(I posted this on a forum earlier, figure i'd share it here.)
A lot of (mostly religious) people have the idea that an atheist follows some kind of Godless belief system, that there is some kind of rule book for atheism and therefore liken it to religion. This is completely untrue. The fact is there is simply no significant proof for the existence of God. However, there is sufficient scientific proof that the "word of God" aka the Bible is false, most notably the theory of evolution by natural selection and the fact that the Earth is billions of years old. Scientific advancements constantly disprove the Bible and, indeed, any other form of religious/spiritual literature of considerable age.
As an atheist i do not "believe there is no God", instead i believe that science will, in time, offer the answer to everything including the existence of any sort of "divine" being/creator. Until such time as God's existence can be proven through scientific means i can only adopt the stance that He is a fictitious character created by man to fulfill certain roles within society, most obviously to control the lower classes primarily through fear, whilst similarly catering for mankind's own spiritual confusion arising from our high level of consciousness and self-awareness.
People of strong religious belief have their lives essentially dictated by their religion, codes of morality based upon ancient texts that bear little relevance to todays society. The way these people live their lives is based not on enriching their short period of existence, but preparing for an uncertain and unproven afterlife, the fate of which lies in the hands of one vengeful (and really quite unpleasant) deity. The "will of God" becomes the highest priority in life, while the good of humanity only exists within the confines of God's own narrow set of rules.
An atheist is free to make decisions for himself based upon the knowledge that the only definite consequences of his actions are physical and that the only real reward/punishment he can face will be experienced within his life. An atheist is free to adopt a moral code based upon the realities of life and the society in which he exists, he can therefore lead a good life because he wants to, as opposed to being in fear of divine judgement. Most importantly, an atheist is an individual, free to use reason and rational thinking in every aspect of his life while accepting full responsiblity for his actions.
Being an atheist does not mean that one cannot be open to new experiences, whether spiritual or physical, however an atheist is rational enough to know that we do not need to invent God to explain those things that we do not yet fully understand.
Ultimately, unlike religion, atheism is not a "belief system". Instead, atheism is simply a rational way of thinking, as opposed to blind faith in unproven and highly doubtful myths which have little place in an intelligent and reasonable society.
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