Is atheism the easy route? by Ken Burrows: March 2016

After NFL running back Arian Foster announced publicly in 2015 that he does not believe in God, one Colorado sportswriter penned a commentary saying that while he admired Foster’s honesty, “cultivating faith demands more labor than discarding faith. Foster walks the easier route.” When I queried him about why he was so sure of this, he said his rationale was that “Believing brings with it serious demands.”

As if atheism does not come with demands of its own.

Consider that many nonbelievers of today were raised as believers, were occasionally terrorized by church-based threats to questioning such belief, and have always faced an overwhelming societal prejudice in favor of believers. Yet through a carefully studied conscience, they come to realize they do not genuinely believe what their religions taught; nor can they assent to the God concepts of the majorities around them. So they ask of themselves, as poet/essayist Robert Louis Stevenson did upon self-discovering his own atheism: “Am I to live my whole life as one falsehood?”

Many atheists lose friends, family, and other support systems simply for being true to their conscience this way. Both professional polling and direct experience consistently tell atheists that they are among the most negatively regarded members of American society. In this context it takes courage, integrity, and work to be true to oneself, swim against the tide, and embrace nonbelief.

Additionally, nonbelievers must make the commitment to form their own codes of right and wrong, to live by their values, and to constantly reassess themselves on the rightness of their course. By contrast, many believers (not all) simply take uncritically what they’ve been given from birth, then follow whatever their church says, and perhaps never stop to ask, in a sincere way, if this in fact reflects who they are. That kind of faith requires no self-study work at all; it simply follows formula.

This is not to say all believers are on such a simple road, though many surely are. Just as surely, there are nonbelievers who take a similarly simple road, forgoing belief solely to evade its demands. But the fact is that for persons who are conscientious about this matter, nonbelief is not the mere absence of what believers “do,” and thus is not automatically easier. At a minimum, the easier vs. harder distinction is highly individualized and depends in part on what process the person goes through on the issue. And with what sincerity. Anyone who engages this belief question honestly and thoughtfully—whether he/she emerges as theistic believer or nonbeliever—should be given equal regard, with no assumption that either one has chosen to walk an easier route.

The sportswriter did give credit to the nonbelieving Foster for being open-minded, and for saying his atheism does not make him superior to believers. “He declines to judge,” he said of Foster. The writer also took time to note that he finds most Christians to be nonjudgmental. But he added: “Notice, I did not say all Christians.” So he was capable of discernment that recognizes variability in people. However, he allowed no such variability for nonbelievers, saying it is a “truth” they all choose what’s easier.

But that's not a truth. It's a generalized, uninformed bias. Arian Foster declined to judge. The sports pundit would have done well to follow his example.

By Ken Burrows

Published March 23, 2016 with quotation below:

"Here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead."

                                            --- Thomas Jefferson