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You KNOW it's a Myth!

Statistics show that nearly 50 million Americans are atheists. Some use names like freethinker, agnostic or humanist to describe or modify their position, but atheism (the absence of a belief in a deity) is broad, and encompasses all those terms.  If you don't have an active belief in a god, you're an atheist.  It's a very good thing!

Millions of atheists are closeted, choosing to go along to get along, and feigning religion to their friends, family, and coworkers.  American Atheists understands the pressure to fit in, but we maintain that for people to love you, they must know the real you.  

We also assure you that, like every other person in this country, you know FAR more atheists than you think.

American Atheists has been fighting for atheist civil liberties since 1963.  Our goal is equality for atheists.  We want laws to be applied evenly (which mandates a total separation of church and state), and the elimination of the societal and political stigmas of being, loving, or representing an atheist.  

American Atheists is not afraid to raise a voice or a picket sign to protect our rights or convey our points.  We take positions that need to be taken, file lawsuits that need to be filed, and say the things that need to be said, even if it's unpopular or controversial.  This is why we've earned our reputation as the "Marines of atheism."

This page highlights some common general and seasonal issues facing atheists today; what we say, why we fight, and how you can learn more.   The rest of the site is extensive, so take your time, and enjoy yourself.  You've found people like you.

Meet us in person!  National Convention

What do you know?

Chances are, if you're reading this, you don't believe in the fable of  Adam and Eve and the talking snake.  You probably think it's a story, created out of ignorance, to explain the origin of life.  You probably don't believe that Adam literally ate a fruit, resulting in God expelling him and Eve out of the idyllic Garden of Eden.  

In other words, you know that's a myth.

Right so far?  So if Adam and Eve and the Talking Snake are myths, then Original Sin is also a myth, right?  Well, think about it...

• Jesus' major purpose was to save mankind from Original Sin.  

• Original Sin makes believers unworthy of salvation, but you get it anyway, so you should be grateful for being saved (from that which does not exist)

• Without Original Sin, the marketing that all people are sinners and therefore need to accept Jesus falls moot.

All we are asking is that you take what you know into serious consideration, even if it means taking a hard look at all you've been taught for your whole life.  No Adam and Eve means no need for a savior.  It also means that the Bible cannot be trusted as a source of unambiguous, literal truth. It is completely unreliable, because it all begins with a myth, and builds on that as a basis.  No Fall of Man means no need for atonement and no need for a redeemer. You know it.

But can you really KNOW?

Of course you can.  Theists love to validate their myths by trapping atheists into a philosophical discussion of knowledge and certainty.    According to some theists, we can only be "pretty confident" of everything since we don't know everything.  I guess they can only be equally sure that their gods exist.

In the movie The Matrix, we learn that life is an illusion, pumped onto our brains by robots via a wire stuck in our heads.  Good movie, but can you prove it false, with 100% certainty? Even if the writers came to your living room and told you they made it up, they could be mere illusions placed in your head for some unknown reason by the same unknown aliens.

So, is The Matrix fiction?  How about Santa Claus?  Zeus?  Perhaps the mouse in your hand is an all-powerful ruler of the universe cleverly disguised as a mouse?  How absurd does something have to be before we can comfortably call something fiction?

In the end, humans have to accept reality as, well, reality.  There are unknown possibilities, and then there is fiction. Atheists know fiction when we see it -- all gods were invented by humans, and none is more valid than any other.  You know it, just as well as you know anything at all.

Christianity stole Christmas.

Christians don't own this holiday, and never did.  Christianity is neither the first, nor the 5th, nor the 10th mythology to adopt the Winter Solstice as their major day.  Mythra, Bel, Krishna, Horus, and even the Mayan Qetzalcoatl were all born on the Winter Solstice.   Jesus, if you believe the Bible, was actually born in the Spring, but early Christians changed it to mesh with other mythos (look it up).  Learn more

Indeed, none of the trappings of Christmas are Christian.  All of it predates Christianity.  Yuletide, and Yule logs come from the Pagan holiday of Yule (the pagans also took the Solstice for their own).  Santa Claus is Nordic, Germanic, or Celtic, depending on who you ask, and there were no tinsel-covered evergreens in Bethlehem -- that's Pagan too.

Christians don't deserve a monopoly on holiday cheer.  We all own a piece of the Solstice (whatever you call it).   

Happy Holidays!

For years, we have been accused of having a "war on Christmas"  and making people say "Happy Holidays" instead of 'Merry Christmas", without even considering the truth of the issue.  Yet,  there have been no lawsuits or threats of lawsuits to change what people say.  People can say whatever they want, but private corporations like Macy's and Target know that there are many holidays being celebrated, including the solstice, and that inclusiveness is better that divisiveness.  They therefore ask their employees to use the broader, more inclusive greeting.  It makes them more money, so they acknowledge everyone, and we think that's a pretty good idea.   

A Federal Religious Holiday?

"But nobody is forcing Christmas on you!"  We hear that all the time, too,  when we mention the repugnance of Christmas being a federal holiday.  Christmas is the only religious holiday that shuts down the government and yes, that in and of itself, forces all citizens to celebrate this religious holiday.  Ramadan, Passover, and other religious holidays don't affect the whole country in this way, but Christmas is enforced by government rule.  We cannot use the bank, we cannot get mail, we cannot conduct business of any kind.  We are forced to observe other people's religious holiday, and that's wrong. 

By the way, this is also the reason that Christmas is so commercialized.  If you force all people to observe it, they will naturally observe the aspects with which they can most readily identify -- the commercialism.  This is why Christmas is more about gifts than it is about Jesus, much to the dismay of those very people who demand everyone take it seriously.