disprove or even offer evidence against the existence of God. The only way that one can believe that there is no God or any other non-physical, non-material essence is through faith. Nothing else can bring someone to that conclusion. In other words, atheism is not the opposite of faith, it is merely a rather unique manifestation of it.
Alex Freitag is a State News guest columnist and a political science and history senior. Reach him at freitaga@msu.edu.
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