Atheism

I just got two new books I ordered in the mail today. The first being The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and the second being A Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. For those of you familiar with those books, yes I am an Atheist. I have been one for many years now, though I was raised Catholic.

For those unfamiliar with those books I suppose I should explain. Dawkins and Harris are two of the worlds most prominent Atheists. They are also both quite brilliant. I have found that I really enjoy watching them speak in videos i have seen online, and since I received a Barnes and Nobles gift card from my god-fearing grandmother who has tried for years to get me to come back to her faith, I decided what better use to put that card towards.

Now it may seem mean and even cruel the way I speak about my grandmother. Many people think I am not respectful enough, and I guess that might be true. I, however, see no reason to have any respect for her. I never understood how I was to have respect for people who have no respect for me. Never seemed fair, so I moved on without her, no matter what she would like to believe.

But back onto the previous topic. Ever since I became an Atheist my family has not really been supportive. Most of them think it is a phase that I'm going through before I come back to the church. Even my mother, who I thought understood what I had decided about life, has recently proved to me that she thinks I'll come back one day. I'll admit though that I still have many mannerisms left in me from my upbringing. I still use terms like god or Jesus when I curse and such, but no one is perfect.

Here's my point. I have no problem with you believing in religion. I just have a problem when people try to force it on me or even imply that it could be real. My school librarian, one of the nicest ladies I've ever met, once told me, when I told her I was an Atheist, that "We'll see when the Judgment Day comes." Now normally I would be able to brush this kind of thing off, but when someone in charge of as much knowledge as a librarian can be so ignorant as to believe in such silly things I guess I can't just deal with it. I just smiled and shrugged, but I never looked at her the same again.

The thing about religion is that it has this tendency to make some of the most smart and understanding people into ignorant, biased, and closed minded people. People who believe in a religion don't ever really even think about seeing things another way. You could argue with a Christian till you were dead and you still wouldn't make any progress. If someone walked up to me on the street and proved that there was a god beyond the question of a doubt, then I would surely believe, but religious will make up excuses for their faith forever.

Do I believe in Jesus? I believe that Jesus was a man who lived a long time ago who did a lot of good things and taught good lessons. Who after his death was written about in ways that make him seem like more than he is. A lot of what Christians believe, in my opinion, is tall tales. I wouldn't want to worship Jesus any more than Little Red Riding hood.

I mean no disrespect to any of you out there who hold these faiths close to you. I will think you are silly for believing in such things, but I would never try to convert you. I expect the same treatment in return. This of course applies to many things, including politics. I don't try to pass laws about banning religion, and you don't bring your religion into government. Because as as we all know, morality belongs in government, and religion is not morality.