Seems like a simple question, right?  It is.  The answer is equally simple: An atheist is someone who does not believe in a god.

That’s all.

And that’s a problem.

The problem is that the word atheism only tells us something about what a person isn’t; it doesn’t tell us anything about what that person is.  It doesn’t tell us what they stand for, anything about their moral code or anything they do believe in.

People arrive at atheism in different ways.  Some people are raised without the presence of a religion and are atheist by default, and others (like me) have religion forced into their childhood and see the light later on in life.

If you look at the reasons a particular person becomes an atheist you can begin to get a clearer picture of who they really are.  Unfortunately as far as the general public is concerned it seems that there are two camps: the religious, and everyone else.  I’m really not happy with being just in the “everyone else” basket, because there are people and standards in here that I really don’t like.

For this reason I identify myself as a civilisationist.  Bit of a mouthful I know, and not very catchy, but I feel it’s the most appropriate.  Here are some of the things it stands for:

  • Respectful, ethical and humble moral code.
  • Minimisation of suffering for all sentient beings.
  • Goodness for goodness’ sake.
  • Progress of the human race in all forms to these ends.

There are various side-effects of this, which include atheism and the abolition of religion, because religion is easily the single biggest obstacle of civilisational and scientific progress.

I appeal to all atheists to really think about what you stand for.  Be more than just another atheist in the “everyone else” camp.  The world needs you and your goodness.