Athesim - Science and Fact

Some atheists believe strongly in reason, logic, scientific facts and that science is always finding new facts and helping us to further understand the universe. As such many atheists also believe in Evolution, Gravity and that the universe expands through supernovas and contracts with black holes.

Special Note: Believe may be the wrong word to use. Atheists do not 'believe' in science as facts do not require belief, but try convincing a Creationist that Evolution is real and you will quickly learn belief plays a strong role in their naysaying.

Atheists also acknowledge the possibility of life on other planets and that the Earth is likely just one of many planets that contain intelligent life. There's no proof aliens do exist of course, but atheists try to keep an open mind on the subject since it would be a remarkable scientific discovery and shatter the belief that humans are the only sentient species.

An excellent example is Galileo who raised the idea that the earth rotates around the sun, as opposed to the Bible which states "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." Under threat of death the Catholic Church forced Galileo to recant his theory during the Roman Inquisition. It wasn't until 1992 that Pope John Paul II apologized and admitted the earth revolves around the sun, contrary to Pope Benedict XVI (formerly Cardinal Ratzinger) who still insists its the sun that moves and that the earth stay stationary.

Atheists also reject the idea of superstitions like astrology, numerology, placebos, homeopathic healers, good/bad karma, praying, destiny and miracles. Such things atheists argue are basically just dumb luck. Stuff happens and people try to explain it as a miracle, but in reality there's always going to be a percentage of people that survive a tragedy. That isn't a miracle, its just a statistic.

Humans we should note are not the only creatures who are superstitious, as demonstrated by American psychologist B. F. Skinner who discovered that pigeons and animals can also develop superstitious behaviour. In laboratory studies Skinner's pigeons adopted superstitious habits in an efforts to get foot pellets, the result of doing something when the food pellet had dropped. The end result was pigeons jumping about, pecking the corners and jerking their heads hoping that their behaviour would somehow cause another food pellet to drop.

"I cannot believe in the immortality of the soul.... No, all this talk of an existence for us, as individuals, beyond the grave is wrong. It is born of our tenacity of life � our desire to go on living � our dread of coming to an end." - Thomas Edison, American Inventor.