Comments on: I never had to fight for my atheism, but…

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Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:48:30 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ben Phillips, Atheist Hit Squad. Atheist Hit Squad said: I never had to fight for my atheism, but… http://bit.ly/2JyR6p [...]

By: Rykemasters

Rykemasters — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:36:33 +0000

Fair enough, actually I've pretty much come to agree with those definitions since I wrote this article. The correct thing to say would be that I never identified as anything until a certain point. I had a vague idea of the issue, but I had no position taken. I was vaguely aware of a God, and what a God was supposed to be, but I never really made anything of it. People going "to the sky" ("the sky" being interchangeable with "heaven" in that context in French) when they die was the standard euphemism I was given, and although I don't quite remember, I'm pretty sure I juggled around with the idea at a pretty young age. My grandfather died when I was 3, and I think I first thought of death as, well, a final death with nothing afterwards, starting with the discussions that came after that. I distinctly remember associating dead people going "to the sky" with stars, and thinking that sounded pretty cool but I had no way of knowing. Death was still a really scary subject for me, like I guess it is for most children, but I think I got acquainted with the idea of death early on, even though at the time it wasn't something I actually took a decision on, it was depressing and scary and I really didn't understand it fully at all.

But all of this is so far back that I can't be sure I'm remembering correctly. I have at least one vivid memory of thinking about it as a kid, but again, so far back I couldn't be sure if I was 3 or 5 or 6, but it was definitely when I was really young and the idea that people died (whether they went to heaven or whatever I could have been told) was new to me and I asked questions about it. Given that I went to my grandfather's funeral at 3 and remember seeing him shortly before he died, I think I have it right.

But yeah, I ramble. Basically, the age of 8 was about when I first considered the idea of God, though I knew almost nothing of the Biblical background of it, I knew the essential basic of what God is supposed to be. I took a kind of weakish atheist standpoint, until I actually decided a couple years later that the idea of God was silly, after reading the Bible. 8 was also the age I was when one of my grandmothers died, and I unambiguously remember the conversation in her hospital room shortly after she died. My father said "She's not suffering any longer now, at least" and I thought about it for a short while and decided that it just seemed more likely she was just dead and that was it.

ridiculously long comment, but er, extra backstory?

By: James Tracy

James Tracy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:47:38 +0000

While I sympathize with the position that you find yourself in, I am of the opinion that in general we need to try and be more open about our atheism, even to our families. Otherwise, how will we expect to gain much traction in this country?

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:42:32 +0000

I live in the States and that wall is why I just don't argue with theist any more. its almost like arguing with a stubborn child. I have even had one person tell me that everything I said to them made complete sense, but they aren't going to change their belief. It's frustrating to see otherwise intelligent people not using reason.

And I envy the fact that you can be so open with your atheism. I wish I could tell my parents that I was an atheist. It upsets me every time they say "Thank god you're so smart." I want to say god has nothing to do with it. I worked for my grades, I put the time and effort in to learn what I know. I'm the one that applied for the job that I currently have. I just feel like if I let my parents know that I don't believe in Christianity that it would cause a huge tear in the family.

Sorry for getting carried away. Good article and I'm glad you were able to figure out what drives you.

By: Jools

Jools — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:28:41 +0000

"I couldn’t say I’ve always been an atheist, but I’ve never been a theist, and I would say I was never really agnostic, either."
This doesn't make much sense. Atheist means not a theist. So if you've never been a theist, you have always been an atheist. It sounds like you are also an agnostic unless you claim to know that there is or there isn't a god. Remember theism and gnosticism aren't mutually exclusive. The first refers to belief, while the latter refers to knowledge.
For example, I am an agnostic atheist. I don't believe in gods, but I don't know they don't exist. To clarify, I'm as sure about gods, as I am about unicorns.

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 01:18:25 +0000

I'm a 17 year-old atheist in Washington State. Coming from a fairly Christian city, I also find it difficult to imagine a non-theistic majority. I had to fight for my atheism several years ago. A girl at school was trying to "save" me by converting me to Evangelical Christianity. I've had to deal with several people since then who have reacted to my investment in science rather than faith, and I can definitely say I've experienced similar frustration. I relate to a lot of what you said, and I want to thank you for an enjoyable read!

By: Trying to kick off this thing « Reason Is Treason

Trying to kick off this thing « Reason Is Treason — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:06:26 +0000

[...] prove that they were wrong about the existence of God, they’d still believe. I wrote a slightly-too-passionate entry about that and other such cases at [...]

By: The Tofu

The Tofu — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:33:31 +0000

Great post. I can identify a lot with what you've said, as I'm around the same age as you, and from Canada as well.

"The wall" seems like a good name for that kind of reaction. Now that you've mentioned it, I can recall getting that same kind of feeling when discussing things with creationists. It's the thing that scares me most about religion in general- people just don't seem to think it through, when really you'd think it was the most important decision for someone to make.

By: James Tracy

James Tracy — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:07:33 +0000

I always love hearing people's stories from outside of the United States. As someone who does live in the United States it is hard for me to imagine non-belief as the norm. Your parting message is a good one. There seems to be something with religion that causes people to stop thinking properly within that domain. I have met some highly intelligent believers (of various faiths) but when it comes down to defending their faith that intelligence seems to abandon them.

Michael Shermer once said that smart people are good at rationalizing what they came to believe for non-smart reasons.