I have been interacting with groups that advocate a rational and naturalistic perspective. Through this experience, I have noticed how the words we choose to communicate can reflect our understanding of reality.

My thinking is scientific. This means I believe that the only reliable way to know about our cosmos is through the information we get from our senses. Additionally, other people must systematically verify and analyze this information to remove personal bias.

I reject the idea of a supernatural dimension in our cosmos because no empirical evidence supports it. Likewise, I dismiss astrology, reincarnation, ghosts, magic, miracles, consciousness beyond death, or anything similar. I do not believe in a God or a mysterious designer behind the universe because the proven process of life's evolution contradicts the involvement of a designer.

I don't object to these popular beliefs based on personal feelings; I used to share them, too. But I find no observable proof in the universe to back them up. I would gladly accept any evidence of the supernatural and admit my mistake.

Because I think this way, and after reading the Humanist Manifesto, I have chosen to associate with the American Humanist Association. I find myself very comfortable with them. However, to my surprise, some of them are uncomfortable with me.

The problem is atheism.

The third paragraph of this article expresses what many people would consider the essence of atheism. However, as a theologian, I reject the label of atheist. It would be as absurd as a geologist dismissing the reality of rocks or a biologist denying the existence of life.

I acknowledge that Theos has historically been synonymous with God. We are beings who are aware of our existence. This makes us psychologically troubled by the question of our purpose—the reason for our being. This is a vital question that we cannot flourish without an answer to. Theos is whatever answer we discover to satisfy that question.

Our ancestors invented gods in the early stages of our cultural evolution to explain the nature, causes, and purpose of things. It was a sensible idea based on their limited knowledge of themselves and the universe then and for a long time afterward.

A long history of thinking that Theos is a supernatural entity of some kind does not oblige us to keep that understanding.

The human mind has created the supernatural and its various entities to answer the existential question. We needed the gods for Theos or the purpose and meaning that sustain our existence. However, as we learn more about the cosmos and ourselves, we leave behind the gods and magical thinking. Yet, Theos is still a vital human need. We must meet that need with our best intellectual, emotional, and creative abilities. Our well-being depends on how well we do it.

I reject the existence of God, any supernatural dimensions, or beings that dwell in them.

As a scientific theologian, I embrace the scientific view of the cosmos. I also have a rational, emotional, and theistic worldview. These positions are not contradictory.

Being opposed to something rather than supporting something is not a very good way to find one's purpose in life. But if someone feels such a posture is necessary, I beg them to find something besides “theist” to be “A”

WHP