Atheists and Freethinkers

of Contra Costa County
Convictions

We use the word conviction rather than belief because the former means a statement that arises out of rational processes while the latter suggests something achieved by an act of faith.


We are convinced that there is only one reality and that reality is the world we experience through our senses and the instruments that extend them. [There is no heaven or hell. The supernatural does not exist.]

We are convinced that the laws of nature are consistent laws and that nature makes no special dispensations for humans. [The universe is orderly. There are no miracles.]

We are convinced that there is no division between humans and nature; that ideals generated by humans are as much a part of nature as flowers. [Plato was wrong. Idealism is a human invention and natural.]

We are convinced that rational thought leads to a moral life.
[Faith that there is a god who punishes evildoers is a poor way to morality.]

We are convinced that human investigation and reason are our best guides to the truth of the natural world. [Science rather than religion is the way to real understanding.]

We are convinced that humans bring the ideas of Truth, Goodness, Beauty and Love into this world. Although those ideas are never completely realized they are the goals that give direction and meaning to life.