Atheism is a Faith of its Own

I am an atheist. It took a while to get here, I was agnostic for a long time, but I'm an atheist now and that provides a great deal of comfort to me.

I have respect of course, for all religious philosophy and I'm not so obsessed with my atheism that I need to mock or cajole other religions. My 'faith' brings me comfort and that's enough for me.

Yes, I did just say 'faith', because ultimately any personal answer to the question of God, requires faith, yes, even atheism.

Ultimately the 'science' behind life's existence will never be exact, but you can't prove or disprove God's existence with logic anyway.

Ultimately, the question of whether you think God exists or not, isn't really a scientific question at all. It's a philosophical question. As such, it should be intepreted by the individual, for the purpose of finding 'peace' and a personal outlook on the universe as a whole.

Does God exist? If you answer "I don't know", I am not so sure (with all due respect) that you fully understand the question.

You probably *do know*, you just need to search your heart for the answer. It may not be important enough for you to conduct that search and that's fine, I respect that, but the answer to the question is there and it lies within you.

My answer to the question, after some thought and reflection is NO, God does not exist.

That answer gives me great peace, great solitude and provides me with a framework with which to conduct my life. It's this peace, that lets me know I've found the right answer, at least for myself. I wouldn't dare inflict it on someone else.

How do I know God does not exist? Because, I couldn't live in a world where God did exist, it would be, without meaning to me, and life would lose a lot of its beauty and purpose. Basically I have faith that she doesn't exist, its as simple as that.

You might notice these answers are similar to what a religious devotee would offer to his or her own faith. That's why and how I can respect all those with religious sentiments.

The question of God cannot be proven or disproven scientifically, because as I say, God isn't a scientific question to begin with, its a personal and philosophical one.

The 'truth' that is arrived by so many of us, be it Christianity, Islam or in my case Atheism, is a personal truth. It speaks to us, it comforts us and thus we adopt it. Sometimes its adopted through generations of tradition, sometimes its adopted after a personal search to the answer. Either way, the answer is valid.

The key, in my opinion is not to promote that truth as universal, or suggest it is the singular answer to what ultimately is a very personal question.

So if you are reading this and you think I am out to lunch, or my viewpoint is senseless, or flawed, then good for you. It means you are already adopting or sticking to your own religious convictions, whatever they may be and I personally think that can be a very healthy thing.

Just don't try to convert me to your own philosophy. It won't work for me, mostly because the one I have now, suits me just fine and provides me with the peace I need to conduct life the best way I know how.

That answer, as I say, for me personally, is atheism.