When Your Lack of Belief Leaves You All Alone

The prominent philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once stated: "The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.  If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened.  But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."


So what do you do when you find that you are all alone amongst your family and your peers with your lack of belief?

There are a lot of potentially good answers.  For me, when I feel like no one else around me seems to see the world the way that I see it, I go back to the basics.  I start by examining how I reached the conclusion that there is not likely to be a god or any other deity.  I consider the natural truths that I find around me each day, I consider the logic that I employ to get me through each day, and I remember the people that have influenced me most on the subject.  All of this reminds me that I did not arrive at my conclusions on a whim.  Rather, my belief structure was created by the journey I have taken thus far in my life.  No single event in my life has defined me or my belief.  If for nothing else, this provides some solace, that I know my conclusion were not made in haste, and that a great deal of consideration and thought have been invested in them.  This helps me to remain steadfast. It is all too easy to fall into mainstream and "go-with-the-flow," instead of critically examining my beliefs.

Though the above suggestions may help strengthen your resolve to maintain your belief structure, it doesn't solve the issue of feeling alone.   Since you are reading this on the internet, it's safe to assume you have access to the internet, and as you all ready know, the internet is a nearly unlimited source of information and provides a boundless medium to connect to other people.  Other people, that share your same beliefs, so, use it!  One of my favorite places to visit is Atheist Nexus.  There are plenty of individuals that are happy to offer support and suggestions on how to deal with the sometimes daily hardships of being a minority group.

Finding other Atheists to meet in person may be difficult.  Like you, they may be struggling with issues of discrimination based upon their beliefs, and being open about them can be taxing for anyone.  One way of meeting others like you, may be to find a local Humanist group.  I've found that open Atheists tend to comprise a significant proportion of individuals that are active in their local Humanist groups.  A list of local chapters of the Center for Inquiry can be found here. This would be a great place to start.

If all else fails, message me.  I'm typically very good at responding quickly, and I know I had people to support me when I was questioning whether or not it was worth holding onto my belief structure, or if it would be better to give in to mainstream.  I can only hope I would be able to help others in a similar way.  Once again, the internet provides an impressive venue for such an event.

Just remember that you are certainly not alone.  It is a struggle, and though religious individuals may be irritating at times, be pleasant to them.  You never know when they may have a change in their beliefs, and may need you to welcome them with open arms, and support them along their journey.

Have a great week.

Take care,
-The Atheist Physician

Decisions, Decisions.....

I recently completed my first audition rotation for a residency program in the area of medicine I hope to practice.  Every program has its pros and cons, but of course these are not equal.  The best strategy I've developed so far is to assign a point value system to help me decide where I want to go.

I start by making a list of characteristics that I want from a program, this could be anything from the time I would start each day, the pay, the benefits, the time off, the type of patients I would see, the number of patients I would see, to the area in which I would have to live.  I then assign an importance value for each of these characteristics as they pertain to each program.  I then add all of the values for each program and I now have a numerical or quantitative way to rating each program based on my own preferences.  It might look something like this:  I assigne a value 1 through 5 to each category for each program.  1 being I'm not really a fan of the category in that program. and 5 being that I am very happy with that particular category for that particular program.

                                             Program 1                                  Program 2                        

Type of patients                           3                                                  2                                      

Number of patients                      4                                                  3                                      

Where I would live                      5                                                  4                                      

My supervisors                            2                                                  3                                      

Pay                                              3                                                  4                                      

Benefits                                       5                                                  2                                      

Time off                                      5                                                  3                                      
                                                                                                                                               


                                                   27                                                 21                                    




So, while I was trying to qualitatively measure and compare each program, I found it really difficult to tell which one I like more, because they each had different aspects I liked.  By putting it all into numbers based on my qualitative observations of each program, I have now found that there is one clear winner in this situation.  I enjoyed more aspects of program 1 than any other.

This sort of decisions making can be used with almost anything.  I hope that it might help someone else out there that is having a difficult time making tough decisions.  This has always helped me.  Of course, you could always try flipping a coin and right at the moment when you send the coin flipping into the air, you will know which choice you are hoping for.

Have a great week everyone,

-The Atheist Physician.

A Tense Moment: When a Patient Wants You to Pray With Them.

One day on rounds, (the time when everyone on a particular rotation, med students, residents, and the attendings or the boss, walk around and see every patient on that particular service) I had an attending (my boss) ask me what my religion was.  This was all sparked by a patient we had just seen that talked up God so much, that I'm not really sure why she was in the hospital.  She made it seem like he was doing everything to help her, and we, mere mortals were just giving her a place to sleep other than her own bed. As you could have guessed, I'm on open Atheist, and so I answered my attending by telling him so.

You should have seen his face.

A mixture of surprise, disappointment, and anger.  He started to turn red and began a rant about how could I possibly think I was going to be a good physician if I don't have God in my life.  I listened attentively but said nothing, until he asked:

"What would you do if that patient we just saw had asked you to pray with her? Huh? Are you going to disappoint her?"

He got more than he bargained for with this question.  I replied:

"Of course not, I would have no problem praying with her.  Afterall, it's not against my religion to pray, and it doesn't harm me at all, but if it has a possibility of helping one of my patients feel better or more comfortable, I would have no problem doing it."

It was my turn for a question. My attending was obviously devoutly Catholic, as he made this fact known practically every day.  So, I asked him:

"What would you do if a patient asked you to pray with them and they were Buddhist?  What if they were Jewish?  What if they were Muslim and they asked you to get down on a prayer mat after washing your hands and feet and praying with them because it would make them feel better.  Would you?"

He did not appreciate this questioning at all.  First off, attendings are the ones that are used to asking all the questions.  Residents and medical students rarely question attendings, it's all part of the culture of medical education.  My attending seemed angry and flustered, but eventually answered that

"Of course I wouldn't, it would be against my religion!"

I smiled, and was content with this interaction.  It was good for me, because it made me more confident that I could assert myself and my beliefs, or lack there of, but more importantly, it taught everyone that had watched this interaction something as well.  It taught them that Atheist does not mean "religion hating" or "intolerant".  I in fact was far more tolerant of other religions than my attending.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not actually against religion.  Do they get on my nerves sometimes? yes. Does it cause a great deal of strife across and within cultures? Yes.  But I also know that some people need religion as their crutch.  If they have nothing else, it is what gets them through their day, their illness, their life.  Who am I to take that away?  I support religion so long as it doesn't harm or infringe upon others.  That is where I draw the line, and I defend that line vehemently.

Take care, and I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

-The Atheist Physician.

Death and Dying

As an open Atheist, you can expect to hear this question frequently: "How can you not believe that there is something better waiting for you in the afterlife?"  The easy answer is that I simply do not need to believe it.  I'm happy with my life as it is, and for me, this is all I get, this life and no other.  I consider myself lucky to be, but a blip on the radar of time.  The amount of time I occupy this earth is nothing more than a minuscule fraction of all of time.  The reason I am on this earth is simply because, evolutionarily, I was selected for, and my purpose is nothing more than to live my life, enjoy it, try to help others as much as possible, leaving the earth better than when I came into it, and dying so that someone else may take my place.  Like it or not, there are limited resources on this earth and every person and every organism that has ever lived could never occupy it at the same time.  We all die so that someone or some thing else may take our places.  It's truly that simple.

In my profession, I am faced with death on a rather frequent basis.  Many people would describe my business as a battle with death, in an attempt to win.  If I win, my patient survives, if I lose, my patient dies.  I'm not happy with that analogy though, for a few reasons.  First, I can never win the battle with death.  The best I can do is to delay it.  Second, I do not view death as the "enemy." Just before his passing, the first patient to take advantage of the physician assisted suicide law in Oregon (AKA the Death with Dignity Law) told his physician "Doctor, death is not the enemy, the enemy is humanity."  Indeed I cannot count the number of times in which I have witnessed death to be merciful.  After all, I am an Atheist and this life is all I have to live for, why would I want to spend it suffering?  A very wise man once told me, that as a physician, my job is to help my patients die as young as possible, as late in life as possible.  I strive to reach this mark each and every day.

The next question that I inevitably receive is: "So, there's no afterlife according to you, so what exactly is there?"  My reply is just as simple as my answer to their first question, and happens to be a quote from Epicurus, I'm certain that "your non-existence after death will be no worse than your non-existence prior to your birth."  This seems to bring my view about the afterlife into a better prospective for the believers in a heaven, nirvana, or otherwise enlightened state postmortem.

Because I deal with death and dying on a near daily basis, it's an area that is rather interesting to me, you should expect more writings on it in the future.  I'm only getting started.

-The Atheist Physician

Taking Care of the Poor: Religion vs. Atheism

All mainstream religious teachings stress taking care of the poor.  Help your brother, they proclaim.  Jesus reportedly spent a disproportionate amount of his time taking care of the poor in Israel.  Islam preaches that if you take care of the poor and needy, you are an honorable person.  In the Hindu faith, taking care of the poor is considered an essential tenant.  Given this, one would expect that a religious physician would likely spend a disproportionate amount of his/her time treating the poor, like Jesus.  A new study in the Annals of Family Medicine shows what some may describe as a surprising outcome: religious physicians are less likely to work in underserved areas than Atheist physicians.

Are you surprised by these results?  I can't say that I am.  With all the hypocrisy found throughout the world's religions, it's not surprising that the practice of religion is just as hypocritic.  Hopefully this will begin to reshape any misguided images and preconceptions that people have about Atheists.  I'm beginning to the think the real reason why Atheists seem to have a bad reputation in American society has nothing to do with whether they are good or bad people, but more likely the fact that they have no public "face."  Religion is ubiquitous in American media, but Atheism is left conspicuously out.  People tend to fear what they don't know or understand, and if you don't know an Atheist that is open about his/her beliefs (or lack thereof), you may never realize how normal an Atheist person/family can be.

Take care,

-The Atheist Physician

Why Christianity is Likely to be the Worst Religion on Our Planet

Christians should really be renamed, collectively, "The Undecided."  The Christian religion is notorious for its varying accounts and assertions about what happened in the past, and what will happen in the future.  There are various sects i.e. Protestants, Catholics, Lutherans etc.  None of which can agree, even on simple points of their religion, yet they are all classified as being Christianity.  I cannot possibly take a religion seriously, when I get wildly different answers depending upon the particular church door I knock on.

A few months ago, there was a fairly prominent Christian group within America that began making claims about the end of time, Judgement Day was coming, and those that have not been saved, would be banished to Hell for all eternity.  The Christian community was divided, some bought into this extravagant view, while others denounced it.  This of course, never happened, but what bothers me most is when I discuss this event with Christians, they claim to be separate from this group of world-ending-followers.  They make statements like "they are crazy!"  "That's not what Christians believe," and "I never believed in that."  My problem with all of this, is that Christians are refusing to accept responsibility for their even more eccentric group of followers.  The reality is that Protestants believe Catholics to be wrong in how they practice their religion, Lutherans believe that Methodists are a bit crazy and "have it all wrong." So how is this group of world-ending-followers any different?  They all call themselves Christians, and as such, need to take responsibility for all of their followers. 

Islamic followers have struggled with this very issue, as Islamic extremists are blamed for many terror attacks around the world, they are still considered followers of Islam, however, the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful and very against violence.  Likewise, there have been a number of terror attacks in the name of Christianity, most notably, the recent attack in Norway.  Interestingly, the whole of Christianity was not to blame (in the public's world view) for the attack, but Islam still struggles today to clear its name from its association with terrorism.

This all brings me back to the title of my post "Why Christianity is Likely to be the Worst Religion on Our Planet." This all seems to come down to interpretation.  It seems that every Christian interprets the Bible differently.  This difference is not so widespread with other religions.  In my experience, you are much more likely to get the same answers about a person's religion if they consider themselves anything other than Christian.  Ask two Muslims their religion's view on gay marriage, ask two Buddhists their religion's view on gay marriage, ask two Jews their religion's view on gay marriage, and you are likely to get similar answers within religions.  Ask two Christian's their religion's view on gay marriage, and the answers you receive are likely to be wildly different!

It's difficult enough as it is to argue rationally with someone that is not rational, but worse yet when the irrational people can't keep their stories straight.

If you are religious, and especially a Christian, I hope that you do not take offense to my writing, but rather, consider it a critical review of how your institution conducts itself.  We are all in need of a little self-review every now and again, and all too often the majority groups are too privileged to ever critique themselves, or receive a critique from others.  I hope you will consider these points, and use them to make the world a better place, with or without religion.

-The Atheist Physician

My Thoughts on the Israel, Palestine Conflict

One of the most infamous conflicts during my lifetime (and before it) has been the conflict between Israel and Palestine.  It's so ironic the transition this conflict has made in the last several years.  It has changed from being a simple conflict over land, between two groups, to genocide of a group of people.  The irony, of course, is because the country of Israel was founded by persecuted Jews following the Holocaust and the German ruling over much of Europe.  The people who were once hunted endlessly for their heritage and religion are now the ones doing the hunting of another group due only to their heritage and religion.  Worse yet, the tax money I pay to the United States of America supports this genocide.

It was only days ago that the U.S. withdrew from funding UNESCO following a U.N. vote to include Palestine as recognized entity.  I'm not certain that the U.S. government has thoroughly thought this move through.  The ramifications are extensive.  No longer is the U.S. agenda at the forefront the minds of the U.N.  Additionally, all of the countries (which was the majority of them) that voted to recognize Palestine will no longer support U.S. positions within the U.N.  Acting on one quick decision, the U.S. government has, in essence, made an enemy of itself to the entire world (not that we are all that high ranking in the popularity department to begin with, but it still harms us).  The U.S. is no longer as much of a super power as it once was, and no longer has the weight to throw around that it once did.  If my government does not begin to watch whose toes they step on, we may find ourselves in the midsts of yet another war, but this time it may be on our own soil.

The bottom line is that Israel should end its genocidal offensives on Palestine, and should turnover control of the city of Palestine (Israel calls in Jerusalem).  It's time for the U.S. to end its support for Israel, and allow both countries to coexist in peace.  This of course, is a long way from happening, but it's what I'm working towards, and I hope that others can see the destructive ways of Israel, and collectively, we can end their support, likely forcing a peace agreement.  Without weapons of war, Israel will be unable to continue its offensive.  The only down side from the U.S. stand point is that we will have lost one of our few remaining allies in the Middle East, which is really a very stupid reason to support genocide.