There is a common myth that atheists are people who hold no beliefs in anything. Take it from an atheist, that is simply not true. The word atheist merely means no belief in God; all other beliefs are on the table. The unfortunate thing about atheists though is that we are a rather individualized and diverse set with no major uniting beliefs except for our disbelief in God. That being said, I can only talk with any honesty about my own beliefs. But I hope that I will offer you some perspective on atheists and atheism beyond what you may already believe.

I’ve been an atheist since I was 10-years-old. I remember it quite clearly; my family and I were driving home from Wal-Mart, of all places, and having some sort of discussion, which I don’t recall, when I declared without any warning or preamble that I did not believe in God. My parents, being non-religious themselves, took no issue with this, but were rather amused that a 10-year-old suddenly declared with such certainty his position on spirituality.

At the time I had been learning about the history of Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular (I was an interesting child) and I was so incensed at what I read about the crusades, and the dark ages, and the inquisition and so on that I realized I couldn’t and wouldn’t have any part of such a thing (Ironic then that I ended up at a Catholic University). My non-belief was largely reactionary, but as I grew older more solid reasons began to take root such as biblical contradictions, lack of historical evidence, the problem of evil, etc. However, the reasons for my non-belief are not what this article is about. Instead it is about what I replaced my belief in God with.

I believe in the importance of thinking for oneself. The greatest mass evils in the world are perpetrated not by an army of monsters acting out some sinister scheme, but a few people pursuing their selfish ambitions and many more just following along to fit in, obey orders, or just to be a part of something. They commit these acts not out of some wicked desire, but out of a lack of thinking. They do not question their orders, reflect on their behavior, or try to imagine the ramifications of their actions. Against these unspeakable evils the bravest stand one can take is to dare to think for oneself, to question what is said, and to ponder what is done. If we could all just do a little bit of thinking every day our world would be all the better for it.

I believe in the basic goodness of humanity. People are, for the most part, drawn to kindness, decency, and helping their fellow man. Only a small minority is truly selfish and ‘evil’ desiring to sow chaos and harm. However, to explain the evil that does exist in the world there is one important caveat and it is that people are fallible. Being good all the time is hard. Thinking for yourself all the time is hard. That is where the evil minority thrives, in confusing people as to what it means to be good and making that choice harder than it has to be. But people are also surprising. If history has taught us anything, it’s that the most ordinary person can be capable of the most extraordinary acts of kindness. That’s why I have faith that no matter how bleak things may look or that evil may appear to triumph, man’s basic nature to do good will win out in the end.

I believe we make our own meaning in life. There is no divine plan for any of us, no fate set in stone. We have to forge our own path in this life and decide for ourselves what we want to be and how we want to define ourselves. Things are important not because some divine commandment attaches importance to them, but because we do. This may seem a bleak view of the world, that we have no special place given to us, but it is actually liberating because we live not by immortal whims, but by our choices, beliefs, and actions.

I believe that we are all in this together. This is one of my most central beliefs. I do not believe that some deity is going to wave a magic wand and fix everything, that some messiah will come to lead us in a golden age or that some afterlife will set everything right. The only thing we have is each other in our common humanity. The only way we are going to better our world is by realizing this fact and striving to create a world where wisdom trumps ignorance, courage trumps fear, and love trumps hate.

These are just a few of the various beliefs I’ve acquired and formed over the years. Again, I make no claims to speak for anyone other than myself. I hope I’ve managed to give you a little more insight into what at least one atheist believes.