-So, there’s a special Holy Mass this Sunday. In the church in front of our University. Would you like to join us, Aga?
-Eee, nope.
-Oh, do you have some plans, already?
-No, I just don’t go to church. I’m an atheist.
-You’re what? Hm... So you believe in this... Jehova? Or what’s your god?
-Hahaha. I AM AN ATHEIST. I don’t believe in any god.
-How come? What do you mean you don’t believe?
-I just do not. I do not believe in any god, I do not believe in spiritual powers. I also don’t believe in elves, dwarfs, trolls and flying spaghetti monster.
-I’m so sorry for you. Probably something bad happened in your life, right? It’s gonna be fine, trust me. You will find your god, eventually.
I didn’t make it up. Unfortunately. The main problem I have with Poles is that, although they are great believers, apparently they don’t believe that atheists exist. It’s out of their scope. They can easily accept the fact that you’re a Muslim, Jew, a Jehovah's witness, but not that you’re a non-believer. You must believe in something.
Because of our history of the Soviet time, atheism in Poland is strongly associated with communism. The communism in the form we’ve been through, not the pure ideology that I’m likely to follow; but this is a subject for another post. It means that, if you’re an atheist, you’re a bad, cruel person, with no moral values. And obviously, you worship Stalin. The problem with atheism in Poland is not that people don't tolerate, oppress or harass it. In most of the cases, is just being ignored.
Frequently, people ask me to define atheism. But there’s no one definition. Atheism means something divergent to different people. It’s more like personal philosophy, the stream that drives you, the outlook that continuously makes you think, consider, subvert, criticise, ask, keep your mind open.
But ok, let me try, and put this term in some frames. From a philosophical point of view atheism is a rejection of theism which states the existence of a god; attributes to him various mysterious properties and powers. Doesn’t matter if it’s one god, many gods, or one in several persons, whatever that means. Atheism recognizes theism either as false or as incomprehensible or meaningless. According to the atheist, the mythological and naive versions of the thesis that portray god or gods as corporeal beings are false. However, theological and philosophical versions that describe god as a disembodied absolute, self-existence or real being by itself are incomprehensible and have no sense.
Krzysztof Sykta - a Polish, independent biblical scholar, former editor of the biblical section of the portal racjonalista.pl., claims that “faith" in the existence or non-existence of god is not a pure faith because it is often based on various arguments, and thus attempts to prove one's own right. Faith in god is usually a result of a viral lack of thinking and religion is a form of manipulation. When unbelief is just another faith but it’s a result of something – it’s a result of thinking.
The atheist asks what makes religion so widespread. Why, despite such development of science, religion still has so many followers. Searches for the answer to this question in the sociology of culture and tradition. Sometimes doubts the authenticity of someone's faith. Most Poles consider the atheist attitude as dishonest or too impermanent. Recalls many cases of conversion, especially in the face of death.
Have you ever been a part of such conflict?
PS Since I'm a photographer I felt obliged to complete the post with some pictures. Therefore, my little "collection of Jesuses" seemed just right.
Thank you for reading!
Agniese