Belief Me
2017 01 13
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I am an atheist. This is no more a secret than how much I love tea, adore the Oxford comma, hate bebop, and want to slug anyone who makes noise when they eat.
Yesterday, I saw something about what atheists believe in. It was a joke, and cute, but it reminded me of the number of times, innumerable times, I've seen the question come up - the question, the statement, the belief and unabashed certainly even - that atheists don't believe in anything. I'll make it simple for the kids in the back row: Religious belief isn't the only kind of belief. Just because an atheist doesn't believe in a god - him, her, it, or them - does not mean they don't believe in anything.
I, for example, believe in milk in my tea, cream in my coffee, not too much head on my beer, and not being a jerk. I've spent years practicing the art of not being a jerk, and while I don't always succeed, I certainly have more than a working grasp on how to go about it. I've never needed an imaginary, invisible parent figure to spell out for me how not to be a jerk. I think if you do need someone else to tell you how not to be a jerk, or require the flying fickle wagging finger to school you, you have bigger problems than the state of my belief.