Get to know an Atheist Blogger - Adrian Hayter of The Atheist Blogger

Fourth in our series of interviews we get to know Adrian Hayter, The Atheist Blogger. He comes to us from across the pond, giving some surprising perspective on how atheism is viewed in England.

On to the questions!

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself, where you came from, what you do now, where you're going.

I am a 20 year old student currently living near London. I was born in Southampton (south of England) in 1988 and spent most of my childhood in the area surrounding Salisbury, a city famous for Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. At school I expanded my interest in computing and managed to get into Royal Holloway, University of London where I am currently studying Computer Science with Information Security (REALLY not as boring as it sounds). After university I plan to emigrate to America and work in the computer industry, hopefully in either game design or for some computer security company. I am an Open Source advocate, and I use Gentoo Linux.

Q. What made you decide to blog, and specifically to blog about atheism?

I already maintained a personal blog, but rarely posted to it. I had just started renting a server with a friend and was getting more active with atheism, especially with my student group "Atheist & Agnostic Alliance". I decided the next logical step was to create a blog about atheism, and to be honest at that time I was not aware of the vast community I was entering into. The only atheist related blog I had read was Friendly Atheist, with the occasional glance over at Richard Dawkins' site. Still, I was very surprised that the domain "atheistblogger.com" and "theatheistblogger.com" were both available, and I quickly registered them both. The blogging community were on the whole very accepting of the blog though, and pointed me in the right direction in terms of finding the Atheist Blogroll, Planet Atheism, and The Atheist Spot.

Q. How long have you known that you are an atheist? Tell us about that time in your life, and what led to that decision.

The first time I actually called myself an atheist was when I was 11, although I suspect I had been one for longer. I was brought up in a Church of England family, but we didn't attend church that often and my beliefs were not enforced on me. I do remember attending church with my mother when I was quite young, looking up at her and telling her I "don't think I believe in God". She quietly told me that this wasn't really the place to announce such a thing. Looking back, I think it was the perfect place for revealing my doubts. Where better to see the flaws of religious belief than amongst its worshipers? At secondary school (high school for you yanks) I met friends who were openly atheist, and that probably persuaded me to become more active.

Of course a school that is quite literally in the shadows of Salisbury Cathedral is bound to be religious in nature, and we had regular religious based assemblies and monthly services in the aforementioned Cathedral. I joined the school choir for my interests in singing, and I reckon we probably performed religious songs 50% of the time. I didn't really mind though because at the end of the day, they are just words set to music. The beauty came from the sounds, not the meaning.

Unfortunately I was quite late into the militant atheist field, and I had already left school and got a temporary job before I bought and read The God Delusion, which pretty much tipped the scales for me. When looking at what religion has actually achieved for humanity, it deserves next to no respect at all. By the time I arrived at university, I was all set to unleash atheism on the campus, which we achieved as a group later that year.

Q. What excites you most about the current state of atheism, what are you optimistic about?

Even though I was a latecomer to the whole atheosphere thing online, it is still clear to me that its growth is exponential. Since I joined back in February '08, almost 200 new blogs have been added to the Atheist Blogroll, and that is always encouraging. It is also nice to see the growth of the number of young atheists online, because they will be the ones who have to deal with the next generations of creationists. Sites like Atheist Nexus are also going to be more important as the community grows. People who have remained anonymous online for their protection are going to be able to find other atheists in their area whom they could meet up or just talk with. Whilst many have compared organizing atheists to "herding cats", I think the overall attitude is changing. We might never all agree with each other (actually, I hope we never), but the closer we are as a community the more things can be achieved.

On a more local level, I am excited about how recent polls in England show an increase in anti-religious thought, and how more people are getting active about such ideas. I'm not sure whether Christianity in England will be dead in 100 years as the majority of people think, but I do remain optimistic. The younger generations do seem to be more open to new ideas and free thought, so only time will tell on that front.

Q. What advice would you give those that are new to the idea of atheism, that aren't quite sure what they believe, and could use some direction?

The main advice I could give would be to look up the individual definitions of atheism, theism, agnosticism, gnosticism, apatheism, deism, humanism, ignosticism, religion, and irreligion. Decide which apply to you before you go about claiming you are this or that. I often find people claiming to be agnostics because they were taught that it meant you were "unsure" of the existence of gods rather than its true meaning, which is that the truth value of certain claims is unknowable. I'm an agnostic atheist because whilst I do not believe in gods, I admit that I can never be 100% sure, since gods are supernatural (and therefore by definition undetectable) beings.

If you are truly unsure or do not care about the existence of gods, the definition of an apatheist is the most agreeable. You may even fit the definition of an ignostic, but that is for you to find out. As for finding definitions, every single dictionary seems to have a different way of interpreting words which is ever so helpful (note sarcasm). The best way to find a definition agreed upon by the general populace would be to use Wikipedia. It's not that good for accuracy in other places, but they seem to have the definitions sorted out quite well.

The issue of annoying labels now covered, I would send the new atheist (or whatever) off with instructions to immerse themselves in the communities, to make friends, to read philosophical arguments, but more importantly, to decide what kind of atheist they want to be. Not all of us are militant, and some of us have the utmost respect for religion. There are many arguments for and against all atheistic positions, but which side you wish to stand is entirely up to you.

Q. When someone asks you how you can be an atheist, why you don't believe in god, or anything to question your lack of faith, what's your single favorite argument for atheism?

The best arguments are the ones that attempt to put the theist in a similar scenario and make them think for themselves. When someone asks me why I don't believe in their God, I simply ask them why they don't believe in Zeus, Thor, or any of the other gods that have been before theirs. It really is quite astonishing how many people haven't considered the problem that other gods pose to their religion, or indeed how may gods they don't believe in either.

Often people wonder how I could even fathom the existence of a universe without a god, but in the entire history of humanity, we have never found anything that was eternal. Everything, even the universe, had a beginning. It takes a large leap of faith to go from literally no evidence of eternal objects to a eternal being who is all-powerful and all-knowing.

Q. You started an online Book Club for atheists where you discuss a new book each month on IRC and in online forums. What books have had the most influence on your life that you'd recommend others read?

The books that got me interested in science were (quite bizarrely) Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. Of course the notions in the book are science fiction, but they opened my eyes to scientific learning and understanding, making me laugh at the same time. I think Douglas Adams' atheism shone through in each of his books as well, since there are quite a few references to God, religion, etc. One of my favourites is the Babel fish argument:
?
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't though of that" and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

Philosophy is another subject covered in the books, which invariably led me onto my interest in the subject

Q. Living in England, you probably see how living without religion as a major force in society affects the country. First of all, is that true, is England as progressive as it seems on that front? Second, what do you think we in America can learn from the British in overcoming the shackles of religion?

Whilst it is clear that religion plays a smaller part in English society, I do not believe we are as progressive as many are led to believe. The religious fundamentalists are a minority, but they are getting very powerful. A recent documentary shown here highlighted the homophobic activity of certain groups, as well as the protests that led to the early ending of "Jerry Springer: The Opera".

It might surprise most people that my atheist blogging was actually illegal in the UK up until July of this year when the blasphemy laws were finally abolished. By any standards, the UK is still a predominantly Christian nation. Members of the royal family, whilst being completely useless and well overdue for abolition, have to be CofE Christian if they want the throne.

In reality, there is only one thing that America can learn from the British, and that is our refusal to allow Intelligent Design in science classrooms. It is almost a shame that the first amendment of the USA prohibits Religious Education in schools. I found that whilst growing up, Religious Education was a fascinating subject and I deeply regret my choice not to study Religion at A Level. In a country that is filled with religious bigots, the best way to educate children about other religions would be through a school subject.

Thank you Adrian!

As always, leave your questions for Adrian in the comments, or just head on over to his site The Atheist Blogger. We'll see you next time!