What Atheism Seems to Be

   Before you read this post, read this article.

   The point I would like to make about atheism is this: atheism is not what it seems to be.  By definition, atheism is a belief that there is no God (from the Greek a (negating prefix) + theos (God), or godless).  It is not the same as nihilism (from the Latin nihil (nothing)), which we can interpret as a belief in nothing; or perhaps more accurately, a lack of belief.  Atheism is not a lack of belief.  In fact, the reason I say that atheism is not what it seems is that I believe that there is a good deal of belief (and faith) involved.
   While this is probably not the soundest policy for debating an idea, one could argue that it is just as difficult, if not impossible, to disprove the existence of God as it is to prove His existence.  Arguing this point, one could plausibly argue that atheism requires as much faith as Christianity.  I don't know that this conclusion would matter to an atheist, but I hope it would, because what it proves--or at least, what we can propose--is that atheism is a religion, just as much as Christianity is.  This point of argument probably would matter to an atheist.
   Look at the language that Susan Jacoby uses in her essay.  She talks about atheists as a group with a common identity.  She talks about atheism as a thing separate from herself which she finds comfort in or from which she receives aid.  She talks about the need to promote or defend atheism.  And her identity is wrapped up in it; she is, perhaps most importantly in her mind, an Atheist.
   This stance, this way of thinking about oneself, is a sort of photographic negative of the Christian identity.  While Susan Jacoby and many other atheists identify themselves by their disbelief in God, the identity itself, and it's definitive relationship to God, fit the identity of the Christian, only in reverse.  What I mean is, God figures in to both identities.  In the case of the Christian, God exists.  In the case of the atheist, God does not exist.  But the atheist needs for there to be belief in the existence of God in order to make the case that He does not exist.  Otherwise atheism would cease to exist as an independent movement or identity.  None of us would care that you don't believe in God if none of us believed in God.
   Atheism requires the faith that the rest of us are wrong.  In this sense, every atheist needs a Christian in their life, not only for the benefit of contrast, but to reinforce their core belief that there is no God.  I would argue that the reverse is also true: that every Christian needs to be friends with an atheist (at least one).  Because we have something they don't (a faith in God, and belief that God exists), something that we believe they need, we will find deeper faith in our position.
   To me, conversion to atheism from theism is rooted in the wrong assumption, and I would argue that the assumption is this: that God makes bad things happen.  Any Believer who reads (and believes) the Bible knows that God does not make bad things happen.  God has given man free will, and Satan prowls and lives on the Earth, so chaos is borne of the works of Satan and his demons, in conjunction with the free choice of all people.  From this perspective it would be impossible to turn to atheism because one believes God makes bad things happen, when one knows that He doesn't.  Of course it is unlikely that an atheist would believe that Satan exists either, since his very existence is dependent on God's.  So we see that conversion to atheism is fueled primarily by bad theology.  Most atheists would likely argue that their conversion was based on reason.
  Of course, it serves no real purpose to argue that atheism is a religion.  As we know from both history and experience, people will join groups for the sake of identity, and the most compelling reason to join any group is commonality of belief.  So it is natural that atheists will congregate.  What I would like to argue is that atheists need God, whether they believe in Him or not.  From a Christian perspective this is obvious.  We all need God.  God is the source and purpose of our existence, and He does not require our faith to exist.  But from a non-Christian perspective, atheists need for God to continue to exist (for Believers) so that they can define themselves.  In order to continue in their faith, they need my faith; they need our faith.  And truthfully, we need their doubt.  We need them to challenge us to live what we believe.  We need them to doubt the Father so that we can trust the Father.  But they need not doubt the Father forever, and that is where we come in.