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We shall begin the long journey of describing and explaining the reasons behind my views on the world. This article shall hopefully provide a basis for later articles delving into morality, religion, politics, freedom and the world in general.

It started out when I was a child, I would always hear of people referring to this "god" thing. I never quite understood what it was about. I was never indoctrinated into any church, I was never taught anything about religion and I never really cared. When people around me would say that they believed in "god", they would say that they believed because they "just knew" or "there has to be one." I was never given any real, tangible explanations as to what god was or why I should believe in it. (I say "it" because "he" and "she" both assume I have knowledge of god.) The weirdness of my situation really started to sink in when I heard a grown woman say that she still believed in Santa Claus. By that time I had finally weened myself away from the idea of a jolly fat man in a flying sleigh going around to all the world's houses on Christmas night so that he could take credit for the presents the children's parents bought them. I thought to myself, "if this woman can still seriously believe in Santa Claus why should I trust her or anybody else's belief in this god thing without some form of proof?"

This last thought has stuck with me ever since. During the middle of my high school years, 1998 to be a bit more precise, I found a friend from school sitting idle in an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel (the same thing as a chat room) that was called #atheism. I had only once before during my life heard of a reference to Atheism and that was on a television news broadcast in 1989 where the television crew was interviewing a self-professed Atheist (I remember the year simply because there was also a news broadcast about Tiananmen Square prior to the interview.) Being presented with the world "Atheist" again was an incredible feeling. After going into the IRC channel, I felt a sense of belonging. I finally knew what I was. Soon after I was revelling in the label of "Atheist".

With this newfound sense of acceptance, I quickly adopted the position that god does not exist. I was what is known as a "Strong Atheist". What separates a Strong Atheist from a "Weak" or "Agnostic" Atheist is that a Strong Atheist actively asserts that there is no God, whereas an Agnostic Atheist says that there is no way to know. Since there has been no convincing evidence brought forth, then the Agnostic Atheist says that the claim that god exists has yet to be proven or validated. Many people during my last years of high school heard me go on long diatribes about how there is no god. In retrospect, it is funny how long one can talk about "nothing".

The turning point came after my first year at college. I began to think more about the arguments that people presented, about logical fallacies, about tact and about what I really knew. What I came to was this: When I assert that there is no god, then I am making a claim that must be verified. Since I cannot verify the absence of something, especially something that could by some accounts be any place at any time, then my argument is baseless. However, I know that when a theist ("theist" being someone who believes in the existance of a god) claims that a god exists, then unless they provide evidence for their claim, their claim is baseless too. So, the solution to my predicament was to adopt the position that I don't know whether a god exists, but since I don't have any reason to believe that one exists, then I won't believe that one exists. This is certainly a less hostile position to take.

Blaise Pascal had a famous wager called Pascal's Wager where he argued that it is most beneficial for one to believe in a god, for if you believe in a god and a god does exist, you go to heaven. If you do not believe in a god, and a god exists, you will be punished. If a god does not exist, then you have lost nothing regardless of your beliefs. I take issue with this, however, because if an omniscient and omnipotent god exists, then surely a false belief would not suffice as reason for going to heaven. An all-knowing god would see right through those who sought salvation on their knees while acting as they please.

Instead, my wager is that if there is a god, and it is a just god, then living a just and moral life will be acknowledged regardless of ones beliefs. If there exists an unjust or immoral god, then I could never satisfy both my conscience and such a god. My wager is that if the Christians are right about god being just and all-knowing and all-loving, I will be rewarded if I act in morally sound, justified ways.

I don't know if there is a god. To me, the idea of a god, or even of an afterlife pales in importance to what we experience everyday. Life. Life is the only thing that I "know" I have and when that is gone, I doubt I'll be around to care, however, others will. I must live my life as I please, and since I believe I will only ever get one chance at it, I want to live it in the best manner that I can and help others do the same.

Regardless of whether a god exists, I or others will see the tangible benefits of moral and just actions. If a just god does exist, then acting in a moral and just fashion should be all that is needed for its approval. If tomorrow I was presented with irrefutable evidence as to the existence of a god, then I would gladly change my position. It would be the only conscionable thing I could do.