Do Atheists Have Beliefs Just Like Believers?

Have you ever found yourself pondering the nature of belief? Maybe you’ve wondered if atheists, who don’t believe in God, actually hold beliefs of their own. Well, you’re not alone! This question has come up in countless debates and discussions, and today, we’re going to give another go to answer it.

Let’s start with a common assumption: atheists don’t necessarily have ny beliefs. But is that really true?

Before we go any further, let’s clear up what atheism actually is. At its core, atheism is simply the absence of belief in gods or deities. That’s it. It doesn’t necessarily mean a person believes there are definitely no gods; it just means they don’t actively believe in any.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Just because atheists don’t believe in gods, does it inherently mean they don’t have any beliefs at all?

For example, atheists on Medium tend to believe that “There is always natural causes for everything that happens in the world around us.”, which is indeed a common perspective among many atheists in the West, and it’s closely tied to the scientific worldview.

This belief in natural causes is often called “naturalism,” and it’s a philosophical stance that everything in the universe can be explained through natural processes, without the need for supernatural explanations. That being said, this isn’t unique to atheism — many religious people in the West also accept scientific explanations for natural phenomena to varying extends.

However the belief in natural causes is itself an assumption. It can’t be proven with 100% certainty, just like the existence of God can’t be definitively proven or disproven. So, in a way, atheists who hold this view are indeed exercising a form of belief.

Now, let’s shake things up a bit. Belief isn’t a simple yes-or-no matter. It’s more like a spectrum, with different levels of certainty. Some atheists might say, “I’m absolutely certain there are no gods,” while others might say, “I don’t see any evidence for gods, but I can’t be 100% sure.”

This spectrum of belief applies to religious people too. Some might have unwavering faith, while others might have moments of doubt. The point is, both atheists and religious believers can have varying degrees of certainty in their positions.

To be fair, it’s practically impossible to go through life without some form of belief. We all have to make assumptions about reality to function in our daily lives. For example:

• We believe our senses generally give us accurate information about the world.
• We believe that other people have minds and aren’t just robots or figments of our imagination.
• We believe that the sun will rise tomorrow, based on our past experiences.

These are all beliefs that most of us have hold in order to function, regardless of our stance on religion or the existence of gods. They’re so fundamental that we often don’t even think about them as beliefs.

Now, you might be thinking, “But wait, aren’t atheists all about evidence and reason?” And you’d be right! Many atheists pride themselves on basing their worldview on empirical evidence and logical reasoning.

However, the very belief in the importance of evidence and reason is itself a philosophical position. It’s a belief about how we should approach understanding the world. And while it’s a belief that has proven incredibly useful and reliable, it’s still, at its core, a belief.

All these bring us to an important point: Does this uncertainty mean atheists and theists are in the same boat, both relying on faith without irrefutable evidence? Not exactly. There’s a major difference between believing that a deity walked the earth 2,000 years ago, died, and was resurrected, and believing that the sun will set in the evening.

What we’ve gone through so far merely suggests that when we dig down to the basics, the nature of reality itself becomes open to question, which demands humility in claiming absolute certainty about anything.