No Faith Required

I was six years old the first time that I looked up, I mean really looked up. It was one of those lazy summer afternoons with nothing really to do, and so I found myself with my back pinned mercilessly to the sidewalk by the overbearing force of gravity and my eyes pointed towards the clouds. That's when I noticed it, the clouds ebbing wistfully across the sky in what must have been the slightest immeasurable motion. I stared, and stared, and stared, and the more I looked, the more I was convinced. I could see the Earth turn.

I was wrong, of course. I couldn't really see the Earth spin. It was an optical illusion, the clouds drifting on thermals, mutating under the influence of fluctuating temperatures and atmospheric pressures. Still, I could have sworn I'd seen it, or maybe felt it, the way so many people had done before me. The 'Heavens', they called it. The House of God. For thousands of years, people gazed up at that same sky that I looked up at and they saw God. People still look up at the sky today, but most see something different than what their ancestors saw so many centuries ago. Now there are burning balls of fiery gas lighting the darkness and chunks of frozen rock floating from a tremendous distance. Not that those things weren't there before, because they were, but today we recognize those things for what they are; stars, planets, and asteroids. Very few people point upward and say 'That's God, right up there' anymore.

As science has developed and our understanding of the universe has progressed, God got pushed further and further away. The space that people once claimed as the 'House of God' became inhabited by enormous celestial bodies, god-like in size and power, and the idea of a god who was watching over us began to slip further and further away. And while God seems to live on still in the hearts of the faithful, for many, a god out of sight is a god out of mind. People across the country, in fact, across the globe, have begun to replace conventional thoughts of the 'ultimate-being' with new notions of a universe completely free of divinity.

Atheism, once considered a dissolute cult rebellion against mainstream religion, is becoming somewhat of a mainstream movement in and of itself. Through a variety of films, literature and social groups devoted to antitheism, atheism is slowly shedding its negative connotation and reemerging as its own legitimate belief system. In fact, atheism has evolved into more than a spiritual movement. Here in the United States, Atheism has also become a social movement striving to improve communities and society.

"Live your non-belief and attempt to be the most moral and ethically person you can be," urges Jack Maurice, leader and founder of Orlando Freethinkers and Humanists which was founded in late 2002. The group, originally called Orlando Atheists, formed with only eight members and has since grown to almost 120 'paid members' whose subscription fee is used to solicit notable national speakers such as Tom Flynn of Free Inquiry magazine, David Niose, President of the American Humanist Association, and Sean Faircloth, Executive Director of the Secular Coalition For America.

Maurice attributes much of the growth of their group over the past eight years to the social atmosphere of Orlando Freethinkers and Humanists, and also to their speakers who have contributed to the group's goals of education and social themes. Indeed, the sense of community that seems to have developed from Maurice's efforts are apparent on the group's website meetup.com/GotReason where members participate in online discussions that range from volunteer projects, to jokes, and even including deliberations concerning the local school board.

Slowly perhaps, but undoubtedly, atheists are shedding their reputation as pessimistic individuals with nothing to contribute to society. Instead, they're standing up in droves and demanding to be heard as they wonder aloud "what can we do to make this world a better place without divine intervention?"

As it turns out, there's plenty to be done. According to their website, The Council for Secular Humanism is "North America's leading organization for non-religious people" and an advocacy and human rights charity that raised over 3.3 million dollars in revenue in 2006. Similiarly, in April of 2008, atheist Robert W. Wilson donated 22.5 million dollars to provide over 3,000 students with a public school education. Undoubtedly, atheists and agnostics are not simply calling for change, they are producing it.

"I personally advocate non-theist/unbelievers to just be who they are and not to feel obligated to show others that they are a worthy member of society. Lead by 'natural' example," Maurice insists. "I think due to the increased awareness and education of many younger adults today, mostly due to the Internet and possibly groups like ours we will see more 'critical' thinkers immerge."

This trend stands in sharp contrast to the long line of influential individuals who were driven or inspired by a divine being. For two thousand years, spirituality was the most powerful force in the world as it motivated people to do tremendous things. People like Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr., and dozens of others have called upon God for the strength to change the world. All of that is changing now. Atheism is becoming more widely accepted and instead of relying on a 'supreme being' for inspiration, people are turning to science, creativity, logic, and all the natural powers of humanity to make the world a better place.

" -- We READ and THINK and make our own decisions versus listening and accepting everything with faith," says Maurice generally of atheists and nonbelievers. And that's the key. The path to a better world and a better human race is not through staring at the sky and begging whatever might lie beyond for answers. Nonbelievers across the country are looking up and realizing that if we hope to understand everything out there, first we have to make changes to what is going on all around us, and this is something we can do on our own. No faith required.

So the next time you find yourself unoccupied, curious, maybe even a bit humble, look up at the sky. Stare at it. Think about it. Then, look down at the world around you. Is it possible for us to change this world without the help of a 'divine power'? For many, the answer is as clear as the deep, blue sky on a cloudless summer day.

Sources:

"Council for Secular Humanism"

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6790

CharityNavigator.org