I'm an atheist. I have no problem admitting as much. I like to spend some of my time posting on religion forums, trying to come up with clever rebuttals for theist arguments. I also talk to other atheists and agnostics. Yet, I've found a trend. Most of my non-believing colleagues seem to place themselves on the left of the political spectrum. Why is this? I'll present my own opinion.
With the crossing of the threshold into atheism, I think one finds great humility. No longer do they think of themselves as crafted by a divine being that is the only form of life with an eternal soul. Atheists realize how lucky they are to have made it through the evolutionary process, how insignificant they are when compared to the vast cosmos, and how much they truly share with all other forms of life. The arrogance of theism is shed. With this comes a great feeling of equality and humanism. The atheist wishes to help all in every way possible, as he understands how fragile and valuable life truly is. He no longer possesses the prejudices of faith, seeing all people as one universal body.
How will this atheist achieve the goal of helping all? This is where, I believe, most atheists go wrong. They turn to the Democratic party or a similar leftist group. The Democrats seem to provide the easiest solution to creating world equality and health: take from those who have, give to those who do not. The Robin Hood of the political world, perhaps. This is how they attract atheists.
Yet, I am a Libertarian. Why?
I was raised as a neoconservative. A staunch, anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-anything ungoldy Catholic. As the ideas of religion made less and less sense, I was stuck with a political dilemma. There was no reason for me to continue to hold many of these political views. I had two options: liberalism or libertarianism. I believe many atheists overlook libertarianism, as it, at first glance, appears to leave the poor and destitute on their own. I looked thoroughly into both viewpoints, and found that libertarianism protects the rights of all, ensures full freedom, and a stable economy. I realized that a controlled economy always fails, and a government that cares for all is unable to do so as it grows and seizes liberties and assets.
I won't go too much into libertarian theory in this post. I just wanted to put my theory out there as to why many atheists align with the left. I believe it's an oversight of libertarianism. But that's just my idea.
