Atheism is based on reason and science.  Religion, Christianity, is based on belief that is blind faith and superstition.  There is no proof that there is a God.  That is what atheists claim.

     However, atheism is based on faith just as much as religion.  You either believe there is no God, or you believe there is God.  You cannot prove there is no God.  You cannot prove a negative (that’s reason).  On the other hand, there is the amazing complexity of life; that it could have occurred on its own by chance defies reason and logic.  There is the abundant evidence of the supernatural in the world.  I don’t mean ghosts and poltergeists, but miraculous healings, visions, the voices seemingly from “God,” (to sane, rational people), apparent angel encounters, providential coincidences, and maybe Near Death experiences, all of which have happened to perhaps hundreds of thousands of people over time.  There is the remarkable Bible, profound in truth and wisdom, accurate in history, and consistent in its divine message throughout, despite many authors and styles of writing over several centuries.  It is like no other book in the world.  There are the spiritual experiences of believers who have felt the presence of God and the Holy Spirit in their lives.  All of this testifies to their being a Divine Creator behind all life.

     Science, on the other hand, is always changing, always revising itself.  And rarely is scientific “proof” 100 per cent but only a strong probability.  For example,  photosynthesis, an accepted given of science, only answers the question of how  and not why it happens.  That a small seed planted in the ground should sprout a flimsy stem to make its way through the firm soil and produce leaves and flowers and even more seeds, sometimes into a great and sturdy tree, seems like magic more than science.  Science can’t really explain why we have gravity.

      There is much more to life than reason and science.  Likewise there is much more to atheism than reason and science, since atheists, after all, are human beings.  And reason can be flawed.  Witness all the conspiracy theories that are based on evidence and logic but are nevertheless false.

     The following will be an examination of what I see to be the basic pillars of atheistic belief.   If you are an atheist, I suggest you read them with an open mind because that supposedly is what atheists do (see Pillar One).

Pillar One:  Atheists are open-minded free thinkers.

Pillar Two:  Since there is so much evil and suffering in the world, there can be no God.

Pillar Three:  There is no Hell; there is no Heaven; there is no afterlife.

Pillar Four:  Miracles don’t happen.

Pillar Five:  All truth is relative.

Pillar Six:  Chance is the operating principle of the universe.

Pillar Seven:  Science is the basis of truth (Evolution is fact).

Pillar Eight:  Religion causes evil.

Pillar Nine:  The Bible is made up of myths and is full of contradictions.

Pillar Ten:  Jesus was just a great teacher or a myth; he did not rise from the dead.

Pillar Eleven:  Everything is to be tolerated except intolerance.

Pillar Twelve:  Naturalism is the hope for mankind.

Pillar Thirteen:  “The heart has its reasons that reason doesn’t know.”