Information for Atheists: How to Come to Terms With Your Beliefs, A Personal Account

Before I even begin I want to clear some things up. First off, let's examine the word atheist. According to the Merriam-Webster on line dictionary the entry for the word atheist is; "one who believes that there is no deity". It is that simple, one who does not believe in God, a Goddess, multiple Gods, etc. There is no association with the word atheist and Satanic worshiping, nor being an evil person who believes in anarchy. The word atheist, that does describe many people is simply, "one who believes that there is no deity."

Why do I even waste my time putting the definition of atheist in here? Well, as I grew up I knew the word atheist by a different definition. A unworthy, evil doer, who worshiped Satan, a weak willed, moral less, heathen who's presence on this Earth was no more welcomed than that of Satan himself. Naive yes, but the more and more I talk to people, I've discovered similar beliefs in such a false definition. Poor education, lack of research and so forth continue to allow people to believe that atheists are the evil people I described and much more that is false.

I myself, am an atheist. It's taken me many years of finding myself until I could proudly say that I am an atheist.

So why am I writing about being an atheist and why am I so proud of it? I am writing in hopes of helping people, I am proud of it, because there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Atheism is now considered "the other closet door." According to Barna Research in 2004, 36 million Americans do not believe in God (this statistic includes agnostics). In a study by the University of Minnesota, over 2,000 people were asked which fellow citizens lacked the proper "vision of American society." According to the survey, more than blacks, immigrants, gays, and Muslims, atheists are considered the "least American." Seventy-five percent of Americans are Christians, and according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (1997) seventy-five percent of the prison population is Christian. Atheists make up ten percent of the population, yet only 0.2 percent of the prison population. A bit of a contradiction if I say so myself.

One more statistic before I go into things, George Barna, a Christian sociologist, published three reports in 1999 on a study of divorce rates amongst religious backgrounds. Born-again Christians were 27% likely divorce, mainstream Protestants were 24% likely, and atheists and agnostics 21%.

So why do I put numbers up that show that atheists are less likely to divorce and go to prison? Just to show you that atheists are not bad. And while I'm at it, let me clear up one more misconception. Atheists are not Satan worshipers. See, being that atheists don't believe in God, means they don't believe in Satan either. As far as most atheists are concerned, "The Holy Bible" is a large book of fictional stories, not unlike the "The Iliad". No atheists worship Achilles anymore more than they worship Jesus or Satan. So now that we've got that out of the way, let's continue.

I was born into a conservative religious home. My family is from North Carolina, which while not in the heart of the ���â'¬Å¡ï¿½ï¿½"Bible Belt���â'¬Å¡ï¿½ï¿½ it is the home of Billy Graham and has deep religious roots. My family comes from an assorted Christian backgrounds with one grandmother being raised Catholic, and the other one Pentecostal Holiness. So between my parents I had just about all Christian denominations covered.

Much of my family attends weekly/bi-weekly church events, but my immediate family did not. I would occasionally attend with my cousin whenever I visited, being that my aunt taught the Sunday school, but for the most part growing up I was not actively involved in the church. My father's military obligations moved us every two-three years, so constantly changing churches was not really something that interested him. We did however, attend for a short while in Orlando, Florida, but with the pressure of my father's work schedule and my general distaste for the Awana's our participation slowly dwindled down.

This was not to say I was completely "unchurched." My family was extremely supportive in self-teaching with the use of Christian books, books on tape and so forth. Over time I would go through phases, as most children due, with my faith. I would beg and plead to go to the Christian bookstore, where I'd usually buy a book too advanced for my level and interest in faith. I would listen to "The Holy Bible" on cassette tape via my Walkman every night after my prayers. I peppered my walls with little Christian paintings with popular Bible verses on them. Christian television channels became a source of consistent entertainment and a way for me to see into the heart of multiple churches. This all occurred at the age of ten.

Like most kids, I was annoying and asked too many questions. In regards to faith two very important questions came up in my life very early, I would say around the age of five or six. My first question was, "When people died and went to Heaven, what age would they be? The age that they died? Meaning if a baby was born still-born, would it never have a conscious and be a baby, and would old people stay old forever?" My second questions was, "Does God know everything that is going to happen, and if so why doesn't he stop the bad things from happening?" Both questions were answered to the best of my mother's ability but neither answer truly satisfied me.

As I hit puberty and move along into a more interactive school environment, my interest in religion went to the back burner. I still prayed nightly, and would read my Bible on occasion. But for the most part, I stopped searching for the truth. I never once doubted Jesus or his love for me, but sports, video games, and girls came first. That was until high school ended.

I graduated high school early and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. With life being more calm and with more time to myself, I began to indulge myself back into my faith. The Bibles were wiped free of dust, and I began at the beginning and slowly worked my way through. I can honestly say I didn't not go from to back cover, but Revelations interested me in my younger days, and let's just say I stopped just a couple chapters short. I used the Bible as my tool, searching for answers to every problem I encountered. I felt the Holy Spirit move through me, and yet I knew I needed a little more guidance.

Luckily, my best friend Anthony was quite religious himself. Growing up Catholic, he soon branched away from his roots and move onto a more liberal non-denominational view of Christianity. We made exploring our beliefs together a important part of our friendship. We both became increasingly fond of the writings of Max Lucado, which our local Wal-Mart provided plenty of his books. We'd buy the same books, compare notes, talk late into the mornings. We'd work on religious exercises together, Bible verses, and so on. For close to a year, our conversations revolved around religion and girls and nothing more.

I felt closer to God than ever. I began to day-dream about becoming a minister and even did some internet research into what it would take. I attempted to more center my life on the moral basis of Christianity (I've never drunk alcohol, used tobacco or drugs, so it wasn't much of a stretch) but I felt safer keeping my bases covered.

I questioned nothing. I knew that God existed and there was nothing that could change my mind. Jesus Christ was my Savior and I had accepted him into my heart in a tearful repenting of my sins and was ready to become one of God's soldiers. I thought negatively about non-believers, abortions, homosexuals, and other religious groups, however I blamed the sin, not the sinner. I knew they were simply confused and that Jesus would one day deliver them peace. I was more than ready to debate the existence and merciful power of God with anyone. I was a proud Christian.

This all occurred between the ages of seventeen and twenty in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis is located inside "The Bible Belt" which is an area of the country where conservative Christians tend to exist in mass quantity. The small town where I lived was a town with a church on every corner. Mostly the churches were of the Southern Baptist nature, but all denominations were represented accordingly. There is a joke when it comes to Memphis, that the first question a newcomer is asked is "What is your name?" And the second question is, "What church do you go to?"

The importance and pride in one's church was an increasing battle non-church goers face in a town like Memphis. (As a side note, Memphis has one of the worst crime rates in the country, despite it's large population of Christians) Everyone's church was the best and their denomination was the true denomination of God. And despite the advantages of self-studying, the church life was admired and treated with much respect unlike the reclusive studying in your own home. Both Anthony and I felt our relationships with Christ grew stronger when it was just us and him. No disruptions, no singing, and no false teachings by a swayed minister. Myself, The Good Book, and God, all the keys for a successful life, and a great after life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Slowly I became sucked into the hoorah of church going. As I hoped to strengthen my faith with fellow Christians, I came face to face with differing opinions and the constant bickering of what denomination was right, and who was and wasn't going to hell. I seeked out more active Christians and even more liberal Christians only to find the same conclusions from them. This lead me to wonder what denomination was the right denomination to lead me to Heaven.

Research began quickly as I found myself desiring to help spread my faith to others but an appropriate venue was needed. I began with the two sects of Christianity that I felt would not interest me that being Jehovah Witness and The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Luckily, I had a good friend who was very active in the Jehovah Witnesses and he helped clear up any questions that left lingering after my own research. My conclusion of the Mormon Church was no different that of the Jehovah Witness, their beliefs were too far from the core Bible to be a true Christian belief. So I moved onto anything and everything else.

Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, the list goes on and on, but I looked into each very throughly. In my research I would look at the history of the church, it's current belief structure, the contribution to charity, and so on. I would go in and out of individual church websites for Memphis and it's surrounding areas. Who is the pastor what is his credentials? How large and active is the congregation? Questions like these were what I asked myself page after page.

Now I want to make sure you realize that I know, no church is perfect. Of course, a church is man made and fallible to man's failures. So I was not elimination churches by my questioning, simply trying to find what church presented the best options to further myself as a Christian.

The one factor that began to bother me both by my research and by simple observation was the constant upgrading of churches. The churches in my area were constantly on the move, by building large "mega churches". Churches from the outside more closely resembled a shopping mall than a place of worship. It became a competition between congregations, even within the same denomination on who can have the biggest church, largest congregation, and most community activities based around the church?

These churches provided indoor walking tracks, basketball courts, gyms, computer labs, one-hundred foot tall crosses, daycares, million dollar audio/visual presentations, lasers and lighting that puts professional wrestling to shame. And while, nothing is wrong with these extras, there were several poor areas around town that really could have used the churches assistance. Millions and millions of dollars were wasted on a silly elementary contest of who is superior, when the money could have been spent better on improving the community, assisting the poor, feeding thousands of African children, and so forth. While I disagreed with the idea that God had blessed such a congregation in order to build a larger house of worship with unnecessary perks, I believed that in the heart the churches were right doing what they thought best.

Despite my slight irritation in the church situation, my worries only began to reveal themselves when I finished my list of denominations with no agreement or interest in any. I found so many contradictions within each sect of Christianity I began to wonder myself if maybe I was in the wrong religion after all? I mean, Jesus was a Jew, and the Jews are God's chosen people, so why not look into Judaism? Which of course, upon researching I learned the God of Abraham or the God of Christianity was the same God that the Jews worshiped as well as the Muslims. This lead me into researching Islam as well.

For the first time in my life my faith was in doubt. I had opened up Pandora's box only to reveal a world that seemed to only exist in fairy tales. A world that was made up of many religions that seemingly overlapped each other. My emotions and self-esteem plummeted as I found myself wondering if everything I had whole heartily believed was possibly false. Could I survive such a shock to the system if I found it to be true? But I prospered onward in hopes of finding something negative in other religions that would draw me running back, tail between my legs toward my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

After hours upon hours of praying, I decided I would talk to my friends and fellow Christians about my faith in question. All solutions for all problems were in the Bible, maybe I was just missing it. I approached anyone and everyone I could talk to in regards of the subject. I was a lent books that tackled the resurrection of faith, or members of the flock that wondered and what brought them back. I read these books, like a thirsty drunk drinks liquor, but no benefit was to come. I contacted members of clergy through the internet and via telephone only to get no more assistance than my friends could offer. It was finally proposed that maybe I was just in a "rut" in regards to religion and God would set me straight, just to give it time. So I did. Months passed, and nothing happened except I slipped into a deep depression.

I began to read "The Holy Bible" for what it is, an incomplete contradiction. No longer blinded by pure faith, I began to see through the Bible and then science came into play. Now being the Christian that I was, I chalked this up to Satan's working and his manipulation of my mind. So I continued to pray for a sign, or for Jesus to just appear to me in order to bring peace to my mind, but time was running out. Something was awoken in my mind and I like to call it reason. Common sense began and the idea of a single man fitting two of every species in a single boat was absurd. When I questioned the subject, I was given one of two answers, either God made all the animals get along in order for them to survive, or The Bible was not written to be taken literally and it was simply a metaphor. (I still chuckle at the idea of a T-Rex huddle in a corner, quietly sitting and not destroying everything after one-hundred and fifty days of being rocked back and forth by the flood.)

Another burning question that lay dormant in my mind for many years was, if God made the Earth in six days and rested, what did he do before that? Where did God come from? Did God have a father that created him?

After some time I ran across a definition of deism. Deism is the belief in God and that's all. No Holy Books, no dogma, as Thomas Paine put it, "God exists, and there it lies." Once reading that line something a light bulb went off over my head and I felt rejuvenated. The religion or philosophy of many of our fore-fathers was deism and being the history nut that I am, that appealed to me greatly. I first took the stance that I believed in God, and that Jesus Christ was divine, but there were obvious holes throughout the Bible.

Deism got me through and gave me a place to rest. I began reading up on the topic, and substituted Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason" for my Bible. I actively lurked in deist discussion groups on line and slowly began to reveal my new found beliefs to my friends. But instead of being embraced for being happy, I was shunned, forgotten, and left to rot. No one wanted to associate with a non-believer. And as much as it hurts me to admit this, only one friend truly stood by, and one other distanced herself.

So, I know what your thinking, I took the easy way out. I gave into the Devil's temptation only to take the first opening I could find. There is nothing further from the truth. This took years of searching, researching, and praying. And even once I found deism, I was not done. The guilt and empty hole inside where my Christian beliefs one lived was not filled. I knew of no one else that believed anything but in Christianity, and I desperately desired to find some assurance by an educated person.

The one thing that my research did reveal is that the more educated a person was, the less likely for them to believe in God. Science tends to open your mind to questioning, and requires evidence before arriving to any given conclusion. Religion was the exact opposite, if you question or ask for proof, the scape goat answer of "You just need faith," occurs. If you really push for the science part, many hack community college professors have made a career with absurd unfounded "scientific" claims regarding Noah's Ark, Jesus' resurrection, David and Goliath, and so on.

I knew I did not have any immediate access to scientists, but I did know I could probably see a shrink. Besides I had other burning questions regarding girls, school and so on. I figured maybe for once I could meet a person who would tell me I was not crazy or losing my mind or even going to Hell for that matter. Maybe I was right, and was one of the few who broke away from the flock only to see the flock was being lead to the edge of a cliff. Now, I might also mention, my desire to see a shrink was also the guilt of rejecting God's Holy book, caused me to have suicidal thoughts. I would tear back and forth between the thoughts being the work of the Devil or the fact that if I could not live in God's mercy, than I need not to live. So I cannot honestly say just for someone to tell me I was "right" was the sole purpose for seeing a doctor.

So I showed up for my first appointment and we get down to business pretty quickly. I explain my situation, my confusion, my insane thoughts, and to my complete and utter shock I am told that my thoughts are "wrong." It was then and only then did I notice the charm bracelet full of crosses. My shrink was a proud member of the Southern Baptist following and spent the following thirty minutes arguing my claims for the falsehood of the Bible. I left feeling worst than I went in but more it was probably for the better.

I attended weekly appointments with the shrink for four-six weeks. I was eventually prescribed lexapro to clear my judgment and relieve the stress. It was during the two weeks of taking a pill everyday that I came to the conclusion that I was 20 years old, already on an anti-depressant, and was allowing a 2,000 year old book to drive me to the brink of insanity. I took my pill for two weeks and then I stopped. I went to my last appointment, informed the doctor I would not be returning and that I had ended my medication. She informed me that it was not safe to just stop taking an anti-depressant and asked me to come in for one last appointment. I politely told her no and decided that it was time to take control of my life.

I embraced the idea of deism and was given some comfort to know that the God I worshiped everyday for the past fifteen or so years was still there watching over me and taking care of me. But the more and more I read the Bible I slowly began to lose faith in the divinity of Jesus. So I took my next step down, and decided that from my intense research and observation the idea of a man being divine was not logical and on with my life I went.

I changed jobs, being to inquire about attending school, gave up on worrying about relationships, and decided to make the best of my life. I still prayed to God to lead me to the light, and if the light was Jesus than to just give me the slightest proof of his existence. I would constantly invoke the name of Thomas the Doubter and his desire for proof. Nothing came, and on life went.

A few months later I met Stephanie, my wife. We had a brief relationship during my religious crisis phase, but nothing came out of it. I knew that Stephanie came from a religious background and was quite religious herself. During our very first conversations she spoke of attending church and wanting to become more active herself. I toyed with the idea of telling her my beliefs, and what had happened to me, but decided to just let her know that I had lost my faith yet, stilled believed in God. For some odd reason, when you tell people you still believe in God, they tend to have a better opinion of you. It's almost as if they know there is still a chance to save you, and that you are half way there.

She emphasized that her faith was important to her, but then the topic was dropped. We dated for several months and things became serious between us. The more serious as things became, so did her desire to save me from eternal damnation. Minor squabbles and debates came up in regards to religion, and being that the wound was not healed I gave in. I figured maybe with her guidance, she could show me the missing link and reunite my Christian beliefs. Her family held religion in a high regard, so I figured if any more assistance was needed I had a place to lean on.

We decided to attend one of the "mega churches" grand openings. My mind shifted between the boredom of the horrible singing and the desire to leave with a good message from the sermon. Steph's face looked dreary when she would look over at me and realize I was miserable. The hour or so of singing was of no interest to me and it looked as if a fight was on the horizon with Steph. I listened intently to the minister and attempted to reconnect with Christ, but I felt nothing. Common sense was standing in the way, but so was an unhappy woman I desperately wanted to be with. So when the minister asked for anyone who'd like to be "saved" or "re-saved" to step up, I rose from my seat.

We re attended the same church the following week. Steph was ecstatic that she had helped me find Christ, but deep down inside I felt guilty for denying my own mind. However, with her rejuvenated support and my foot halfway in the door, why should I not try my best to make good for the promise I had made. The music continued to bore me, and the lack of Jesus did too. A two and a half hour service, that contained 20 minutes of actual discussion of Christ and his teachings was pointless to me. But I prevailed, and for the next several weeks I attended the church by myself.

A revival came up shortly there after and it was billed to be the biggest service yet. I anxiously anticipated the date to come, when other speakers would be there to perform sermons as well, and hopefully less singing. I was doing okay, ignoring the offering plate, ignoring the lack of sympathy for the poor and community outreach, I was even okay watching some of the most hateful people I ever knew in my entire life, praising the Lord and worshiping for hours on Sunday, only to go back out into the real world during the week and commit sins and make people miserable. Then, came up the head of the Tennessee Southern Baptist Convention. Instead of focusing on teaching the word of God, almost an hour was spent on pridefully congratulating this new church on becoming number two in the state in Baptisms, just behind the other mega-church across town.

It was if an alarm went off in my head, that the constant push for people to be saved, and the over the top spectacular of the weekly baptisms was more about numbers, pride, funding, etc. than it was about uniting people with Christ. I talked to everyone about it in hopes to seeing that I was wrong. I became so enamored with the idea, that I called the church in order to set up a meeting with the head pastor. Of course he was too busy to meet with me, so I was put in contact with an assistant minister. I hoped that he could answer my questions in regards to my loss in faith, questions about the church and what it did good, and everything else that had been building up for a while. However, as I anxiously awaited in his lobby, flipping through magazines, I looked around at how much money had been blown to make this church look the way it did and began to doubt his help.

My doubts were realized when I entered his office and began to discuss my situation and he stopped me almost immediately to ask if I was baptized. He stated that was the most important thing that we needed to focus on since I was still within the devil's grasp was to be baptized immediately. He wanted to schedule me for that Sunday, and even offered to do it himself. I told him even the Catholics believed that you can be baptized postmortem. (I had a friend who was a die hard Catholic and brought me both the abridged and unabridged catechism) I forcefully shoved my chair backwards and stormed out. Of course, I told everyone else that I felt his pressure for baptism was too much and he just didn't help. I left out me becoming aggravated with him.

A month or so went where we did not attend church and I settled down to catch my bearings. I really wanted it to work, and figured I just found a bad church. I mean, there were HUNDREDS in the area, I must have picked the bad apple. So our quest began to find a decent church, and we tried a wide variety. Methodist, Baptist, Non-Denomination, The Calvary Chapel, and so on. I recruited my Christian friends to accompany me and Steph to their churches or friend's of their churches to only find that nothing fit. We usually would attend a church multiple times to be sure that we didn't catch them on a bad day, but nothing seemed to work.

The self esteem, the pride, the common sense could not be knocked and slowly but surely our relationship headed into that brick wall. The last huge fight we've have ever had, came inside my car on a cold, rainy Sunday morning when I finally got the up the balls to refuse to force beliefs that I did not hold true. There were tears, silence, and I'm sure the thoughts of if this relationship would work, but we made it through it.

Steph still desired to be in a church environment and I explained the Unitarian church's open policy. I too desired the community feeling of a church, filled with activities and good people. So we decided that whenever possible we'd attend the Unitarian church. Unfortunately, I worked weekends but Steph was off, so she ventured out to come back with wishy washy opinions of the church. We decided unless we could attend together, we would probably not attend..

I began to involve myself in a deism forum and met a local Memphian on there. We decided to meet up at the local Starbucks to discuss our falls from grace, and our new founded beliefs. While I was still in my infancy, this gentleman had given up his Christian roots over ten years ago. His wife was a fundamentalist, but they continued a good relationship and knowing that was important to me since Steph still had her convictions but mine were slowly fading. We met up several times over the course of a month or two, only for me to find that with talking about deism, I even began doubting my belief in that. Our final meeting consisted of a conversation on whether deism was simply a stepping stone down to agnosticism or atheism. We never met again.

Steph ended up meeting up with us in some our final meetings and for once her eyes were open to the fact that there were people out there that did not believe in Christianity. The religious conversation was re sparked in our relationship but this time it was met with a more delicate and understanding nature. She had let her guard down and even confided that she too had many doubts over her life. And not unlike me, almost felt as if she was lying to herself just to keep from having to face down the idea that the faith she believed in for so long might not be true.

Many discussions regarding faith occurred. I presented evidence and writings for her to read in regards to religion, but in no way did I push her. I was satisfied with being together and her attending church and me not. However, once she decided to look outside the box she too realized that the world was much larger than she thought. Quantum physics, deism, Buddhism, contradictions of the Bible were nightly discussions. She kept pretty silent on what she thought, while I began to feel that being agnostic was the best for me.

For those of you who do not know, agnostic is one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god. I admitted I did not know, and was unsure if God really existed or did not. Religion and philosophy were forced to the back burner in order to deal with more pressing matters in our lives, only to reemerge once the pieces began to fall into place.

About a year or so ago, I knew that I was an atheist. But I also knew the stigma that came with using that word to describe me. I feared it. I feared that if I were to come out as an atheist, I would lose my friends as I once did, only to be shunned again. I decided to keep it to myself in order to prevent any complications with family members as well. I would dabble with the concept some here, and some there, but I was just not ready to dive off into the deep end.

A couple months ago I finally got the nerve to change my MySpace to say Atheist. I waited for a backlash and nothing occurred. I decided it was really time to embrace science as a whole. In doing so I discovered a lot of great atheists that I never knew existed in both the academic and entertainment fields. Most importantly, Penn and Teller, two staunch atheists that support the idea that you should be just as proud as being an atheist as a Christian is about being a Christian. Why should you sit silent and allow other people to spread their beliefs and you not your own?

So there it is, I'm an atheist and proud of it. For once in my life I am a happy. I am content on living my life by doing well for others, treating people the way I want to be treated, and just being a good friend. I have never drunk alcohol, smoked or used tobacco, nor have I ever dabbled in narcotics. I have no fear of death, nor do I fear the after life/or lack there of. I am content knowing what I know and love being me.

I wrote this not only to really help close the chapter on this in my life, but to also help people. Stephanie, my wife is now also an atheist and like me just denied it for a long time. From the people we've encountered most people have said that they needed to meet just one person outside their little circle that believed differently in order to have the faith and courage to step away from the flock. I did it the hard way. I had no good examples and knew no one personally. Had I known someone the transition could have been a lot easier. I put my story out here for anyone who needs to know someone, to let them know that they are not alone.

It is also to let you know that atheists are not evil and just because you don't follow an ancient book that permits the torture of your children, selling your daughter into slavery, illogical stories with no historical basis does not mean you cannot be a good person. You have a moral compass, you know right from wrong, and you don't need religion to show you that. And don't believe the hype when people say this country is a "Christian" country or was founded by Christians. It was not, and freedom of religion (or lack there of) is protected in the Constitution, a paper that I take very seriously.

And for the record, I am not confused. I am not tempted by the devil or being controlled by Satan. And while I'm at it, there is no sense in praying for my soul. I've already denied The Holy Spirit, which according to Mark 3:29 is the one unforgivable sin. So according to your text, I'm doomed to burn for eternity anyway, so save your prayers for someone who needs them.

Becoming an atheist was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life. To be perfectly honest it almost killed me. I stood in front of a mirror several times with a bottle of sleeping pills, caffeine pills and so on, hoping for the courage to take them to end the suffering. But what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right? Today, I am a well adjusted, happy guy, who is a skeptic that doesn't take life too serious. In fact, I try to live my life pretty close to how Jesus did. I try help those that need help, I do my best to speak only the truth, I cherish my friendships and so on.

I still celebrate Christmas and I have no problems with anyone saying Merry Christmas. I do believe in a strict separation of church and state, and see no reason for our money to have ���â'¬Å¡ï¿½ï¿½"In God We Trust���â'¬Å¡ï¿½ï¿½ printed on it (it didn't have this until the 1950's during the ���â'¬Å¡ï¿½ï¿½"Red Scare) and I truly see no reason for the Ten Commandments to be in any government building. However, you won't see me picketing outside of a court house to have them removed either.

There is plenty of room for all of us on this Earth. Don't force you views and I won't force mine. Just keep in mind that today's religion is tomorrow literature.

I hope for anyone for whom my text does not apply that at least you take away that you have a friend or associate who is an atheist, and that atheists can be firm in what the believe and not be evil. And I challenge you to exit your bubble, open the box, do some research with an open mind. Do not suppress your common sense, but seek the truth. Ask yourself if you really chose your religious beliefs or were you born into them and too lazy to look elsewhere? To be truly happy, is to be true to yourself.

I'll quote the great Carl Sagan to finish this, "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

"Atheists identified as most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study." University of Minnesota URL: (http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find)

"Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians" Barna Research URL: (http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=170)