Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

Atheism: Examining the Beliefs of a Culture Without God

Ivy Anderson
CIS110
University of Kentucky

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

Abstract
Atheism is simply the act of denial of belief in a religion. Atheists do not believe in anything
that requires religion. This includes Satan, Allah, Buddha, the Bible, and many others. Atheists
do have morals, and religion is not required for an atheist to know right actions from wrong.
Christians are the main group who stereotype atheists, which is completely wrong, because
Christians are to love everyone. Lastly, the stereotype given to atheists is not always true.

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

What exactly is Atheism, and how does one define what an atheist is? According to
atheists.org, an Atheist is a lack of belief in Gods and supernatural beings. What many
Christians are unaware of is that Atheism is not a religion. Atheism is simply the denial of
religion as a whole. Many Christians believe that the one way to get into heaven is to have faith
and serve God in the right manner, this means that not only does one admit that God is their
father and Jesus is their savior, they must act this way as well. While conducting this
experiment, one thing I learned is that people who classify themselves as Atheists are not bad
people, nor do they have bad judgment. This is the main stereotype, but definitely not the only
stereotype that Christians believe and think about Atheists. This makes sense because
Christianity is a religion based on love, and doing whats right, like helping others and being a
good person in general. However, I learned that even though a non-believer lives a life without
Christ, he/she is still a human being, and still has morals.
I interviewed two people whom I am close with and are also open about their atheist
beliefs. I learned quite a few things that I didnt know before. I never knew how Atheists found
peace in times of trouble, or how everything made sense to them, such as the universe, when life
began, and how we have moral laws if they believe that someone greater out there didnt create it
all. While there are many, one of the main objections Atheists have to believing in a higher
power is simple: They cannot see God. None of us can see God. We cannot touch God, nor
have a conversation with Him. I asked this particular question to the two interviewees: Would
you agree that just because we cannot see something with our eyes that it does not exist, things

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

such as gravity, our minds, wind, and magnetism? The argument for this question, coming from
an atheist is that we can see effects of gravity, magnetism and wind daily. We can feel the
effects of wind and gravity. We know magnetism is there. We can see proof of these things just
by observing our surroundings (Noland, personal communication 2014). As a Christian, I can
see Christ working in my life everyday. I feel the effects in my life because I have faith in God
and I pray when times are rough and I can feel God in my heart. An Atheist does not have faith.
Therefore, when times get rough, instead of praying to God, they look to their family and friends
for comfort (Grigsby, personal communication 2014).
I asked the next following question to one of my interviewees: If you were given
evidence that proved there was a God, what would keep you from following Him, or would you
start to follow? The response that struck me was as follows: I feel that religion is mainly for
comfort. I dont believe nor do I agree with the Bible. There are so many rules in the Bible that
are different than those in other Holy Books. Many religions cancel out the other religions, and
not only that, but Christians choose which rules they want to follow and which ones they dont,
but then they want to point fingers at someone for doing something different, which is extremely
hypocritical and doesnt add up, nor is it a religion I would ever want to be a part of. Gay
Marriage is also an issue. I blatantly disagree with the fact that Gay Marriage is wrong. Love is
Love (Noland, personal communication 2014). This response in particular caught my brain
because I have grown up believing in the Bible, and agreeing with what is in scripture because in
my mind, I grew up in a family belonging to the Christian faith so I thought no different. I didnt
grow up in church, but my family had always been of the faith. I learned from this simple
question that everyones minds are extremely different from one another, as well as religious
standpoints, political beliefs, and social issue viewpoints. I realized there is so much more than

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

just the Christian faith. Open-mindedness plays a huge role in Atheism. The atheists see the
world so much more complex than Christians. As we all know, Christians simply believe that
God created the universe and life. Atheists believe in evolution, or the Big Bang Theory. These
theories are extremely complex to the mind and a lot more complicated than just stating God
created life.
The next question that Christians, like myself keeps pondering in our minds: How on
Earth does an Atheist follow the laws in society. Our rulings that we follow today were formed
through the Bible. As expressed in Psalm 14: The fool says in his heart, "There is no
God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good (Psalms 14). So,
why dont Atheists feel the need to object to these laws? After conducting research from an
Atheist article, the answer is simple; if religion or prayer actually affected criminal behavior, we
would see less crime in more religion-dominated areas, and less religious areas to have more
crime. Society is completely opposite of the former statement. Studies have shown that areas
where religion is widely practiced tend to have more crime than places where religion is not
dominant. (Ellison; Death Penalty Information Center, 2008) (Zuckerman 2009 Pitzer). This
proves that even though laws were based around the Bible, God and religion do not affect how a
person obeys the laws.
One question that neither of the Atheists interviewed could answer clearly was, How
and when did life begin? I guess life began billions and Billions of years ago (Noland, personal
communication 2014)? Non-believers have a rough time answering this question in particular
because they find it hard to speak for the beginning of life, since they were not there (Grigsby,
personal communication 2014). This could bring one to the conclusion that evolution is a hard
theory to explain, which may be why not many atheists can answer the question. Evolution is

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

described as a theory explaining how life arrived at the point that it has, not dealing with the
beginning of life (Eberhard 2010, Atheist Resource). Even in Eberhards article, nowhere is
there an explanation for the beginning of life. To me, this can only mean one thing: Atheists
cannot explain the beginning of life. Why is this? This question has lurked in my mind for
years, and I have yet to find an appropriate answer, even when I try to research an explanation
for it all. This tells me one thing: Atheists have no answer because they simply do not know, and
can not figure out the beginning of life, however, they will try to throw evolution around, which
is not the same.
One question that I couldnt wait to ask my fellow interviewees was: Were you ever a
Christian? I wanted to ask this particular question so I could learn how they lived before they
decided they were atheists. I went to private school up until High School, where I moved
public. I realized then that I did not have the same views as my classmates. (Noland, personal
communication, 2014). I first realized I was an atheist when I noticed that the idea of God
being omnipotent, meaning he was in complete power and could do anything, did not agree with
the concept of free will (Grigsby, personal communication, 2014). Both of these people were at
one time God believing Christians. When they began thinking for themselves, they realized that
the world was a lot different than they had thought. Even living with a family that lives by the
words in red, if a child is able to think on their own, they will believe what they want, and the
family has to accept it. I can relate to this, because one of the interviewees is my cousin. The
day he told my family that he was an atheist; I was shocked. This did not change the way I saw
my cousin. I still love him and respect his beliefs. Atheists are still people.
As we all know, the main objection to the belief in God is the fact that we cant see him.
Science outweighs religion, because we can all see science being proved, but cant prove

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

religion. Its a lot easier to trust science, and something we know. But how does one look at the
universe without thinking someone greater could have created it? This is what atheists call the
Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory is the idea that the universe was formed by exactly as
it sounds: a Big Bang. Scientists believe that at one time, all of the mass in the universe was
compressed, into a hot dense piece of matter. Big bang advocates propose that around 10 billion
to 20 billion years ago, a huge blast allowed all the universe's known matter and energy to spring
from some ancient and unknown type of energy (National Geographic. Date Unknown). With
that being said, the big bang theory is just a theory, like religion. It hasnt been proven or
disproven, and it probably never will be.
The next subject to touch up on is the stereotypes that Christians have towards Atheists,
which was mentioned earlier. As Christians, we are supposed to love all people, and
stereotyping is one thing we are all guilty of. Have any of us considered the way an atheist feels
when they hear this stereotype? I honestly happen to think some Christians are the most
hypocritical group of people Ive ever met. They think they can pick and choose what to follow
in the Bible, and then point fingers at other people, like atheists (Noland, personal
communication, 2014). Being a Christian, I feel like this should be changed, because atheists
should see no problem with Christians, as we are supposed to love. Lets take the movie Gods
NOT Dead. This movie is about an atheist professor and a Christian college student. The
professor challenges the student to prove God exists, after this student didnt follow an
assignment. The stereotype is extremely enforced in this movie. With the professor, he is
extremely antagonistic towards the Christian belief, which is what atheists do not appreciate
(Blackshear, 2014).

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

One thing that really blew my mind while researching this topic is the amount of
celebrities whom I had never known to be Atheists. Growing up, and as long as I can remember,
I have idolized the musician, Billy Joel. I went to one of his concerts when I was in high school,
and it was not until this project, that I had done research over him, that he was an atheist. This,
however, does not change the way I see Billy Joel. I still listen to his music, and I still idolize
him as much as I always had. Reading about Billy Joel being an atheist really took me by
surprise, but I realized one thing: We are all people. One person that doesnt believe in God does
not make them any less of a person than someone who practices the word everyday. This is
important to me especially, because I see things as they are. I view everyone as people, and
there is not one person on this Earth that is more superior over someone else. Had I not been
researching for this essay, I would have never known Billy Joel was an Atheist.
With all of that being said, atheists are just people. Atheists are people who view the
world differently than a Christian. As Christians, our job together should not be to spread the
word of God to an atheist, but more to show them what Gods love is about, considering that is
what Christians are known to do. I had a classmate tell me I could never do what youre doing.
It would make me so mad to interview atheists. It was extremely hard hearing people tell you
that your religion makes no sense, but having an open mind while interviewing people who value
different things, really helps. I would have never known these two people were non-believers in
Christ if they had not told me prior to this assignment, because thats not what I look for in other
people. I like to focus on the inside and the personality of someone. A Christians duty should
not be to judge, but to help an atheist by showing love. We are told in the Bible to Love thy
Neighbor.

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

Above: One of my best friends, Lyndsey Noland, Atheist Interviewee, and I. (2012)
From: Facebook
Left: My Idol, atheist Billy
Joel.
Photo from
http://www.mrmediatraini
ng.com

CIS 110 Works Cited :

Zuckerman, P. (2009). Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter
Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions. In Atheism and Secularity. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Blackwell
Publishing

Running Head: Atheism: A Culture Without God

10

Eberhard, J. (2010, January 1). Evolution. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
http://www.atheismresource.com/evolution
Origins of the Universe, Big Bang Theory Information, Big Bang Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic.
(2005, January 1). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/origins-universe-article/
3 Reasons the Atheist Stereotype Needs to Die. (2014, April 25). Retrieved October 21, 2014, from
http://www.shaneblackshear.com/atheist/

Interviews:
Myrvin Grant Grigsby (2014)
Lyndsey Ann Noland (2014)