Why an Atheist Can Believe in God
Contrary to what many believe, many atheist – if not most – would never say “God doesn’t exist.” Unfortunately, many dictionaries also have definitions like “Denial of the existence of God,” which is a misrepresentation. In fact, if once you understand what atheism really means, you’ll see why an atheist can believe in God. Here are the three basic beliefs that lead one to be an atheist:
1. Evidence and experience should be the basis for any belief.
2. An assertion should be proven by the person or persons who make it.
3. The case for God has not been proven.
With no experience to convince me, and no proof of the existence of God, I don’t have a reason to believe in the existence of he or she or it. But I can’t say he doesn’t exist, since I can’t prove this belief either. In fact, why would an atheist waste his time trying to prove a concept as nebulous as God can’t or doesn’t exist? Suppose I told you that a blue snake in the sky ruled the universe. If all I had for evidence was a some speculative story-book, you wouldn’t believe me would you? No?
That would make you an “aserpentist,” by the way. Now, would you start gathering evidence to “prove” that no invisible blue snake was up there? No. As the maker of the assertion, I would have the obligation to prove it did exist. You would be entirely justified in dropping and ignoring the whole matter until given some reason to look at it again.
Atheism is simply non-belief due to unconvincing evidence.
Where does this leave agnostics then? An honest classification would be as a type of atheist, right? If a person won’t say he believes in God, he is atheistic.
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