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What we (dis)believe Atheism is not a belief system, religion, creed, political outlook, lifestyle, or moral code; it is merely a lack of theistic belief. Atheists are people who, for whatever reason, do not adhere to any beliefs in any god(s). They may be agnostic towards the supernatural or downright naturalists. Politically, they may be leftist, rightist, libertarian, or authoritarian. Ethically, they could be realist or non-realist, consequentialist or deontologist, egoist or utilitarian, or nearly anything else, except divine command theorists. In all things they are free to believe as their reason leads them, without necessarily subscribing to any particular ideology or dogma. In short, atheists need not believe anything in particular, they are united only in their unbelief. Who we are
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Say there was an invisible
pink unicorn. And, it was written, this unicorn knew everything and
could do anything. But there was no hard evidence it existed. No
unicorn hoof prints, no pink hairs, no photos. "You cannot prove there
is no invisible pink unicorn," Kim Shultz says. Say scholars debated how
the unicorn wanted us to behave, and artists painted images of the
unicorn on ceilings of buildings where people gathered to talk and sing
about it. Then you would know how
Shultz and many others view God. Shultz is an atheist. An atheist is someone who
says there is no God or who is very skeptical that one exists. In
Oklahoma, sometimes called the buckle of the Bible Belt, there are
thousands of people -- maybe millions -- who say they believe in God.
And there are at least 22 atheists. We know because that's how many are
members of Oklahoma Atheists, an organization Shultz founded. There probably are more,
maybe many more. But atheists usually don't talk about it. For many
years, Scott Richter didn't. "I was pretty much a closet
atheist," said the 27-year-old Oklahoma City discount store worker.
Then he told his brother. Then his mother found out. "It made her upset," he
said. Being an atheist is like
being a homosexual, at least in the way many people react, atheists
say. Many people don't like homosexuals and many people don't like
atheists. "It's almost a lone
existence," Richter said. "When you say you're an atheist, people just
turn themselves off to you. I get dirty looks." Some people who don't like
atheists tell Shultz she is going to hell. They call the 19-year-old
Piedmont woman a "devil worshipper." "Why would I worship
something I don't believe in?" Shultz tells them. So atheists who leave their
closets do it cautiously. To test the family waters, they might tell a
cousin. They might mail a few "winter solstice" cards in the Christmas
season. Still, a few atheists
advertise, even flaunt their atheism. They have bumper stickers that
say things like "Religion Stops a Thinking Mind" and "Nothing Sells
Like Prayer." T-shirts, caps, mugs and pins proclaim, "In Us We Trust."
They have fish emblems that parody the Christian symbol, with evolution
theorist "Darwin" written on it and with feet on the fish. On one
version, the walking fish says "Evolve" and is holding a crescent
wrench. College student Kyle Giblet
got the city of Weatherford to proclaim May 1 "Secular Humanist Day."
Giblet isn't an atheist. He's an agnostic. That's basically someone who
sees no proof God exists but still allows it's possible. Secular humanism isn't
atheism either, although the Council on Secular Humanism says secular
humanists typically are atheist or agnostic. Humanism seems to say
people can and should solve moral, scientific and social dilemmas on
their own. All the shades of no-God
thought are complicated. Definitions differ. Explanations run for
pages; ask an agnostic, humanist or atheist for details. But Giblet's
point was that Weatherford had issued a proclamation urging citizens to
go to church, so the city should give an opposing view. It did, since,
as a mayor's assistant said, the city must issue any proclamation
requested. "It was kind of my
statement, 'Well, not all of us go to church and we don't appreciate
it,'" Giblet said. Some people who think God
exists accept that atheists disagree, even if they don't understand
why. Glen Ferlemann is a Unitarian, a member of a religion he says
allows members to "believe in anything you want to." Ferlemann, 68, is an
engineer in Stillwater who is working toward a doctoral degree in
educational psychology. He believes some entity or force must exist
beyond what we see or detect. "I can't imagine anyone who
doesn't think there is something greater than human intellect," he said. Some atheists figure belief
in God has a practical side. It offers "emotional stability" in
stressful times or a "security blanket" that covers all mysteries, they
say. "I respect faith," Shultz said. "I'm not one who believes anybody
who is religious is stupid." Some atheists object to
organized prayers at gatherings or at work. Many don't celebrate
Christmas or Easter. Some avoid funerals because of religious ritual. Most atheists or agnostics
or secular humanists say they don't force Godless thoughts on "theists"
-- the religious -- although atheists say the reverse isn't always true. "You get a lot of
preaching," Shultz said. Sometimes you get
scribbling on your atheist bumper stickers. Sometimes you get sayings
from believers. Things like, "There are no atheists in foxholes." When
death becomes possible, the reasoning goes, so does God. But Shultz says she knows
atheists who have been in foxholes, veterans who faced an end -- THE
END -- without God. Besides, some atheists say, many who are religious
fear death as much as many who aren't. Tom Hart is an atheist who
has been close to death, although not his own. As a firefighter in
Stillwater, Hart has been with people as they died and after. "I have never seen any
indication that there is an afterlife," he said. When people die, atheists
figure, that's it. No heaven or hell, no purgatory or limbo, no spirit
or soul, no ethereal essence melding with a cosmic consciousness. THE
END. So atheists try to live
their one life the best they can, Hart explains, "because there isn't
anything after that." And a good life, atheists say, is a moral and
ethical one. Even without God, a devil, heaven or hell for motivation. "I have morals," Shultz
says. "You determine your morals for yourself." Hart figures being nice to
each other just makes sense. "It makes our lives much more pleasurable
to treat each other with kindness, treat each other with respect," he
said. Like many others, Hart
wasn't always an atheist. He used to be a Catholic. Another atheist,
Ronn Harris, attended Oklahoma Christian College and was a deacon in
his church. But at some point, some believers become former believers. "I came to realize I just
didn't accept everything that was being taught to me," Harris said.
Eventually, he admitted he was an atheist. To himself, mostly. He's not
sure his kids know he's an atheist. He even wonders whether his wife of
45 years, a Christian, knows. "I imagine she does because
beside our bed I have an extensive atheist library," he said. But Harris wants them all
to know. At 63, the Oklahoma City retiree figures the end is closer
than it used to be. It's time his family knows what he doesn't believe. "I don't know what they
would do if I just came out and said, 'I need you to understand that I
am an atheist,'" he said. "I would like very much for them to
understand."
Atheists in Oklahoma OKLAHOMA CITY -- One of life's biggest questions in the world is, "does God really exist?" Ask 95 percent of Oklahomans and the answer is a definitive "yes," but there's a closet community who would argue against a supreme being and some say they've been threatened by Christians because of their belief. NewsChannel 4's Lance West explores the sometimes dangerous world of living as "Atheists in Oklahoma." On any given Sunday, you'll find an Oklahoma sanctuary bustling with believers. It's a sharp contrast to the solitude of one small, Oklahoma City apartment. Kim Cole's spare bedroom looks more like a public library. A self-taught, fact-filled woman she's absorbed every page from Ernest Hemingway to Steven King and everything in between. "I like to read books on the unexplained. Unknown stuff like big foot," Kim Cole says. "Do you believe in big foot?" Lance West asks Kim. "Probably not; darn funny if there was one though," Kim says. Kim Cole is an unbeliever an Oklahoma atheist who abandoned Christianity a decade ago. "I've read the bible three times, like a novel," Kim says. "I know the stories. I know the teachings. I was raised in a church. I'm familiar with it." Kim says she started feeling different in high school. The pledge of allegiance made her uncomfortable. The feeling evolved into complete denial of the existence of God, despite pleas from her religious friends and family. "It's not something you abandon lightly for no reason. It's something you work your way towards," Kim says. Kim cautiously left the "closest" several years ago and is among the very few atheists who openly admits her belief. Some Oklahoma atheists say living in the Bible belt can be dangerous. In fact, they would only agree to an interview if we agreed to protect their identity. "People do have their livelihoods threatened, their pets threatened, children bullied," says one atheist. "This is the kind of venom that is very hard for a rationalist to fathom," says another. Internet blogs and the occasional meeting of "free-thinkers;" atheism can be a lonely existence. A life polluted with discrimination and irrational fear. "There continues to be this prejudice that we must be blood thirsty barbarians beating down the gates of civilization," says one atheist. "I don't think you'll find an atheist flying planes into buildings. No one has ever been a suicide bomber for the isosceles triangle." Atheists say they follow their own moral compass and point to religious extremists as the source of insane violence. "76 percent of the world's conflicts are based on nothing more than myths and fairytales," an atheist says. "It's absolutely embarrassing for the human species." Pastor Dennis Newkirk has been studying and teaching the Bible for three decades. From the oceans to the forests, he believes God's fingerprints are everywhere and says it's naive to think there is nothing greater than "human intellect." "Think with me how preposterous it is to believe that everything happened from nothing. Everything happened from nothing. That there was nothing there and everything happened? Well, what was before the nothing that caused something to happen?" Pastor Newkirk says. Newkirk recently launched a series on heaven and hell. Contrary to atheists, he is convinced that death is not the end and that a faith-centered life is well worth the investment. "I believe they're wrong, but what if they're right? Well, I would say the morality, the fellowship, the love, concern, the blessing the church has given the world and my life would be worth it," Pastor Newkirk says. The Oklahoma Atheists Organization sets up booths at several events throughout the year. They deny trying to "convert" believers. They say they're simply looking for like-minded companionship. Copyright 2007 KFOR-TV-DT. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (AOK claims "Fair Use." If KFOR-TV-DT disagrees, please notify the webmaster and educational content will be removed.) Original source here: Atheists in Oklahoma
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