Atheists & Agnostics

I was raised very Catholic and remained Catholic myself until my mid 20s. I worked with several people that were talking about being agnostic. I had never even heard of the term and so I asked and was shocked to know that they didn’t believe in God. I wondered if they were devil worshipers because what else was there if you didn’t believe in God? I may have been freaked out by it, but it certainly created a leak in my bubble and began to question things myself that had been buried. Then the dominos fell.

When everybody in your personal and professional circles all believe similarly, you are in a comfortable bubble. But it also makes people afraid to question anything or come to terms with their own doubts. So I feel as my personal duty to not shy away from it and to make it known when there are comments or gestures assuming I am in their club. I don’t preach or attack, just very respectful and mater of fact.

As a vegetarian for as long as I’ve been an atheist, I’m quite used to people freaking out about vegetarianism and making an issue with me all the time. In my hometown in the Midwest, it’s still quite unusual but not most restaurants have options (was t the case 30 years ago) and where I live now it’s not even an issue. That is called progress. My estimate is that at least half of religious people either fall into the category of complacent and naive, or suppressive their questioning because they don’t feel they have a right to. By me making it known, I might possibly be reaching those people. The people that freak out at me just have to deal with knowing people are different. Win win.

The more others know about questioning their faith and understanding that being an atheist is not scary, but it’s very pragmatic and uses critical thinking skills, then more acceptance in society will come. If we are ashamed of it and hide then things will never change. Especially with this march towards religious fascism and theocracy.

We literally have seven Supreme Court justices that are Catholic. Catholicism only makes up 20% of the population and that’s declining more so if the attack on immigration continues. I don’t even know if we have any atheists in elected office. It’s one of the last accepted forms of bigotry in society. You could be a felon, a philanderer, and a traitor but as long as you fake Believe in Christianity, you can be accepted. Atheists are very feared and it is up to us to be like other marginalized groups, and fight for our acceptance.