I am an atheist. Plain and simple. I have been for a very long time. I can actually remember questioning adults as far back as age 5. Only recently have I decided to say it out loud. It feels good. I'm comfortable with my lack of belief in supernatural beings. It feels so good to stop pretending.My family is finding out slowly. I'm not about to shout it out during dinner. My daughter likes that method though.
The look on their faces is interesting. "Did I just hear her say that praying for someone doesn't work?" "Did she really just say that separation of church and state is one of the most important issues facing our country?"
Confusion first.
Anger second.
5 comments:
I am a Christian. Plain and simple. I have been for a very long time.
(but I think you knew that)
I think most of my co horts ..so to speak don't understand separation of church and state.
and I think most of Americans don't understand freedom of religion.
I also think that any christian that doesn't realize that they can be friends with an athiest ..without trying to 'save' them ... is in serious trouble with their own faith ...
they also need to re examine their theology.
I can't say I won't pray for you. Cause .. I will. That's how I express myself, and I'll forget that you don't believe it.
Mostly because it doesn't 'matter' to me. Not in the sense of I'm going to ingore what you believe in favor of what I believe sense ..but in the ..you're my friend first and foremost sense.
Am I making any sense whatsoever????????
I hope so, because my intent is to not offend. *BLINKITY BLINK*
*hugs*
Pk (signing in from my other blog)
You are such a sweetheart PK. It means a lot to me to read that you will not disown me.
I never tell anyone my beliefs unless it comes up in conversation. I think I have always been afraid of losing friends. A month or so ago I was at Girl Scouts with Paige. My closest friend here in Kentucky is the one who leads all of the activities. Well, she started telling the troupe about a day trip that was planned. At a church. Doing Christian service work for soldiers. I was not going to be able to attend with Paige and was concerned that she would speak her mind. (she is still learning how to be polite in some areas). I pulled my friend (who is a very dedicated Christian) aside and I started to cry (I am NOT a crier). I knew I had to tell her about our non belief and I also knew that it may be the end of our friendship. I choked out the words, "You need to know something. We are atheists." She was shocked to see me cry and then she asked me why I was crying. When I told her that I didn't want to loose her as a friend, she became incredibly angry and snapped back at me, "How shallow do you think I am? You are the most moral person I know and it's obvious that you do not believe. I do I and will be praying for you." Our friendship is stronger now than before the big reveal.
After Paige returned from her trip she told me that the entire group started to say grace before breakfast. She said that my friend pulled her to the side so she didn't have to be sitting in the middle of the kids and feeling uncomfortable. Her actions touched my heart very deeply.
I'm constantly amazed at humanity and I thank you PK for your friendship!
I love friends like your friends.
If more Christians understood that the God we so strongly believe in ... that we are so ingrained in our belief ..that the *MAIN* tenet of that faith ...is that he gave us the right to believe or not to believe ..without that ...there is no sense in having faith.
if we all follow mindlessesly, and expect everyone too ..then we're mindless robots ... blech. (and we wind up with wars, and rumors of wars, fights about religion, craziness that leads to family fueds ...gee ..this all sounds so incredibly familiar ..isn't there a society around her that functions like that????)
It is my responsibility to live what I believe, it is your responsbility to live what you believe. And it is our responsibility to get along and not force each other to believe what the other does.
But Christians can't even seem to agree what MAKES a Christian ! GEESH
ok, this is obviously a subject I'm rather passionate about. I'm far more concerned with loving my friends than I am if they agree with me and what I believe.
I admire you for letting Paige attend ... even if you didn't. I admire her for letting Paige be pulled aside so she would not be uncomfortable.
There should be more of the 3 of us around ya know.
Maybe we could start a trend ... let's all just let each other be and love each other for who we are!!
That would be nice wouldn't it. I'm not about to start holding my breath unfortunately.
I agree that many Christians, and some atheist/agnostics, don't understand what the purpose of a wall between church and state is all about. They don't realize that it is for them as much as it is for Stacy and I. It protects them and allows them to flourish. It is why there are so many of them and why they come in so many flavors.
I ask that nobody pray for me. A 2007 Harvard study of over 1,800 patients bypass surgery patients revealed that prayer is actually harmful when a higher percentage of patients receiving it had complications. The American Heart Journal concluded that "Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications."
Now of course I don't really accept that prayer is harmful, unless the reliance upon it leads to avoidance of appropriate medical care. The results of the study can easily be explained in a way that doesn't violate any known laws of the universe (or Occam's razor). In a similar sans supernatural fashion, I accept that prayer can be beneficial in some circumstances. It is nice to know that people are thinking about you, and that they generally hope that you are doing well.
But praying for someone's soul in order to save them from an eternity of damnation is where I draw the line. That's when I get upset with people. After all, everyone is going to suffer in someone else's afterlife right?
Oh, and Stacy, just remember that everyone is an atheist, even the most stouthearted Christian, when it comes to almost every deity ever created. We just take it one further.
Doc Clay wrote: "I agree that many Christians, and some atheist/agnostics, don't understand what the purpose of a wall between church and state is all about. They don't realize that it is for them as much as it is for Stacy and I."
I live in an area that was the center of an uproar a few years ago. For many years it was the norm that a prayer was said during the graduation ceremony for the public high school. 2 years ago a Muslim student protested. The community lashed out against her saying it was a "war on Christianity".
When the topic would come up in conversation with members of the community I posed the question, "Well, what happened if she was asking for equal time and wanted to have her religion represented?" Not one person was ok with it. I would then remind them that it was for that very reason that we have separation of church an state.
As it turned out 2 years ago, the school board decided to comply with the law and did not allow prayer.
This year, on the other hand, students chose to ignore the law and took it upon themselves to say a prayer during the ceremony.
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