Is Atheism the Next Rebellious Trend?

Theism is a belief in a higher power, or to have a theory of a higher power. Atheism is the [sometimes militant] belief that nothing greater than us exists. People blame atheism on science (or science on atheism) and atheists blame religion for every cruel or unfair act ever perpetrated by a mass of people. But is atheism just a knee-jerk reaction?

According to my calculations, the surge of atheism didn't exist until the 20^th century. In a time of technology and all kinds of societal confusion, people started to misunderstand and mistreat orthodox beliefs. It's interesting that new "sects" or "denominations" of Christianity are forming even today. To further augment the now public sufferings of kids being bullied and ostracized, there was religious disquiet.

I believe atheism is a natural progression of thought due to the pendulum-swing effect of human society. You see this same kind of pattern develop everywhere. Take Christmas, for example.

A few years ago, people complained that they weren't Christians so they didn't want to be wished a Merry Christmas or anything of the sort. The knee-jerk reaction of society was called "political correctness," and has controlled the holiday season ever since. Just this year, we're seeing the pendulum beginning to swing in the other direction. People have gotten sick of saying "Happy Holidays" but still celebrating Christmas.

I think American society as a whole sits somewhere between militant atheism and devout Christianity but because we live in a free country people are allowed to fall anywhere in the spectrum. But is it simply "hip" to be an atheist?

I don't mean to discount the homosexual lifestyle in any way but I think "coming out" has become the same kind of trend. It's a slap in the face to parents who have mistreated you, much the same was as listening to Marilyn Manson used to be. It's a way to show your parents, "Look at me, Mom & Dad! No matter how hard you tried, I still turned out different than how you wanted!" I bring this up because I believe there's a graceful way to tell you're parents that you're homosexual and there's a way to really rub their faces in it.

Atheism is a great way to "rub their faces in it," to me. I don't think that belief is proof of something, nor do I believe that disbelief is disproof of something. I think telling someone that you're an atheist is a great way to shock people and a very quick way to set yourself apart from the crowd, but probably not for very much longer. I think, just like with any group of people (particularly religion/anti-religion); there are people in it just for show.

Try to convince me that all atheists are intelligent people who have thought the entire concept through from end to end. I'd never even ask you to convince me that all Christians have done the opposite! And that's the problem.

Atheism is a rebellious attitude, much like picking up smoking cigarettes as a teenager. The vast majority of adults, both scientists and non-scientists, have reached a general consensus that smoking cigarettes is bad for the human body. But, somehow, new smokers are created every day, even with all of the propaganda supporting the consensus. Why has smoking continued even after being shown to cause painful death?

Because smokers have the same attitude as atheists. They want to give the big "thumbs up" to everyone else. They'll smoke because they can do whatever they want and you can't tell them what to do! They'll smoke right outside the door, with no regard for rules or laws, because they don't care that they're killing themselves and they want you to know it.

There's not one benefit that I can think of to smoking cigarettes. In fact, there are numerous practical examples not to smoke, money being one of them. Likewise, I can't surmise any benefits to atheism. Whether I, personally, believe in God or not doesn't get me to work any faster. It won't get me the big house and the fancy car. I do believe God exists but if he does, he exists whether I believe in him or not. Unfortunately we know from seeing the smokers that weighing of benefits and consequences rarely motivate our decisions.

Even being a Christian I can admit that just because you gain in numbers it does not lend any credence to your argument (or lack thereof). I think atheism is a religious trend brought on by societal pendulum-swing, whether or not there's any real truth to it at all. It's unfortunate that most atheists are so militant about what they believe and classify all Christians as the same brow-beating evangelists. I wonder if we laymen will ever be able to have a discussion about this without trying to prove to one another that we're right.