Welcome, please sit back, relax, and let me tell you a story. What you will see is a narrative of what set my feet on the path I follow today. We start with my childhood, go through the middle, and stop with a conclusion of where I'm now. This dissertation of facts is not to be construed as "THE" defining elements of my life, in reality it is only a very small part of what has defined my life. Adrian has made a part of his web site available for people to share their stories. For this service, Adrian, I thank you. Without further ado, let us proceed.
Where did it all start? Well, my earliest memory is of about age 8. I had terrible habit of asking questions during Sunday school. Not only that, but I questioned the answers, not good form. I remember asking what happened to all the water after the flood, answer: God made it go away. Next question: How? Answer: "It really doesn't matter how God did it, just trust and believe that he did". (sic) As time marched on the questions got harder and the answers got more stupid. In addition, what I was learning from science was not helping the Christians case. I continued to attend Sunday school for a while; mother made me. I stopped going to church at age 12.
At twelve, not only was church just was not fun anymore, but also it was the source of my learning my low social status. After her mother interrupted my conversation with a girl at church, one Sunday, I overheard the child's mother explain why she was not to associate with me. The reason stated, my mother was divorced and had not remarried. A big "NO - NO" in the 1950's & 60's. You know the drill, "Once a woman has "experienced" marriage and then divorced, and not remarried." well you know what "they say" follows. You see the good Baptists just could not allow this bad influence (me) to infect their children. Luckily, I filled my childhood with accepting friends and experienced much happiness. So, until age 16, I lived through the "Age of Infection".
At 16, I entered the "Age of Redemption", as that's when the same "not to be infected" good young Baptist children decided that it was time to SAVE me. Well by this time it was too late. I had read a couple of books detailing the bible's history and realized that the christian god is a Middle Eastern goatherd's myth. There was some benefit to being outside the redemption circle and in a lowly caste: I did not get to bond with the good Christian kids, and therefore missed out on their experiments with recreational drugs. See Baptists can do GOOD things. Even my tour in the Marines could not option me for Christianity.
Religion tried to force its way back into my life when I joined the Marine Corps. It was over my 'dog tags'. This kid, taking the information, just could not accept the fact that I had no religion. His position was you were either a Catholic or Protestant, there was no other option. During the discussion, a Master Sargent who had joined our little discussion asked if I had ever attended a church, I erred and said I had attended a Baptist church as a child. He pronounced me a Baptist. And so stated my dog tags, at least until I got out of boot camp. Then it read, religion: "NONE". My tour in Viet Nam, served ONLY to confirm and DEEPEN my disbelief. Reacquaintance with Bible Belt Alabama, upon my return, would serve to keep religion, or the lack of it, a lively topic. "The Age of Intrusion" began at the precise time when all I wanted to do was live a quiet and peaceful life.
There are some small problems in living a quite, peaceful, and moral atheistic life in the Bible belt of rural Alabama. There is always some *%$#*@! ^ Christian evangelist who's determined to intrude, with their (misguided) mission to save you from your godless, sinful, and HAPPY atheistic life. I tend to scare the hell out of these people, without trying, at least the last two anyway. The last two "INTRUDERS" interrupted what I was doing at the time. I politely listened to Mr. INTRUDER for about 30 seconds, I politely interrupted and said, in a quiet voice, "We do not agree, and there is no point in discussing the issue." Then Mr. & Ms. Intruder wanted to pray, I said, "NO". They started to respond, but I had turned to walk way, and had forgotten I had my '. 45' in my waist band. It was a foot race to see who could get to the car first. When I looked back Mr. Intruder had started the car before Ms. Intruder had gotten in; she did manage to get the door almost closed before Mr. Intruder drove away. I seem to have been removed from the visitation list. I have not been intruded upon since. It should be noted here that my house is isolated. I WILL be armed when answering the door, not belligerent, just using UNORTHODOX common sense. I probably got that from my Mom.
I attended a reunion at my "childhood" church, to please Mom, of course, after a twenty-year absence. I viewed it as a chance to see what had happened to those good Christians of my youth. Well I found mostly second marriages, some thirds, and a couple of fourths as well, so much for "Let no man may put asunder what god had joined" Yes. She was there, the girl mentioned in the "Age of Infection" above. When I spoke to her she seemed almost normal. But then her eyes glazed over and she babbled platitudes for about 5 minutes of how 'god' had allowed her to become pregnant and bear healthy children (biology class had been blotted from her mind) and what 'god' had given her in her life. The sad fact is her mother had managed to maintain control of her life and continues too. What a waste, this person at one time had an active and working mind, now it is dead. Well, if you "can't go home again", you may not be able to return to your work site, either.
A young devout woman in my office who had heard remarks of mine in response some of the more [stupid] things Christians say. She asked me, very timidly, one day; "Do you believe in Darwin?" I responded saying, yes; "I held the position that the world is a product of evolution." She said, "How can you? God, in the bible tells us how HE made the world." The mischief just welled up in me; I could not resist this straight line. My response was "Let me make sure I know what your saying. You want me to believe that your god created the world, all the plants and animals; about six thousand years ago; in six days; and for good measure threw in a complete fossil record just to confuse the issue. Either I'm wrong [which I'm not] or your god has got one hell of a sense of humor." Conversation ended with a very confused look in her eyes; she has not brought the subject up again. I am learning more about the power of the "Age of Opposition" and liking it the deeper I go. It raises my moral standards!
I have been in several discussions with the good Christians about morals, usually their perception of my lack thereof. At some point in time (in utter frustration) they always use that same tired old line, "No god, No morals. If you are an atheist you WILL rape, murder, lie, steal, cheat and you are doing the work of the devil. You CAN NOT be a GOOD MORAL PERSON" without god (sic) and jc (sic) to guide you. So, it would seem that unless you have the threat of eternal damnation hanging over you, you couldn't be a moral person. I beg to differ. My standard response is:" I do not believe in your mythical god, nor do I need, want, nor require he, she, or it to threaten me into moral behavior. I do not lie, cheat, nor steal and besides, (pause) I ain't killed nobody in damn near thirty years now." This usually ends the discussion. For the Aristotelian among those who read this, now that I have drawn my warrant, I site as my authority: History and my military service in Viet Nam. History tells us the morals that the Christians claim as "revealed truth" have in fact been (long before their god was invented or their "book" was written) with us since people first chose to live together in diverse groups. These rules are necessary for a peaceful coexistence. We also began to learn these rules in the sandbox about age two, long before being instructed in religious dogma. The fact that I'm not currently incarcerated, and have never been, and hold an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps is proof in it's self that my moral code is valid. My performance during my tour in the marines in combat further validates my position as moral. Being part of an armed force involved in combat present's ample opportunity to commit rape, murder, lie, steal, cheat and pillage. Since my moral code does not include these acts I therefore did not commit them. Not because some mythical god (sic) would consign me to hell, I do so because it is the right thing to do. Now with my morals firmly established, let us proceed to the results of my moral code.
As I watch the good Christians scurrying around worrying about the potentially "hellish" consequences of there sins (and everyone else's). I'm almost amused, would be more amusing if they would stop trying to make their beliefs into laws, [PERSUMABLY so they will not be tempted] and forcing everybody else to conform. What seems to elude these people is the concept of tolerance. Christians have the right to believe anything they so desire. However you DO NOT have the right to force your beliefs on anyone else. For peaceful coexistence, Christians must recognize this FACT and become tolerant. Let us take a quick look at family.
Watching my children mature has been a learning experience. While plodding along resolving the everyday problems, I was brought up short by a paper my eldest child wrote, about her "Dad". It surprised and touched me; in it she stated several of my past deeds. While they are common knowledge within the family, I did not realize that she understood the risk involved in those actions/deeds, or the reasons why I did them. In my mind the deeds/actions were neither, great/ nor noble, just a good idea at the time. She went on to express her gratitude for, and give an explanation of why; my wife and I maintain a frequent dialog with our children. In these discussions no subject is taboo, if they asked a question. They will receive a frank and honest answer. My wife and I will listen to what our children have to say; (as every parent knows, this can be very, very difficult, either in terms of keeping a straight face or squashing your anger) it is imperative that children understand that you respect their right to have an opinion. It may or may not be a good one, but it is theirs.
What my life as an atheist has brought to me can be summed up in one word: PEACE! I'm at peace with myself, and have peaceful feelings for all those well-intended fools that intruded or opposed me earlier. I hope to always hold these truths about myself inviolate. My wife (of 18 years) and I have raised our children to be open minded, self reliant, and face life head on. We have instilled in them the idea they have the RIGHT to be a heretic (from the Greek word meaning choice or to choose). Your life IS what YOU make of it. There is no god who's going to do good things for you, or bad things to you, your success or failure is up to YOU. It is important to be happy and enjoy your ride on our small blue space ship. The most important endeavor, above all else is, DO NO INTENTIAL HARM!
Semper Fi
Lee
Post script: My eldest daughter read the forgoing, her response; "That's my Dad."
NOTE: If you wish comment on the above, my e-mail address is: lee_252@hotmail.com
Good Christians, if you have a logical argument you like to present, please drop me a line. To save us both some time. DO NOT TRY AND "SAVE" ME. To say it in the local vernacular "YOU AIN'T WHAT GONNA DONE IT." If you did not get the point, try this one, "When you weld the crack of dawn, Then I will give seriously reconsider your position." If you are a GOOD, MORAL, AGNOSTIC, ATHEIST and /or HUMANIST, and wish to chat, feel free to drop me a line. That really sounds bias, I'm not as mean spirited as this would imply, I just do not want to wade through all the standard dogma I have already heard, many, many times, and do not want to hear again.