Dear Theist,

Good day! It is your Easter Sunday and your savior has risen… sort of… it is just the anniversary (kind of) of said (alleged) event. I’m an atheist, and I would like to explain why I am one and explain some things for you that may bother you. Of course, I’m going to explain why we atheists are snarky with you. If you don’t bother to read it, because you think you know everything already… well then… I think we found the problem. Before you ask. I have read the bible twice, and studied it in college (I attended a Christian affiliated University.) I have owned numerous bibles. My first was the King James Version. I owned the Beck translation, a children’s adaptation (highly political,) and the best version of the bunch The Revised Standard I used in college. I have discarded all of them except for the RS version. I also have a Quran. It was a gift. I have yet to read it, but I will one day to round out some knowledge one day.

Why I am an atheist. I once was a devoted Christian. I hated the Nationalist thing, but I desired a community where we loved our neighbor. I practiced and prayed hard for the souls around me. I forgave regularly and regardless of the other’s faith or lack of faith I never looked down upon them. My Christian family of course was not on board with that. They persecuted, insulted, and practiced politics of conservatism within the walls of the church’s sanctuary. I despised that. This passive aggressive sanctimonious, arrogance led to cognitive dissonance that did not help my mental health. The final straw for me were the thousands of crosses placed in our church yard representing the fetuses aborted per day. I was a board member on our youth and evangelism board. We were not consulted. The pastor and our board of elders president authorized this political statement by themselves. This fascist decision led to an argument. I told my pastor that your statement is “No forgiveness offered here.” He disagreed with a black/white binary argument about pro-life…. Blah blah blah… it was pro-birth. I left that church and never returned. I did not resign my membership. About five years later I received notice that I had been excommunicated from that church. No big deal.

I meandered for about twenty years or so. I reflected on this faith considerably, read voraciously, learned about humanism in the works of Kurt Vonnegut and others. Bill Bryson gave me context on all the history of nearly all scientific information in a book called The Short History of Nearly Everything. I devoured literature both fiction and non-fiction left and right. I received a Master’s in music education, and started a PhD. My research area was education policy, particularly the interest in music and cognitive development measured by test scores. It was a folly, as the data demonstrated that music does not raise test scores. I learned a lot, found out many of the issues in education all relate to capitalism and neoliberal political philosophy. When my stepson passed that was the last straw. Watching a ten year old die from a one in a billion disease of the liver (Budd-Chiari) demonstrates clearly that an intelligent designer or a god does not exist. If the infallible created imperfection then the infallible is imperfect. There isn’t a purpose for the death, it isn’t some trial… It is just another one of the trillion ways the universe uses to kill our species. The Earth is a fragile rock in our solar system. The life on this rock is fragile. Death is the natural order of life. Once the life is over, there is nothing but memories to carry on the individual’s life by their loved ones and friends. That’s okay.

That is the two cent history of my arrival with atheism. What is atheism? It is simple… atheism is the lack of belief in a god. That is all. It isn’t a faith practice. It isn’t a club. It isn’t religion. I would not even call it a practice of anything. I sit here alone in my lack of belief. I am happier and more content without religion in my life. I don’t think I know any other atheists directly. Just the ones I read in the comment section of a social media page.

But… theists can’t seem to let the atheist be. A theist is just not satisfied until they spread their dissonance like a virus. I’m perfectly okay with you practicing a faith. It does not affect me at all. Unfortunately my atheism bothers you. The theist claims we atheists are persecuting them. We are not. We are simply being snarky with your insistence that we are bad people because of our lack of belief in your god. All I want is a secular life free of the torments of religion within the United States Government. I have no qualms in this accusation. Theists are fascists wanting to instill or oppress others with their idea of faith. Do all theists practice this? No, but the Christian Nationalists sure do. Therein lies the accusation.

Legally, Christian Nationals can’t force their beliefs on the government under the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution was set up for religious freedom without national faith. The country is secular by design. We are not a Christian nation. We are simply a nation where you can be Christian without fear of persecution. Atheists want to live in a nation where we can live without fear of persecution too. Here is where the theist crosses the line. The speaking of politics within your church walls crosses that line. The tenants of god being brought up in the halls of our governance crosses that line. Posting the ten commandments in a secular environment crosses that line. Declaring a war against an Islamic country using god as your battle cry really crosses that line. Forcing your values on others is oppression. An atheist does not oppress. We defend. We defend our right to be secular. I personally want everyone to live their life free of oppression of any kind from the government, theism, racial, sexual, or gender bias of any kind. This is where the practice of humanism comes into play.

Humanism is a philosophical stance that works to recognize the potential of human beings within the social constructs of our culture. The American Humanist Society has a set of ten commitments including: critical thinking, empathy, ethical development, peace and social justice, service and participation, altruism, humility, environmentalism, global awareness, and responsibility. These commitments are based on science, social science and cultural awareness, morality, practice, secularism and independence. The goal of humanism is to keep religion out of our governance without oppressing religious practice, and help humanity survive and prosper. I simply want every human to have their best life, free of biases. We all can be humanists. This atheist is a humanist, but all atheists are free to do as they wish within their morality and the law of their zip code. I choose humanism as this is the closest practice to what my moral code was as a Christian. My moral code was influenced by my family and my community. The church was part of that community until Nationalism invaded those sanctuaries. I have no doubt all the reading I have done contributed a great deal. I sure loved those science fiction books as a kid with the grand utopias and antithetical themes.

Here are some other reasons for my atheist/humanist positions. The pro-life movement. This conservative movement is not about life. They are about birth and there it ends. The movement isn’t about autonomy it is about control. A real pro-lifer would encompass all of the following: Body autonomy (woman’s right to choose their own fate,) no death penalty, medicare for all, free daycare and education K-16, free counseling for trauma and crime victims, rehabilitation instead of punishment for lesser crimes, No three strikes laws, free meals for students at school, and more thorough child services for adoption, fostering, and abuse allegations. Most importantly the LGBTQA and citizens/immigrants of any race should be treated equally as anyone else. Persecution of any of these people is not pro-life. It is a perversion of racial and/or gender/sex bias. …but the bible?? Hogwash… Homosexuality did not enter the bible until 20th century. That is politics of man invading a religious text. Imagine how many more politics of man are in the various translations. Why do Nationalists use the King James Version? It is politically motivated.

Tax exempt status for churches, synagogues, and mosques…etc… The place of worship should only be a place for practicing one’s faith. How to be a better person using the word of god from the Bible, Torah, Quran… etc… If a parishioner or a cleric (pastor,) uses the house of worship to speak of politics or public policy they lose their tax exempt status.

If your business receives or benefits from any tax write offs, grants, or rebates from a government entity, your business must follow all secular laws. One will not discriminate against anyone for the business owner’s beliefs. If one’s business does not receive any government benefits or tax relief, then feel free to exercise one’s beliefs. This may affect your client base, but that is the choice of the business owner and respectfully enforced by the Constitution under “freedom of religion.” This is perfectly fair, because it separates church and state.

Tax monies are for the entire populace and may not go to private hands. This includes school choice vouchers, using private enterprise to perform government service (governance is a zero profit service,) or private charities of any kind to serve a limited populace.

The use of religion in public governance (policy making) beyond the Pledge of Allegiance, Swearing In, or a non-denominational prayer for all in attendance will result in censoring, suspension, or impeachment for all lawmakers. This is the fine line between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Bill we need in all of our legislators. BTW, It is okay to be religious. It isn’t okay to use that religion to steer public policy.

There you have it. Why I am an atheist. I will not apologize for my stance. I am completely unaffected by the judgements of my human peers using their theology. You are simply wrong in your use of said judgements. Your theological texts say that god will be the final judge. The text does not give you that power. I will not live in fear of your hellfire and brimstone preachers or theists with overarching arrogance. Yes, I will be snarky with you. I will ask you justify your position with scientific proof, not religious proof, or here say. I do not need to prove that your god does not exist. I am not the one who believes in them. I am content with saying I don’t know or I am not an expert in something. An “I don’t know” answer is more suitable than saying god did that. Our species is still young in comparison to the universe. It is arrogant to assume we know more than what is tangible and mathematically/scientifically explainable. Look up Dunning-Kruger bias. We all are guilty of this from time to time.

Thank you for reading… I dissent with your theism… I respect your choice… Now please respect everyone else’s choice…

…so it goes…

Best,

MB