Conversion

After debating with many theists, both within the confines of essays and verbally, I’ve come to a stunning realization; I do not believe I can change their opinions. This is rather confusing to me; I spend a ton of time reading, researching, and thinking about religious beliefs. I and many other atheists that I connect with online all agree with the arguments that I have. I see my positions as an atheist as VERY strong. I’ve read large portions of the Bible, both good and bad, I’ve debated and researched and yet I seem to hit brick wall after brick wall. Why? Why aren’t theists willing to convert (I hate to use that word, but feel no other will really convey this message) to atheism? Is there some sort of stigma, some type of fear that is put into a theist by their beliefs for non-belief? Does one just believe because they fear the unknown? Is it just religious indoctrination?

I don’t think so, and here is why.

Theists are too invested in their beliefs. They’re committed in many aspects; emotionally, financially, physically, socially. Theists, mainly Christians, have traveled too far along that path to let themselves be swayed another way by an atheist. Why? They need to save their intellect.

Let me explain.

A theist has probably spent a large portion of his/her life devoted to a god. They’ve probably prayed hundreds of times, gone to church functions, called upon a god to help, seen a religious ceremony, ect. For most theists, their religious beliefs are a very big part of their life. If one were to come to the stunning realization that all gods were false, it would be massively embarrassing on a whole new scale. They would be truly shaken to their core. Who wouldn’t be embarrassed to have spent so much time and sacrificed so much just to bow down and worship something completely and totally fabricated? Personally, I would feel depressed that I’d been so stupid as to believe such insane myths. I’d be outraged that my parents had taught me things that are mere conjecture as verified, solid fact. If I was a theist who was losing my faith, I’d be terrified of the consequences. What are my parents going to say? My church members? My friends? Even my girl/boy friend? Am I going to be accepted? The theist cannot and will not allow himself to be convinced that he has been bamboozled.

So what does the theist do?

He saves face. He doesn’t admit that the atheist is right; he cannot be intellectually embarrassed. He can’t let the atheist win by conceding a mere point, so he rationalizes his beliefs. In this part of the debate, the theist will usually break out the “The Lord works in mysterious ways” argument. It’s a logical no-no, and here is why. You cannot claim in one sentence that your god is the one, true way and then claim in the next that he is just ‘mysterious’. That is a weak argument, and a rather poor attempt to save your intellect by rationalizing the facts presented. As a theist, you’ve sacrificed a lot to attempt to please your god. You quite literally need to have that faith; the alternative is very embarrassing. This constant rationalization is what theists call ‘strengthening’ their faith. A Christian could see a building fall and kill 10,000 people, yet call it a miracle when a child is found among the rubble. It’s a terrifying cycle of rationalizing and self-deception. On one hand you hate god for killing the people, then try to see the majesty in the small child. The theist cannot and will not explain such horrible catastrophe; so the theist will ignore or rationalize the event. This internal battle is what truly tears apart the theist. However, again, the theist refuses to be incorrect.

Theists believe in some crazy shit, but at least they do so under the guise of numbers. They’ve got thousands, millions, even billions others that believe in the same exact fairytales as they do. That sort of popular delusion is comforting. When one can hide under the cloak of thousands of others, it makes the intellectual decision easy. If I can just go along with everyone else, I don’t have to think. When I can follow the crowd and ‘fit in’, I don’t have to make any difficult decisions. It’s really easy; perhaps too easy to become a ‘Christian’. It is merely a label that you can throw upon yourself, motivated by selfishness and your need for social acceptance.

On the contrary, the atheist has nothing intellectually at stake. An atheist has spent no time devoting himself to any cause; he just has spent time analyzing the evidence while looking for the truth. As the evidence for god is indeed nonexistent, he makes his decision based upon logical, rational thinking. The atheist has lost nothing at all if he is indeed wrong. If we found 100% factual evidence for a specific god tomorrow, the atheist has lost nothing at all. He might be confused and inquisitive for the evidence, but has not been really embarrassed to label himself an atheist. He’d just convert to that particular religion. Oh well. One mark against my decision making process. If such evidence was found, I would feel a certain level of embarrassment; but would still be in complete defense of my previous views. After all, if such evidence were to be found, it would be the first piece to ever be presented for the existence of a god. I see my current beliefs as 100% rational and correct. There is nothing that I have not already seen or been directed towards that will change my mind.

So you see how the street isn’t two ways? In one way, a theist has simply too much invested, too convinced to concede a point against his delusion. The atheist has merely made a logical rational observation based upon the evidence. If the entire planet were to find out tomorrow that there was a specific god, the atheist has lost nothing at all. However, if the opposite were found to be true, it would intellectually RUIN the theist. He’s spent so much time and effort to please a non-existent celestial being. Not only is that painful from a common sense point of view, it makes one distrust what you’ve been taught. If god isn’t real, what else have I been lied to about? It’s a dangerous path of freethought for the theist, and simply refuses to be lead down it.

So the theist lies. He says that he’s felt god, or makes up some bullshit story to further his ‘belief’. He’ll go through the evidence for a contradictory piece of evidence and do everything in his power to discount it. Christians spend massive amounts of energy and manpower to argue against evolutionary theory. Why? If your evidence is so convincing, then why do you need your own journals to present it? Why do Christians oppose the teaching of evolutionary theory in the public school system?

It is in blatant contradiction of their holy book. As Christians, they cannot be wrong. They’re much too deep into the pool to turn around and go back to the surface. So they lie. Over and over.

I consider myself lucky to have never been a theist. I was raised in a non-religious home, although both my parents are theists. Religion was never really a topic of discussion in my household. I was never taught biblical stories, never been to a Sunday morning sermon, or even been to a religious wedding ceremony. At one point I guess I was an agnostic; holding no real beliefs but curious about the divine. If I was indoctrinated into a theist, I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to look at your parents straight into the eye and tell them you’re rejecting their god. I mean that too, I really cannot imagine that feeling. It must take so much commitment and honestly to reveal to your parents your TRUE beliefs, not merely a carbon copy of theirs. For many younger theists, I would say that they could never ever tell their parents that they had become an atheist. The stigma and negative perception surrounding atheism is just astounding. For some it was an easy decision to declare atheism. For others, I cannot imagine how much courage it takes to tell your parents such news. This is another reason that younger people cannot and will not let an atheist sway their beliefs. They’re simply afraid of telling their parents. Theistic belief isn’t just a point of view; it’s a lifestyle. You have places of worship, camps, support groups, study classes, friends. To reject a god, you alienate yourself from people that you’ve come to know and befriend for many years of your life. It would be very difficult to break free from all of those beliefs. Brain; off. Belief; on.

Of course I am biased; I’m an atheist. I’ve been through all the arguments and refuted them; I’ve seen every trick in the book. And yet none of those arguments have convinced me. I think less of theists in many ways. I regard them as ignorant and foolish. I see them as hypocrites. I view them with distaste, regardless of which particular flavor of theism they choose. However, most of all, they are full of hatred. They hate anyone to question their intellect. They hate when one questions their God. They despise when one reads verses in the biblical texts as evidence against their creator. They’ve got so much at stake in their belief that they truly despise anyone who dare go against their beliefs. Christians have lawyers and legal teams on call to protect their faith; give them the right to pollute the public school system. They want prayer, bible study, removal of sex education, creationism taught. It’s really disgusting how far these people take their beliefs. They’ve got no qualms with unfairness, so long as it is biased to the theist.

Well that isn’t acceptable at all. As the one who would be intellectually embarrassed, the theist spends most of the time rationalizing or denying various conflicts with their faith. “I cannot be wrong, so I will constantly ignore, delude, and divide.” This sort of view isn’t very conductive to opening your eyes to the truth. It’s a cop-out and a simple way to just back out with your hands in the air screaming “Unfair!”.

In summary, all theists have a level of intellectual risk during a self evaluation of their faith. They cannot think critically about their faith for the same reason a fat person cannot look into the mirror. They truly despise anyone who calls them fat, so they just ignore them and act offended. You’re not offended. You’re just pissed that I can see straight through all of your flaws to cut through all the bullshit. I can see WHY you believe, and I also see why you SHOULDN’T believe. The problem for the theist is that they cannot be wrong. Ever. For a theist, it must be very difficult to get through a session of question from an atheist. As the shield of weak arguments falls one by one, the theist is left with nothing at all. That is what the belief is, isn’t it? Nothing at all.