How do you feel, to live in a religious country, where atheism could lead you to jail for 5 years?. Well, I live the first 23 years of my life in such country, Indonesia. Indonesia is a country with a population of 222 million people, and about 90% are Moslems. Its officially not an Islamic country, 5 religion is recognized, atheism is not an option here.

So, how was it possible that I became an atheist?

I was a christian, a real fundamentalist supernatural-believing christian. Its very fortunate that I could read and watch TV shows in English. Discovery Channel is the one that first brought me to science. Just in about 1 year after that the skepticism has grown large. I became christian liberal by reading some liberal books. At that point I actually realized already that I’m a closet atheist. I just use “liberal” as a label to protected me from all my friends.

In 2006 I left Indonesia to study in Germany. Wew, suddenly its free for me to believe/ not-believing anything. Its that time that I first knew atheism from video clips and writings of Dawkins, Harris, etc. Starting from early 2008, I began to say openly to my friends and families that I’m an atheist. I also actively participate in various discussions and debates in the internet about religion & atheism. It is of course very difficult for me at times, to realize that everyone I know is heavily religious, and to explain to them why I’m being an atheist. But being an atheist is not something to be ashamed of, its something to be proud of. And my life has been happy ever since.