Updated:
03/14/08
ATHEISM DEFINED AND APPLIED
ATHEISM IS NOT A BELIEF!
ATHEISM IS NOT A CONCLUSION!
ATHEISM IS A
PHILOSOPHY!
The word
“Atheism” (which religion has applied to this philosophy)
is a false
definition.
ATHEISM IS THE SCIENTIFIC
METHOD OF SEPARATING TRUTH FROM TALL TALES.
ATHEISM IS THE ABILITY TO
SEPARATE FACTS FROM FICTIONS.
The philosophy called
Atheism is better defined by the terms
“Clear Thinking” or “Free
Thinking.”
Before taking the word Atheism
apart and putting it back together again, why don't you stop right here and
write down what your concept of Atheism is before you start reading this
website. A simple statement or a paragraph at most will do.
You need to do this so you
can honestly determine how this explanation of Atheism or Clear Thinking
stimulates your thinking, affects your morality and your attitude toward
yourself, and those who are called Atheists by the churches.
Pay careful attention to
this article! Let's go to work and dissect the word Atheism. First, look at the
etymology (roots) of the word, Atheism. Theos means God in Greek. A
means no, non, not or without. Ism means a concept or philosophy, or a
way of thinking. Therefore, by this definition, Atheism means, a no God
concept or a no-God philosophy. By this definition, an Atheist is one who does
Not Believe and/or, cannot accept the concept of God as defined by the various
religions.
But Atheists or Clear
Thinkers have a very big problem with that definition because it is the nametag
which others (the church) gave them. It does Not properly identify their
philosophical position. The name Atheism doesn't even remotely define this
Philosophy. The word “Atheism” is a false definition and tends to
misinform the one using it and the one hearing it. It is a clear attempt to
belittle, demean, demonize and falsify the Philosophy of Atheism or Clear
Thinking.
To show how a name can be
used to belittle a group of people, look at the name, Christian. Christ is a
transliteration of the Greek word Christos that means, anointed.
(The word, Transliteration means to carry the SOUND of the word itself from
one language to another. Thus, Christos in the Greek, becomes Christ
when the word is Anglicized or taken into English. Transliteration ignores
the meaning. To carry the MEANING of a word from one language to another
is to Translate.)
The Greek word Christos
translates the Hebrew word Messiah, which literally means anointed.
It has come to mean, anointed by God. This word, Messiah, was
used only for kings, prophets and priests, who were presented to the people as
being sent by God for some special work. David and King Saul were also Messiahs
or Christs. They were called Christos (anointed) in Greek. The
Jewish people have had many claimed Messiahs, or who claimed Messiahship for
themselves.
Ian, means little from ianos
in the Greek. So the word "Christian" in English, literally means, “little
anointed ones.”
"Christian" was a derogatory
term used by the Romans, Jews, Greeks and others to belittle and ridicule the
followers of an ancient religion called "Mithra" and later a modern
outcast Jewish sect called, "The Way." Christians were called
"little kings," “little Christs” or "little anointed ones."
We do the same thing when we say, "He thinks he is a little God," or
"He thinks he is a little Caesar."
So, the title once given to
Christians as a name of mockery and deformation, they now wear proudly as a
mark of distinction and martyr-hood. Since the term “Christian” was applied
only to the follows of the Mithraic church, the members and clergy of the
Catholic Church did not call themselves “Christian” until the eighth century
A.D. Check it out. Prior to that, the term Christian was mostly applied to
earlier Mithraic believers. Until the eighth century the term, “Christian” was
considered a slur and a sign of antagonism against the church.
The nametag
"Atheism" is somewhat like that. It was given by the church as a term
to strike fear into the hearts of the faithful Christians. To the leaders of
the Christian religions, this philosophy was a type of mental plague. Once
infected with the Clear Thinking philosophy, the former believers could never
return to their past belief and obedience, or have respect for the religious
powers of that day. Religion fears Atheism or Clear Thinking more than any
other one thing. These articles will help you understand why.
This is interesting. All the
religions understood and proclaimed that once a person became an honest Atheist
or Clear Thinker, he was never again able to be brought under the sway of a
religion or a religious government, except by force, or threat of force. Many
men "recanted" their honest conclusions and Atheistic thinking. Some
even asked the church to "forgive them" (as did Galileo). Why?
Because they loved living more than they loved dying.
The term which Atheists or
Clear Thinkers have given themselves is quite different from the term that the
church has given them. It is a term that more nearly describes the philosophy
to which they adhere. The name they often give themselves is "Free
Thinker."
There will be much more to
say about "Free Thinking" later, but for now, the term Free Thinker
describes their attitude toward life and toward life's many complex problems.
It also describes their philosophy. It means they are FREE to think - honestly
and logically. They are not bound to any predetermined conclusions, beliefs or
doctrines.
There are absolutely NO Free
Thinker (Atheist) doctrines. There is definitely NO Atheist beliefs or faiths.
The freedom of the Atheists lies in the fact, they do NOT have to reconcile
their conclusions with any belief or faith. They can start with any subject and
follow the facts to their honest and logical conclusions.
THE ATHEIST OR
CLEAR THINKER HAS ONLY TO RECONCILE HIS CONCLUSIONS
WITH THE FACTS, THE MORALITY AND THE TRUTH OF A MATTER.
When Atheists approach a
problem, they look for the facts. They know facts do not stand alone, but
depend on many other proven facts. Also, they have nothing to defend, nothing
that needs an apology, and nothing, which needs an explanation. The reason for
this is, THE ATHEIST (OR CLEAR THINKER) IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH. He is
not trying to prove any point. He has no point to prove. He simply takes the
proven facts and finds out where those facts lead. When the honest man follows
the facts, he reaches whatever conclusions are in agreement with all the known
and proven facts, and in harmony with the truth and morality of the matter.
It is by using this method
of following the facts, that Atheists have reached the factual and logical
conclusion, that there is no such God as described by the Persians in the
Mithraic religion. If NEW FACTS were brought forth that proved there IS
such a Mithraic God, those called Atheists (by the religions) would conclude
that there was indeed such a God. But they would STILL be Atheists. That is,
they would still follow the facts. They would still be Clear Thinkers. They
would still be Free Thinkers. Think about that for a moment.
So much for now on the
"free" in Free Thinking. Look next at the "thinking" in
Free Thinking. Later in the "HONEST MAN'S PHILOSOPHY"
you can get into the subject of thinking and go into it in some depth. For now,
what is the difference between these two approaches to the problem of God's
existence?
1. PROVE God exists.
2. FIND
OUT if God exists.
Which one of these
approaches promotes thinking, and which prevents thinking? If you are asked to
take approach number one, which says, "Prove God exists." thinking
has been crippled and made one sided. Since only the holy books give any
information on a god, then to follow number one means the "prover"
(or believer) will only look in holy books. He can never have the will or the
courage to research into what the scientific and civil world has to say about
the matter. In other words, he buries his head in the dry sands of the holy
books.
What if you are a Buddhist
or a Mithraic believer? Question number one gives you a Conclusion and asks you
to believe and confirm it. That conclusion may, or may not be correct. But by
trying to answer statement number one, you will never know the truth for sure!
If you believe a Hindu God exists, then any simple jumble of statements
will constitute "proof" to you.
Approach number one starts
with the conclusion that "YOUR" God does in fact exist. That is like
trying to build a house by starting with the top of the chimney. One does not
start with a finished product, with the answer. One must start with a
foundation, at the beginning, with a question and with the known and proven
facts and truth of the matter. It must start with the question,
"Why?"
What if the first question
was: "Prove the Shinto and Baptist Gods exist?"
When and how do you know if
a Shinto (or Baptist) God exists? Or, if you do not believe one of them does
exist, will your mind not rebel at question number one and refuse to function
properly? Whether you believe, or do not believe, anytime you set out to prove
any doctrine or belief, your mind will not function truly and honestly (that is
a fact and you know it). You cannot think honestly if the question is rigged in
favor of a predetermined answer and conclusion! Rather, if you are a believer,
your mind will hunt only for those statements or observations that "tend
to prove" your predetermined conclusion. Your mind will pass over, ignore,
and reject those statements, facts and observations that disprove, or tend to
disprove, what you are trying to prove. To the religious believer, contrary
facts are simply confusions supplied by the Devil to deceive man into rejecting
your religion and your God. You want to prove YOUR God exists. So, you must
ignore those facts about the matter (supplied by the Devil) that tends to
disprove what you are trying to prove.
On the other hand, if you
select approach number two, which says, "Find out if God exists."
your mind will automatically seek facts, statements and observations from BOTH
sides of the question. Your mind will be able to think honestly and carefully,
because you are now looking for the truth. You are not looking to prove a point
or to defend a belief. Using this honest scientific (Atheist) method, you may
find out that God does indeed exist, and you will have found out the truth -
honestly. You may find out that the Baptist God does exist, but the Shinto God
does not exist - honestly.
Wouldn't you like to find
out (for sure) if your God really does exist?
This method of approaching
problems is what makes Atheism (or Clear Thinking) such a feared foe of
religion and government. It is the Honest approach to the questions and
problems of life. It ignores beliefs, conformity, custom and false history.
Atheism (or Clear Thinking) hunts for the facts of the matter. Atheism starts
with the foundation, at the bottom of the matter, with an honest question and
the facts.
Another way to view the
truth of this method is to see the question as one, which is not emotional.
Suppose the question was, "Prove there is a Santa Claus." That would
be the religious believer's approach. The Clear Thinkers approach would be
"Find out if there is a Santa Claus." The difference in approaching
the truth should become clearer to you. If one Believes there is a Santa
Claus and ignores the contrary evidence, he can "prove" there is a
Santa Claus. If he rejects the observations that "tend to disprove"
the existence of Santa Claus, then a strong case can be built which
"proves" Santa Claus does, in fact, exist. Just reading the Christmas
stories, listening to the testimony of the kids, enjoying Christmas music,
interviewing the parents in front of the kids and looking at the toys on
Christmas day should be enough evidence for anybody. To the Santa Claus
believer, the case is closed. Santa does exist.
That is the difference in
the religious approach to a matter and the Clear Thinker's approach to the same
matter. Atheists use the scientific method of honestly finding and studying the
facts. The religious believers use the "Belief and Testimony"
method. Religion always begins with a Conclusion instead of looking for
the facts and the truth of the matter. Religion accepts hearsay, testimony and
belief as proofs. Honesty does not. Oral and written “Gossip” is
religion's best (and only) proof of the claims it makes.
Atheism (or Clear Thinking)
is Freedom to seek the truth. Religion is control of the mind that binds the
mind to a predetermined conclusion. To be a religious believer one must Not
Think. (Hang on! I will prove that statement later.) The believers must let
someone else do their thinking for them. The religious person must always
believe and accept what is taught by their particular religious
authorities in order to be a believing member in that religion. Otherwise, they
should seek a religion that believes like they do. Why are you not a member of
a different religion? One must only seek to Prove those things, which their
religion teaches. Those who are religious must always defend and prove their belief.
They must rate belief in their own religious authorities higher than they rate
the authorities of other religions. They must rate falsehoods higher than they
rate the truth. They must rate unfounded claims higher than the honest facts of
the matter.
The believer, who seeks only
to "prove" his belief, ignores the only HONEST question he could ask.
That question is:
"IS MY
BELIEF TRUE, OR IS MY BELIEF FALSE?"
There is a word I would like
to see added to the name Atheists (or Clear Thinkers) have given to themselves.
In the title, "Free Thinker" should be placed the word
"Honest." Thus, "Honest Free Thinker" would describe the total
philosophy of Atheism. It would acquaint the world and religious believers
with the fact, so called Atheists are really Free to Think. They are free to
think honestly, because they do not have to end up agreeing with some
predetermined conclusion. They do not have to agree with some prescribed
belief. They do not have to agree with some religious authority. They have only
to honestly agree with the known facts. Honest Atheists (Clear Thinkers) are
Free to hunt for the Truth of the matter. How sweet it is - to be honest! How
sweet it is to be an Atheist!
We will have many details of
these things and more in the "HONEST MAN'S PHILOSOPHY." If you are a
believer, this might be the first time in your life you have the opportunity to
think freely and honestly. Use the opportunity wisely.
GOOD GODS APPROVE
OF HONEST THOUGHT.
Now, let's define the Atheist
philosophy which religion has falsely called Atheism. There is no legal,
specific or agreed upon definition that I have ever read, or heard, which
clearly defines it. Of course, that is the way it is with a censored
philosophy. Almost all of the dictionaries define Atheism as: "The
doctrine that there is no God; disbelief in the existence of God." Again,
that is the Christian definition of this philosophy. IT IS FALSE!
The definition of Atheism,
as given in the dictionaries, is like defining tuberculosis as a fever and
cough. The fever is a result of tuberculosis. Fever and cough are only two
symptoms or conclusions of tuberculosis. Likewise, to describe Atheism as the
doctrine that there is no God is not to describe Atheism at all. Rather, it is
to describe one of the many Conclusions of this philosophy.
The absence of the Hindu
Gods as described by the Hindu Holy Books is a conclusion, which comes as a
result of honestly following the known facts. This "no-God"
conclusion is not a belief or a doctrine. It is a product of the facts, just as
four is the product of two plus two. Atheism could have just as easily been
described in the dictionaries as: The doctrine that there is no Santa Claus,
disbelief in the existence of Santa Claus. They could have called it
"A-santa-ism."
Falsely describing something
is called, Censorship! It is also called lying and hypocrisy.
It does amaze me that no
Atheist has ever been asked to define Atheism for the dictionaries,
reference books or encyclopedias in this country. Now think about that for a
moment. Think of the power of censorship involved. Think about the political
power it takes in order to falsely define this most powerful and true
philosophy in the major reference books in this country.
What if some group had the
power to officially define Christianity as, "The doctrine that by
following the teachings of a condemned Jewish criminal and believing in some
magic words a person will never die?"
That is the very exact
definition of Christianity given in the eight century by a Turkish scholar of
the Islamic faith. That definition demonstrates censorship power in action.
You, however, will not have
to suffer through life being ignorant of the definition of Atheism and the
Atheist philosophy (falsely called Atheism). I shall give you one of my
definitions of this philosophy (and later more in the HONEST MAN'S PHILOSOPHY).
Here it is. Read it several times and try to put it in your own words.
Atheism is the philosophy of life that shapes its morality, its conclusions and its approach to life, from an honest, logical analyzation of the known and proven facts. It is the honest, logical, scientific approach to the problems and conflicts of morality, religion and the concepts of life.
Notice nothing was said
about God in this definition. You will also notice nothing was said about
demons, devils, angels or tuberculosis. Nothing was said about faith, belief or
miracles. The reason these things were not mentioned is, they have absolutely
nothing to do with the Philosophy of Atheism. Those things are only subjects
to be honestly explored for the facts in the same way we explore and study
politics, law, mathematics, science or biology.
On the other hand, any
definition of a religion Must, of necessity, include the terms faith,
belief, God, Christ, Jesus, Mohammed, Allah, etc. The point is, the Atheist
philosophy, falsely called Atheism, is NOT A FAITH OR BELIEF. Religion, to the
contrary, is just that, A FAITH OR A BELIEF. Here is a second definition.
Atheism is the scientific method of examining the facts of a matter and logically determining the truth of the matter. It is the art of conducting one's life in the light of, and on the basis of, the facts and conclusions of that truth.
Religion is BELIEF.
It is accepting on faith something, which is taught by an Authority. Atheism is
exactly the opposite of religion. Honest people do not accept something just
because it is taught by an authority, nor do they accept any teaching on faith.
Atheists hunt for and study the facts.
Religion wants you to believe
and obey your authorities. It wants you to become child-like. Religion demands
Belief and Obedience. "Except you become as little children you can
not inherit the kingdom of God." That leaves honest thinking people out.
Atheism (or Clear Thinking)
is hard, honest, mature, sweaty, adult work. It demands that you
logically and honestly analyze every important claim put before you. Atheism
and honest Clear Thinking demands that you check for the facts of these
religious, political, economical or personal claims.
Religion to the contrary, is
taught as a passive and easy Faith or Belief, requiring nothing but consent,
surrender and obedience. Believe and obey! The only requirement to become a
Christian is gullibility!
Clear Thinking is an active
and sweaty philosophy of life, which demands:
HONEST THINKING AND MORAL
CONFORMITY TO TRUTH.
Religious believers are
afraid to think honestly. They are! They must only Believe and Obey. To be
honest means to examine BOTH the pros and cons of the matter. That is called
THINKING. Honest Logical Thinking is the life's blood of the Atheist
philosophy. Honest Atheists are afraid NOT to think. Real honest thinking
Begins with Honest Doubt.
Honest Doubt is the beginning of Wisdom!
To
the religious believers, doubt is the very worst SIN.
Belief is poison to
the Honest Thinker.
Honest Thinking
is poison to the believers.
Believe and obey are the
sovereign commands of ALL religions.
You can begin to see now,
the Atheist philosophy is badly misnamed when it is called Atheism by religion.
Next in the on line edition of HONEST MAN'S PHILOSOPHY, you will see
some of the reasons why religion felt it necessary to mislead its followers
concerning this philosophy.
I am not making fun of any religion.
I am trying to make sense for you. I am asking you to think. Does thinking
scare you? Belief and not thinking scares me.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Copyright September 1999
By: Thomas E. Blaylock, Jr.
Updated: 03/14/08