To me, the concept of de-conversion is less of a ritual, and more of a statement. Many Christians in my family believe that atheism is a “crisis of faith” or a “temptation” that is only temporary. To them, as an identifying atheist I still belong to the church because I have not joined any other, I have just strayed.

Of course, that’s not to say that we should allow atheism to become a de facto religion. That would go against the very basis of what it is. But when you’re constantly being told that “you’ll understand when you have kids” it’s damn tempting to throw a phrase like de-conversion in their faces.

In terms of faith, I feel that it requires more faith to believe in something that can’t be proven. Yet, the burden of proof is usually left in the hands of the agnostic/atheist who must somehow “prove” that God doesn’t really exist. The fact that an atheist would require evidence to prove the existence of God does not indicate that he or she has “faith”, but rather he or she has a “lack of faith”–as opposed to a religious person who is not likely to ask for evidence to support the claim that God exists. If this argument perplexes Christians, I challenge them to ask how a Christian can be so certain that Zeus is not the one true God? Or why Islam is not the one true religion? In a sense, they lack the faith required to believe in something that they feel is not real or true. Do they have “faith” that Zeus is not God? Just the opposite, they lack faith in Zeus; and, instead, claim their faith in the Christian God.

And yet, there is no way anyone could prove that Zeus doesn’t really exist; or that Islam is the true religion. Likewise, there is no way that anyone could prove that the Tooth Fairy doesn’t exist, or that Santa doesn’t really exist, or the Easter Bunny, and so on. Essentially, it becomes impossible to prove a negative. And so, this is why atheists are intrigued by science–not as if it was a God itself–but rather the logic that exists within it that begs the question: Can a claim be made about our world that could be proven false? If there is no way that it could be proven false, then one would be relying upon faith, which one would be at risk of believing in something that is not real. Combine the idea of celebrating an supreme being that could not be proven false with the idea that men and women have used this unprovable supreme being to ultimately dictate the lives of other men, women, and children. Regardless of what religion these people advocated, they were ALL used man-made, hand written religious scripture to tell people what to believe and what to do. If a follower were to ask that burdensome question, “WHY”, the answer is simple: “Because GOD says so, that’s why!! And with that, the believer accepts the answer and, feeling a bit embarrassed, is likely not to question these works of men.

Now this, my friends, requires extraordinary FAITH…

And to the meaning of life…survival. I find great meaning everyday as I struggle to understand my environment and cohabitants on this earth. My life has meaning to me and to those whom I love and who return that love. I don’t need faith to accomplish that.

Hope this helps,
-Dawn

Atheists don’t find meaning in a book of scripture, or in superstitions. Is this the meaningless meaning you’re talking about?