Confession Time

I just read a linked post from George Takei about atheism, and then I saw some posts on Facebook from a friend who is super Christian. I feel like sharing. Disclaimer: No offense, really.

I was raised in a house that had no established religion. My mother made sure I knew that I could explore and practice what I wanted with no judgement. I went to church a few times (a calvary chapel), checked out two Buddhist temples, read the Bible about a third of the way through, and learned bout Islam in seventh grade. I do not at all claim to be an expert. However, with that said, I still came to the conclusion that I do not believe God (as humanity has described Him/Her) exists. I am an atheist.

I don't usually tell people this because I have this feeling they will immediately judge me and look down on me. Even if they already have an established relationship with me, they will suddenly think that I am immoral, wrong, lazy, a jerk, something else negative.... But then, I am guilty, too. It's a leftover from when I was younger and thought I knew everything (don't all teenagers and young adults feel this way?). I used to downgrade my opinion of someone when I found out they believed in a god. I would high five someone mentally when I found out they were a skeptic. I would laugh at jokes of religious people being denigrated because I thought I was edgy and knew the truth.

The truth? Life is hard. As much as I love science (I teach it, after all), it cannot answer everything. Nor does it try, but that is a whole other can of worms. Anyway, as much harm as some aspects of some religions do, I don't really care what someone else believes. I used to call religion a crutch, but everyone needs help getting through this existence we have an a rock orbiting an average star in an ordinary galaxy that will someday cease to exist. If they leave me alone, I could care less how they cope. I just wish I could be more honest about myself since being non-religious is still so frowned upon.

Also, keep your religious views out of our laws. Does the Establishment Clause ring a bell?