My Summas*, Part I: The 3 Atheists

 - James

The next few posts I will be making will be about why I am Christian, why I believe it is right, and other various thoughts concerning religion and whatnot.
This first post is considering the causes of Atheism and its different forms. I think denial of God may be caused by three things; therefore, there are three different kinds of Atheists.

• The first kind of Atheist is the type who doesn't believe in God and religion simply because he doesn't think the existence of a God follows reason. His Atheism is purely based on intellectual reasons. In my opinion, this kind of Atheist is the least common because, as I want to show in following posts, anyone who was letting his intellect--and intellect alone--dictate what he believed in would realize the existence of a God is perfectly logical.
• The second kind rejects the ideas of religion and God because it won't allow for his kind of lifestyle. This is more common, in my opinion, especially in today's society. Practicing a religion takes away something many of us hold dear, that is, the freedom to do whatever we want. Religion dictates what is right and what is wrong, and Atheist #2 doesn't want to listen to that. Someone who is addicted to smoking doesn't like seeing those "Tobacco smokes you" billboards, because they shake a finger at his lifestyle. Religion does the same to Atheist #2, and he doesn't like it. In other words, this Atheist's reasons for being Atheist are more psychologically based than intellectually based (though #2 may use #1's arguments to make it look like he is, in fact, a #1).
  
• The third, last, and possibly most common Atheist is the "don't know don't care" type. This Atheist never really gave any serious thought to religion, and honestly doesn't care about it. He may live a lifestyle that wouln't be allowed by religion, but that's not the key factor here, as he really doesn't realize what he's doing is forbidden. He just thinks going to church every morning is a pain in the butt, and things like that are largely what makes him an Atheist. Most of these Atheists were probably raised with some religious background, but when they went off to college and were no longer in need of their parents to tell them what to do, to haul them out of bed on Sundays, brush their hair, and plunk them in a pew for a (in their humble opinion) &@#$ boring hour, they dropped the whole "religion thing" like a hot potato and ran off to do....whatever. Something else. Many baptized Catholics, Christians, etc. are, in fact, Athiests (or will be when they hit 18) for these reasons.