An Elaboration on my Atheism

I posted a link to my blog on Cafemom, to answer the question on why I am now an atheist. I noticed at the bottom of the original post that I said I would elaborate on my conversion at a later date, but failed to follow through on that. So I will do that now.

The funny thing about theism, is once you let go, it's like a veil has been lifted from over your eyes. It's not unlike the revelation that the Great and Powerful Oz was really just a man behind a curtain pulling levers.

God was ingrained in me from birth. I never once doubted his existence. What I lacked faith in, if anything, was organized religion. I suppose that was inevitable having two parents feeding me conflicting messages through my childhood.

How ironic that in my quest for the true religion, I came to reject all. Actually, I've come to known that that is how many atheists become atheists. I've known many Christians who have told me to read the Bible to find the truth. I agreed with them, only my version of the truth was the total opposite of theirs. The Bible is an amazing book, in that the reader may find in it, exactly what she is looking for, even if she is unaware of what that it.

So now that I've let go of God, I can't imagine how I could ever make myself believe again. I may as well make an attempt at belief in Zeus. Afterall, I've got just as much evidence for him.

I don't think about being an atheist very much in my day to day life. I only think about it, when someone else mentions atheists or atheism. This happens a lot more online, as people talk more freely behind computer screens. It's the subject of much debate. I don't think I'm really all that different than most Americans. We all do what we feel is right for ourselves. I just take accountability for it.

Well, that's all on this topic for now. If more comes to me, I will share it with you.

Blame Godlessness

An editorial today in The Oregonian:

Blame godlessness

I could not help but notice all the coverage about the downtown shooting. All this coverage got me thinking -- the shooting was just a symptom of a much bigger problem. America lacks God.
America was once a godly nation. Times were better. People were safer. However, we have stepped away from God. We have let humanist views slip into our lifestyles. This absence of God was one cause of the downtown shooting.
The young shooter did not know the God that I know. He was probably taught about evolution. He was probably influenced by atheism. This lack of God leads to dangerous things that even the strictest laws cannot prevent.
More gun laws may be a result of the shooting. Fewer gun laws may be a result. Whatever happens, we should consider adding God back to our lives.
RUSSELL MATHEWS Milwaukie

My editorial response sent to The Oregonian:

This is a response to the editorial Blame Godlessness written by Russell Matthews.It's easy to make accusations such as that which Mr. Matthews has made, blaming humanists, atheists, and evolution for violence. However, I notice that Mr. Matthews cites no proven correlation between violence and any of these. The fact is that the USA is the most religious industrialized nation in the world, with the highest rate of violent crime. In my opinion, too many people assume they have brought their children up with morals because they have raised them on religion. The problem is that these people don't teach children to THINK and evaluate the real human consequences of their actions, but focus more on how displeasing things are to God. Instead of focusing on the Golden Rule, which is universal, religions get caught up in petty issues such as gay marriage, pre-marital sex, and "dangerous" movies, books, and music. Where are the lessons on valuing human worth for the inherent dignity of being human? Where is the lesson that hurting people is just wrong, not something one can just confess, be forgiven of, and walk away with a clean slate? Mr. Matthews, I am an atheist and a humanist, who supports evolution, and I am raising thinking, feeling children, who instills morals and ethics in her children, and teaches them not to make generalizations and look for scape-goats, but to make the world a better place from having them in it.

What an atheist is

It befuddles me that in this day an age, there are still people that don't know what an atheist is. I mean, I thought we were living in the information age? Aren't we the ones all over the news with our frivolous lawsuits and waging war on Christmas? Well, maybe that's some other atheists but that's not me. Anyway, here is a short summary of what an atheist is and isn't.

The prefix A basically means "not". Theist is defined as one who subscribes to the belief that there is a god. Put the two together and an atheist is one who does not believe in a god, or gods.

On a side note, when one is referring to a god in general, one uses a lower-case G. God with a capital G is a name. It is the name of the Judeo/Christian god, who claims to be the one and only. It also seems to be the name of choice for the ambiguous God of agnostics and deists.

Atheists do not share a common belief system or creed. They don't have worship meetings. Some have polticial meetings. Some don't.

Atheists do not worship the devil. The devil is a figure made up by men who needed a villian to make the whole God story work. If we worshipped the devil, then he'd be our god, and once again, atheist-no gods.

Atheists do have morals, or they don't. It's really an individual thing. One does not need a religion to be moral, and one is not moral simply because he is religious. Our source of morals are varied, from our own conscience, to our upbringing, to the collective conscience of society. An atheist uses logic and reason as a base for morals and ethics.

Atheists are not all mad at God. Some might be, but not all are. I'm not. I can't be mad at something I don't even believe in. I am somewhat pissed at some of God's followers though.

Atheists generally do not believe in the supernatural. But some atheists do believe in aliens or ghosts, and things of that nature. Or they leave open the possibility of the existence of such. Some are skeptical, and some are not. It's that simple. Atheists are as varied as the people that adhere to any other shared belief.