Liberty Pen: James Day Interviewing Ayn Rand in 1974: Reason and Atheism

If it wasn’t for so many anti-religious militant Atheists in America and Atheists who tend to get linked with Communists and other statists, I might be an Atheist myself. This is a tough issue for me even as a Liberal who of course believes in reason and evidence which is what liberalism is built around. At least the real and classical versions of liberalism. Because I haven’t personally seen a God and don’t know of anyone who actually has. And if everybody especially religious fundamentalists regardless of religion were honest about this issue, they would say the same thing. And state the obvious and say, “of course I’ve never seen a God before and I don’t anyone who has.”

The main reason I’m not an Atheist and not religious, is because I don’t know that there isn’t a God. All I know is that everyone has never seen one. And if I was forced to take a stand on the issue I would say God doesn’t exist. But what keeps me from being an Atheist is the good that you see from religions and good work that comes from churches. Not saying that non-profit secular groups don’t provide the same services. But with religious people who sometimes are so far-right they might be better suited in Saudi Arabia politically than America, they do these good works like helping out the disadvantage from their religious core. Feed the hungry, house the homeless, treat the sick and so-forth.

There’s a lot of good work that comes from religious communities and religious charities. And to that extent at least there’s a lot of good that comes from religion whether God exists, or he’s some made up figure that people feel the need to turn to every time they’re in trouble. But I don’t believe in God, because again I’m more about reason than faith. Sure I have faith in things and people who I know and trust, but that is different in having faith in someone you’ve never even seen and don’t even know exists. I don’t want to consider myself to be an Atheist, because Atheists at least from what I’ve seen sound and look like the most intolerant people you’ll ever come across. And perhaps aren’t religious, because they don’t believe in live and let live.