AS Atheism

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I have never believed in any kind of god. I grew up devoid of religion at home, and only went to church sporadically because my mother said I had to. It was just a thing that people did. I could never wrap my mind around the concept that some people want so badly for god to exist that they've established elaborate routines to worship what I can only describe as a collective hallucination. They don't know it exists any more than I do, but they've convinced themselves it's true, and they're dead serious about it. And they have political power, which they have used, do use and will use again to marginalize, or even eliminate, people who disagree with their premise. This scares me to death.

Fifty years later, I refer to myself as an apatheist. I don't know if there's a god, I don't think there's a god, and I don't really care one way or another. If there was, I wouldn't worship it. Pretending to have faith early on did me no good. No god saved me from my parents or other tormenters. No god helped me to become more like other people so I could understand them better. No god taught me any values that I didn't already have.

Now I live in the Bible Belt, and I was shocked to see churches every thousand feet when I first arrived. I don't personally know anyone who goes to church, and I make sure never to discuss religion with anyone. If any of the people I work with are religious, it is never brought up in the workplace.

The subject has only come up once since I came here. I mentioned not believing in any gods, and one young woman was so horrirfied, she began to tremble. She asked me why I didn't rape and murder and steal. I asked her what on earth she was talking about. She said her religion teaches its followers that people who don't believe in god are evil, amoral and have no trouble killing people and raping and stealing and, I dunno, pissing in peoples' flower beds. I had to reassure her that I was intelligent enough to be able to tell right from wrong, and never had any desire to cause harm to another human, and never would. And that I did not need some layperson in a white collar telling me that his god forbids me from doing that stuff, threatening me with the prospect of my soul burning in hell for eternity. I told her that I was able to forbid myself from doing it just fine, thanks. Besides, from what I hear, prison food sucks. And so does the companionship. She didn't know what to say. I rather doubt she questioned her faith about it.

Official teaching: anybody different from us is evil and bad. Avoid them at all cost, or try to convert them, by force if necessary.

Um, right.

Never got into religion, I read about the Crusades and the ancient Greek religion before I tried a religious text. I've been to a church three times, all for weddings.

I've never been religious, just don't understand it. Over the years I've learnt its all pretty much bunkum so now I don't bother.

Its a common lie perpetuated in many churches that Atheists are amoral, brought along by the assumption that religious belief and teachings are what gives us morals. However many studies have shown that social morality apears to be innate within us as humans, probably developed through simple social interaction over the millenia.