I’m an Atheist. People hear this from me and are often surprised, because they assume that atheists are completely immoral and promiscuous people. I’m definitely not the first person you would think of to be slapping old people around or out clubbing seals for pleasure. I don’t do these things because I know they’re wrong. I wouldn’t steal even though the only consequence is man’s law. I personally try to live a good life. I don’t do drugs or engage in shady behavior. I treat others well and try my best to do good things, not to get into a heaven or because a holy book tells me to, but because I know in my mind that it’s right to not harm others.
I remember when I was younger and Christian I had never really thought about what I believed; I just went with it because it was what everyone I knew believed and I’d never been shown any different. My brother has always been my role model and at some point in my childhood, he became an Atheist. He told me a lot about how he didn’t believe and I always felt horrible because I “knew” he would be going to Hell someday. Once I myself started doubting my beliefs, I started questioning and found that I may have been wrong all along. Science made so much more sense to me and I felt horrible about it, like I was evil for not being religious. I asked my dad about science and religion together, trying to find a common ground, but it felt like he was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. There were just too many contrasting ideas. When it comes down to it, I put my belief in science without the religious aspect and I feel fine about it. Life is not meaningless to me because of my lack of faith. Life has all the more meaning because I know I have only one life, with nothing after. Why waste it?
Many people think all Atheists will confront anyone with a religion and bash them as much as possible, calling them stupid for their beliefs and explaining why they are so much more intelligent. I myself am very passionate about my thoughts on religion and will back them up if asked, but I will never purposely look for an argument to insult someone on their ideals. In the end, religions and lack there of are just different ways of thinking. If the way you think leads you to be good and content person, we have nothing to bang heads over and good on ya. I even like learning about different religions, not to mock them, but because it is interesting to know how differing people think. Learning about Hinduism, Islam and other religions of the world is something I want to do because it will teach me about aspects of culture that I have no understanding of. (Another misconception that Atheists are know-it-alls. I have so much to learn it’s ridiculous.)
People also expect that just because Atheists are often very passionate, they are close minded to anything involving religion. This is often true of the creator aspect, but not on some of the morals in many beliefs. Things like being kind to your neighbor and other thoughts of peace are incredibly agreeable. I actually continued going to youth group long after I knew I was Atheist, not just for the ping pong and fun people, but because we talked about real world problems and how you can deal with them without hostility. Although religion has lead to bloodshed and bigotry, the basics of it are surprisingly peaceful. Atheists can fall into all the stereotypes they have against them, but the ones who do are atheists for all the wrong reasons. The ones who have truly thought about what they think and have come to a decision, not through rebellion or teen angst, are the ones who you will have no trouble at all coexisting with.
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