|
I never was very religious, nor was I raised in an openly religious family. We never went to church (save a few weddings and funerals). It was generally accepted, though, that god existed. When I was really little, and it was storming outside, my parents would tell me that the thunder was "God bowling" and the rain was "God spitting" or "God Crying". Being an ignorant little child, I was content to live life without questioning anything I heard. It wasn't until I was 11 or 12 that I began to realize that what I had taken to be a fundamental truth could possibly be wrong. I was learning things about world history, and other religions, now. The history channel had shows on the atrocities committed in the name of religions. Commercials showed starving children in Africa and other third world countries. Hold on, I said to myself. What the hell is going on? Isn't god a benevolent entity that protects all? Isn't it he who makes the sun shine and the grass grow? If that was true, then why did he also cause millions to die in wars and in famines? And finally, Why were there so many gods? I came to a simple answer for all of these questions: There isn't a god. Being that I no longer believed in god, I dismissed everything in the bible and other religion's lore as fairy tales for the most part. I still saw all of these people worshipping something that to me was nothing more than a comic book, or science fiction adventure. What further served to anger me was the Theist's assumptions that since I was godless, I was a savage. They had no reason to question my morals. They were the ones who believed in philosophies that had aided in the deaths of countless millions over a span of tens of centuries. When I see the intolerance, ignorance and hate that these groups still preach, it disgusts me. It should disgust any rational thinking human being. Just several weeks ago, I had a discussion on religion with one of my friend's sisters. I asked her: Do you think that witches worship satan?" Her reply: "Yes". I asked another question: "Is that what your church (pentacostals) teaches you?" Answer:"Yes." I wanted to puke. I tried to explain to her that wiccans--(who I have no distaste for, as they don't kill people over their beliefs. Nor do they try to convert them)--Worship nature and don't even believe in Satan. She was too thick and brainwashed to heed anything that I said. The finality of death sunk into my mind only about 2 or 3 years ago. The idea sucks. I don't ever want to die, but I guess it is something we all have to do sometime. The important thing is that we enjoy our lives, and I don't think that one could truly enjoy their life until it is free of religion. In conclusion, I would like to say that I am proud to be an Atheist, and am proud to have made a few. The above mentioned friend who's ignorant sister I talked to is now a happy Atheist. When he believed in God, he was miserable. He had to follow the tenants of some centuries old book, and get up early every Sunday morning. Another friend of mine and myself were able to use reason on him, and make him realize we were right. Now he is free of all that. Now he is happy. Just making one person happy is all the reward I need for being a "scumbag atheist". -----The Foodman (Kurt Parker) P.S.: You can e-mail me at foodman@foodman.org, and my website is http://www.foodman.org
|