Atheist or Satanist

The word atheist seems to conjure images of devil worship, demonic sacrifice and cannibalism even if it’s just some sort of metaphysical cannibalism. Metaphysical cannibals do not prey on the life-blood but the magic, spirit and wonder of humanity.

Just to clarify, atheists generally deny the existence of any conscious being or force that acts outside natural progression, whether this outside force is called God or Satan. Hence religious folk are more likely to believe in the devil than atheists. Those who do choose to worship the perceived dark spirit as opposed to the holy spirit are called satanists. And guess what? Satanism is a religion.

With regards to sacrifice, I am certain that like all humans’ atheists make many sacrifices. However their sacrifices are not to appease, honour, pleasure any metaphysical being. I am not saying that all atheists are paragons of selflessness and that all their sacrifices are for the greater good. As humans we all have the potential for altruism and selfishness, compassion and cruelty, generosity and callousness, openness and constriction, flexibility and rigidity. The choice it entirely yours, “what are you willing to sacrifice?” and “what do you want to gain?”

With regards to cannibalism, metaphysical or otherwise, atheism as a philosophical standpoint does not set out to destroy humanity. Atheists too revere in unexplainable phenomena, intangible (spiritual) experiences and marvel at the natural world. However they believe that when one looks into things deeply, when one really tries to understand then this awe-inspired wonder is multiplied. This is contrary to simply defining incredible natural phenomena just as magic, miracles, grace.

This and my previous posts are not intended to be blasphemous or proselytise atheism, rather my aim was to clarify a point of view that engenders such irrational anger, irritation and venom. In this age of freedom, why do we still persecute alternative viewpoints? If religion is supposed to teach tolerance, then why are the religious so intolerant of contrary philosophical positions?

I greatly admire Richard Dawkins intellect, work and commitment to the Humanist Society. However I am not driven to be a militant atheist. Frankly that is because the beliefs of society, friends and family don’t really matter to me, as long as those beliefs are not imposed on me.

My choice is to sacrifice everything that prevents me from being the best human being that I can be. I choose to honour the human spirit as opposed to dark or holy for humans can transcend this duality.

Read Full Post »

Coming Clean

I am an atheist. I have spent much of my life feeling guilty for this gut feeling. Yet denying it, is denying myself. Hence I feel the need to come clean, to state my case. I am an atheist not just because I do not believe in the God principal but, to paraphrase the Marquis de Laplace, “I have no need for that hypothesis”. I do not want to be altruistic, compassionate or generous because these acts ensure salvation. I want to be all of those because that is who I am. No perks required.

I have been vegan/vegetarian for most of my life because I do not want to part of the meat trade. Not because this is bad for my soul, but because I don’t think it benefits the planet. In fact my idea of the soul is contrary. It is not some spiritual form that will survive after my body perishes. To me, my soul is the heart of me, the passions, desires, intensions that drive my action and behaviours, forces me to create art, poetry, products, strings of words with meaning. My soul is all that I create that will either survive me or be forgotten with me.

I do not believe in religion, yet Daoist, Vedantic and Zen Buddhist teachings are an essential part of my philosophical outlook. I practice yoga, meditation, mindfulness because it benefits my body, mind, intellect. These practices enable discernment and focused attention. Hence I religiously engage in these practices for selfish reasons.

Even though I do not have faith, I respect people who do if that faith leads them to compassion, personal growth, internal strength. However faith that leads to mindless acts makes me angry. That’s where mindfulness practice comes in handy, I need to be aware of this anger so I prevent it biasing my behaviour. For all actions and behaviours have repercussions. Sounds a lot like karma. My karma does not span multiple lives for it all happens here and now.

My experience and gut feeling about life and the universe is somewhat similar to James Lovelocks, Gaia hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that the Earth is a self-regulating complex system that is constantly evolving. Biological organisms (biota) co-evolve with their environment: that is, they “influence their abiotic environment, and that environment in turn influences the biota by Darwinian evolution”. Hence the evolution of life and its environment are intimately linked. My worldview expands this concept slightly as I believe that every thought, action, deed (conscious or unconscious) either directly or indirectly affects your environment. Hence every being plays a vital role in how his universe was created and will evolve. So I am a universal atheist. And this is where I take a leap of faith. I  mchoose to believe in humanity. I believe that as humans we will ultimately do what benefits the whole.

I present myself as a rationalist, yet my default mode of thinking is intuitive. Scientific exploration fills me with awe and wonder. Physics and chemistry feel like magic, especially when you observe a reaction or phenomena that you cannot explain. However, I hated school because I did not want to regurgitate information that was fed to me, I wanted to objectively and subjectively explore what lies beyond the known. Does this make me a mystic or sceptic? A fake, a fraud, a believer, a seeker?

Read Full Post »