by John Devera

Created on: December 26, 2008

Atheism takes guts. It is the only faith that stipulates that if you believe in it completely, sincerely and with conviction, your only reward will be that when you die, you end. There is no prize for good deeds, no Santa Claus who brings presents if you've been good, no bunny laying chocolate eggs for un-believers. This is a faith that guarantees that you are an infidel to nearly 75% of the population of the planet. It has no soft and fuzzy security blanket to hold on to. Its basic belief system is that the world is a cruel place and then you die.

No one would choose to believe in atheism unless they were committed to the truth. Now, in full disclosure, I am not an atheist. In fact, in terms of faith, I'm about as far away from atheism as it is possible to get. But I have observed ethical atheists who would shame many of my Christian or Muslim friends in terms of ethical behavior. I know an atheist who won't wear fur, copy dvd's or cd's, or litter. I could mention the God-believing evil snits who kill their daughters, beat their wives, abandon their families, cheat on taxes, break laws about copyright protection, and break three or four commandments a week like clockwork. The Christians will often fall back on some cliche like "I'm not perfect, just forgiven," right before they do something rotten. The number of Muslims who will justify the most barbaric of behavior because of jihad is frightening. So, let's agree that being an atheist or a theist has nothing to do with ethical behavior. Rather, let us examine honestly the basis for ethics for the atheist.

Now, atheists, who by definition have no recourse except for their own responsibility for their actions, fall into several categories: humanist, existentialist, nihilist, hedonist.

HUMANIST

The humanist believes that the human individual is the highest good and the most central feature of the universe. The humanist believes that people are, in an absence of all other factors, basically good. If we could reduce the number of factors that make people do evil things, then we can make society better. If we increase prosperity, we reduce theft. That's the shorthand. The humanist believes that man will always find solutions to the problems of life. Man will adapt, grow learn. If we create pollution, we will invent recycling. If there are murderers, the psychotherapy can heal that sick mind. It is through sheer stubborn effort and will that man makes society and civilization, technology and philosophy. For the humanist,

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