From: laelth@yabbs
To: JasonLee@yabbs
Subject: atheism
Date: Mon Feb 14 02:19:18 1994

Dear JasonLee and other gentle readers:
    Let me tell a little story.  I once dated a girl whose parents were 
strong fundamentalist christians.  They were very interested in my 
religious beliefs and gave me a thorough grilling on the subject.  I told 
them that I was an atheist, and they didn't like this answer at all.  In 
fact, they kept grilling me on the subject until they could get me to say 
that I wasn't sure if there was a God or not.  Then they could label me as 
an agnostic.  I was less of a threat to their beliefs that way.
    Nevertheless, reflection on that experience confirmed for me what I 
knew all along, that I'm really an atheist.  Here's why.  Faith is a 
matter of belief, not proof.  Christians *believe* in the existence of a 
supreme being, they can't prove it's existence.  If they could, it 
wouldn't be called "faith," which is belief without proof.  In fact, there 
would be no merit in believing in God if his existence could be proven.  
It's essential to Christianity that Christians be "true believers," not 
scientific fact-finders.
    It is in this way that I can confidently call myself an atheist.  I 
"believe" as strongly as any Christian believes otherwise, that there is
no God, as described by Christianity.  I can't prove this assertion, but 
niether can they prove to the contrary.
    Having said that, let me say that I hope there is an all-powerful, 
all-good God.  I hope I have an everlasting soul, even if it will be 
confined for eternity to the flames of perdition (heaven sounds boring).  
Nevertheless, I cannot help but believe that none of these exist.  What I 
believe is not a function of hope.  It's a matter of faith.

    Preferring to live in the here and now,

    -laelth