As soon as I saw this meme, found in a Facebook atheist group, my “spidey-sense” started tingling because it presents a golden opportunity to tell you the truth about “belief systems”.
First of all, every person on this planet has a belief system, including atheists. I’ve had hundreds of online interactions with atheist people. In almost every encounter, I’ve found:
- They believe there is nothing behind all we see and experience .
- They believe humans have no soul, so when we die, all that we are becomes nothing more than rancid worm food (sorry to be so blunt, but it’s necessary).
- They believe all people of faith are deluded, lacking in intelligence and even dangerous.
So…do you honestly think (as the meme suggests) that your belief system has submerged you in mediocrity and distracted you from the real dangers of our existence?
Let me toss something else your way. Think about the often horrifying history of humanity. Think about our culture as it is today—the obsession with social media and celebrities, the belief that being “politically correct” will somehow make life better for everyone, the fixation on getting more money, more “toys” and more power.
Does all this make you even slightly confident that humanity can somehow save the world without any help?
You might be feeling a little down now, so let me reveal a belief system that’s shot through with hope for you and for humanity.
This belief system starts with the creator and master of time, space and the universe. He loves every person on this planet, including YOU, He knows you better than you know yourself and He wants to be involved in your life.
What do I base this on? Consider the words of Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s Son:
All who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. My Father and I will come to them and live with them.
From an ancient prophet:
You [God] know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts from far away. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do.
So how can you let God get involved in your life? Accept the gift of His Son. When you do that, God no longer sees the wrong things you’ve done and the right things you’ve failed to do. He only sees His Son’s perfection. And then Jesus comes into your life and starts to make you more like Him. It’s a process that won’t end until you’re in Heaven with Jesus.
Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
Frank's Cottage 
Humans always have and always will make a mess of things when left to their own devices. We are all in need of God and His love and the salvation offered through Christ Jesus. Then, and only then, can we make a difference in the world for the better.
Blessings, Frank!
Hi Frank, still going on I see, still convinced. We talked many moons ago, maybe you remember, maybe you don’t.
I read through some of your latest blog posts and I see that nothing has changed (and how could it? :-)). It still doesn’t bother you that in every post you claim that what is in the bible is the absolute truth, not a shred of doubt. Amazing, truly amazing.
Several hundreds of millions people claim the same about their religious books, no doubt there too. You know they cannot all be right, but……
Live long and prosper.
Thanks for your comment. I imagine you are an atheist (please correct me if I’m wrong) and you have not a shred of doubt about your faith.
For anyone who has questions about the credibility of the Bible, I suggest visiting these sites, which specialize in “apologetics” (since that’s not a focus of Frank’s Cottage): http://carm.org/ and https://www.reasonablefaith.org/
Correct, people would call me an atheist. But isn’t everyone in one way or another? Do you believe in Freya, a once very respectable goddess? Neither do I. As Richard Dawkins said, I go just one god further.
And about my “faith”, I wouldn’t call it that, but if you want to do so, be my guest. I have (a few) very simple rules, here this one applies, “if you cannot measure it, it probably doesn’t exist” (Yes, you can measure love, at least in theory, I won’t volunteer.)
But I have always been fascinated by how people justify believing in their choice of god / gods. I have spoken with many Muslims and Christians on the internet, some on the street (Jehovah’s Witnesses), and some in my family and friends. No one has been able to explain it.
Most simply never gave it any thought, it was just the way their parents raised them, some told vague stories about personal experiences and few admitted to have doubts.
Then again, finding religious people is getting harder and harder in my country, hardcore believers are virtually extinct. So my hope of ever finding a good answer are getting slim.
Still making pictures, Frank?
Thanks for your comment.
1. As far as I can figure out, atheists believe there is nothing behind all we see and experience. As well, they believe they have no soul. Based on those positions, I would say most people are definitely not atheists “in one way or another”. Nope.
2. I “justify” my faith in God through His Son because it makes the most sense in terms of understanding this world. It doesn’t answer all my questions (no faith or philosophical position does) and I’m fine with that. My unanswered questions are a powerful and necessary reminder that God is God and I am not.
3. Doubt is a legitimate part of any faith journey.
4. I can’t speak for other faiths, but sadly, many Christians can’t explain the basis for their faith. Those are the people who tend to avoid having spiritual conversations. 😦
5. The fewer “religious” people there are, the better. Jesus was absolutely NOT about religion and I’ve written several blogs about the dangers of religion. Here’s the latest: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-nL
6. Yep, definitely still doing photography (http://www.FrankKingPhotos.ca). Quite often, I find it’s an act of worship. 🙂
1 – If that’s your definition of an atheist, then I’m not an atheist,
I do not believe there exist beings one might call gods, spirits, angels etc.
I do not believe that there is such a thing as a soul (except for a certain kind of music).
But why you think that atheists believe that there is nothing behind what we see and experience surprises me.
I guess that you mean something like a creator.
But for me there are the laws of nature, responsible for colours we see in light, the fact that we are attracted to earth, the forces that binds atoms, the chemicals and currents in my brain creating moods, love, wonder, joy and sadness. The universe is such a beautiful thing. The fact that we do not know (yet?) where it came from doesn’t bother me. I enjoy finding out how things work, how nature works. I see the beauty in a flower and how it follows mathematical rules.
Oh there is so much behind what we see, feel, taste, experience…
2 – Why do you need Jesus to make sense of the world? Isn’t math, physics , psychology etc. good enough?
3 – Doubt is also part of science, an essential part!
4 – As I said, most believers aren’t. They simply never gave it any serious thought. It was just the easiest way of getting along with the neighbours, the family, their friends.
5 – So you wouldn’t mind if you were the only person to believe in your god? Or do you make a distinction between religion and believing?
6. I’ll take a look.
1. As I wrote in the blog, the definition I mentioned is not my own. It’s thoroughly based on *hundreds* of interactions with atheists.
2. Math, physics, psychology, etc. are absolutely not good enough for me to understand this world. There’s so, so much in this world that can’t be comprehended by human thinking.
Furthermore, for me, it’s not just about this world. This world is just the opening paragraph in the introduction to the book of all eternity.
4. The thing I appreciate about mature, respectful members of the atheist faith is this: most of them have thought long and hard about what they believe and why.
5. The number of people who believe in the God of the universe that Christ followers believe in is absolutely irrelevant to me. I’m thankful to write that following Jesus Christ has never (and will never) be a popularity contest.
P.S. Just like you, I enjoy finding out how things work, how nature works. I see the beauty in a flower and how it follows mathematical rules. There is absolutely no conflict between that and being a follower of Jesus Christ. 🙂
thanks for the invitation to dialogue. Let’s begin with your main claim: that everyone has a belief system, and therefore atheists are just as “committed” to one as religious believers.
That statement is only half true.
You’re right in noting that everyone operates with a framework of beliefs. But not all belief systems are equivalent in structure or function. Some are open, evidence-responsive systems that adapt when new information arises. Others are closed, dogma-anchored systems that resist change—even in the face of overwhelming counterevidence.
The former is what underpins science, skepticism, and what you might call the “belief system” of rational inquiry. And here’s the key point:
If I, as a secular thinker, discover that a long-held belief of mine conflicts with strong evidence, I have every incentive—intellectual and practical—to revise or abandon that belief. In fact, my very credibility depends on it. Contrast this with faith-based systems, where beliefs are often preserved regardless of conflicting data, and where doubt is sometimes portrayed as spiritual failure.
So while you call both atheism and Christianity “belief systems,” only one of them is structurally designed to self-correct. Dogma vs. Dynamism
You describe your belief system as one that begins with a loving, all-knowing creator who offers eternal life. That sounds emotionally appealing—but this is precisely why rational frameworks demand more than appealing narratives.
Dogmatic systems, by their nature:
Begin with unalterable conclusions,
Dismiss disconfirming evidence as deception or error,
Frame questioning as rebellion or sin.
That’s epistemic closure. It’s not compatible with the values of critical inquiry, where beliefs must scale with evidence and fall away when falsified.
Rationality may be a kind of belief system, but it’s a system epistemically allergic to certainty without justification. Your Portrayal of Atheists
Your portrayal of atheists is a caricature. You claim we believe:
There’s “nothing behind” existence,
That humans are “worm food,”
That all people of faith are “deluded, unintelligent, or dangerous.”
These are not philosophical positions—they’re dismissive generalizations.
Many of us with secular or naturalistic worldviews hold to wonder, awe, and reverence for life, the cosmos, and the improbability of our existence. But we don’t pad our understanding with metaphysical certainties simply because they feel good. That’s not cynicism. That’s intellectual humility.
We do believe that beliefs should be proportional to the evidence for them—and that believing something simply because it comforts you is intellectually irresponsible. Can Humanity Save Itself?
You imply that because human culture is flawed, we therefore need divine intervention. But this too is a non sequitur. Recognizing the dangers of unchecked human behavior doesn’t entail that supernatural solutions are either real or effective. What humanity needs is better tools for thinking—not the comforting narratives of Iron Age prophets.
You ended with an invitation: “Interested?”
Here’s my answer.
I’m interested in belief systems that:
Can be wrong and say so,
Can change when the evidence changes,
Can distinguish what feels good from what’s most likely true.
Only one belief system has that internal mechanism: rational inquiry.
The rest, however poetic, are epistemically static.
And static belief systems, no matter how emotionally appealing, are the antithesis of rationality.
Thanks for reading and for taking all the time to respond so thoughtfully. I appreciate it. There are far too many points her to respond to, so I’ll concentrate on these two:
1. My belief system CAN be wrong and say so.
2. My belief system can change when evidence changes.
So far, after more than 20 years following Jesus of Nazareth, no one has presented any evidence that’s compelling enough to consider my beliefs wrong or to change them.