I'd like to preface this blog with a statement that most of the time I'm fairly certain I am not an atheist. I am quite aware that this subject is taking quite a different turn from what I normally write on here. However, the other day I had a friend tell me that her boyfriend accused her of being an atheist because she did not want to go to church on that particular day. This statement really hurt and offended her because she considers herself a Christian. While I can understand why she was hurt by this, I also do not see why being called an atheist is really so offensive.
The word atheist is thrown out there like some kind of dark mark on a person, like calling someone an atheist means they are worse than someone who murders puppies for a living. As though an atheist is a person with no moral values who is like to do some of the most criminal and dark things one can imagine. Simply because one does not believe in God, one is considered worse than a killer or something. All I really have to say to this is What The FUCK!??! Really?
My husband, the most kind and caring man I have ever met, is an atheist. This is not something he came to easily. He was raised to believe in God, but was forever asking questions of why, and he finally came to the very hard conclusion that God did not exist. Just because he does not believe in God does not make him any less of a fulfilled person than someone who does believe in God. He is more willing to help people without being asked than most Christian people I know. He genuinely wants the best for people. Why does being an atheist make him seem like a horrible person in the eyes of others then?
I mean, some of the Christians I know are the most judgmental hateful people I have ever met. They use the Bible as an excuse to keep their prejudices and bigotry because God says it is supposed to be a certain.(First of all, God did not write the fucking Bible, a bunch men did, and even if you say oh he was there influencing what they wrote, don't you think they still snuck in some of their prejudices and beliefs?) If God told you to jump off a bridge would you? Probably you would because after all it is God who is talking right. Would you ask "Why God, why do you want me to jump off this bridge? Is it to prove that I believe in you? Is it to save an innocent life, or is it because you are on a fucking power trip?" Would you ask, or would you just do it? My husband asked questions, and he did not get satisfactory answers, so he did not jump off the God damned bridge.
Maybe you are concerned about where your soul will go after you die, so this is why you believe in God. While it is nice to believe that there is some sort of life after death, there really is no proof. What if we all just die, and there is nothing there. Our souls are gone, and we rot and turn to dust. I honestly think it is kind of a beautiful thing to imagine my body becoming part of the earth to be used again by something else, to be part of the soil, the wind, and the rain. Is there something weak or wrong about a person who believes this? I think it takes a lot of bravery to say to yourself, "I don't think there is life after death, but I'm ok with that, so I'm just going to live now and be happy."
I guess what I am trying to say is that the word atheist has a lot of stigma behind it. Some people use it as an almost swearword like insult. I don't really think it is an insult. I think it is a compliment. It is like saying, you are free enough to make your own life decisions, that you really thought about things, and this is the conclusion you came to. It is like saying I am not a sheep who follows blindly, but a person who goes their own way. I mean really. How do we know our God is the true god? The ancient Egyptians, the Romans, the ancient Greeks, and others all believed there gods were real, and now we laugh at that. Who is going to be laughing at us thousands of years from now? Why don't you ask questions?
