Expert: Austin Cline - 9/16/2005

Question
My school is requesting that I interview someone who knows about Atheism but, I don't know anyone so could you please answer these questions from an atheist viewpoint. Thank you very Much

1. What are the basic elements of your belief system?
a. What is the source of truth?
b. What is a human being?
c. What happens to a person at death?
d. How do we know right from wrong?
e. What is the meaning of human history?

2. In your view, what is responsible for the existence of the universe? Where did the world come from? How did it come into being?

3. How important is your belief system to you in terms of your decision making process? How does it enter into the ways that you establish priorities and goals?

4. What kind of world do you hope for? What are the necessary steps and changes that must take place for this to happen?

5. What gives human life significance? To what end is history going? How can a person know?

6. If you could say anything you want about what you perceive to be the Christian community, what would you say? What are the problems with the Christian view of reality? What do you like/appreciate about Christians? What do you not like or appreciate?

Please include a little about yourself, for example: Age, Worldview affiliation, occupation, married or not, etc

Answer
1. What are the basic elements of your belief system?
Atheism isn't a belief system.
http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutatheism/p/atheism101.htm

a. What is the source of truth?
Reality

b. What is a human being?
A member of the species homo sapeins

c. What happens to a person at death?
Everything that makes a person an individual ((aside from DNA), personality and memories, ceases to exist.

d. How do we know right from wrong?
Partially through instinct, partially through socialization.

e. What is the meaning of human history?
Meaning is created through our engagement with the world around us.

2. In your view, what is responsible for the existence of the universe? Where did the world come from? How did it come into being?
The Big Bang is responisible.

3. How important is your belief system to you in terms of your decision making process? How does it enter into the ways that you establish priorities and goals?
Atheism isn't a belief system and play no direct role in my decision making - aside from the obvious fact that gods also necessarily play no role in my decision making.

4. What kind of world do you hope for? What are the necessary steps and changes that must take place for this to happen?
I hope for a more peaceful world, and for that people need to start relying more on reason and less on faith.

5. What gives human life significance? To what end is history going? How can a person know?
Significance, like meaning, is created through out engagement with the world. History is going wherever we take it.

6. If you could say anything you want about what you perceive to be the Christian community, what would you say? What are the problems with the Christian view of reality? What do you like/appreciate about Christians? What do you not like or appreciate?
That would take far too long to answer, but I have articles here:
http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutchristianity/

Please include a little about yourself, for example: Age, Worldview affiliation, occupation, married or not, etc
My bio is here:
http://atheism.about.com/mbiopage.htm