My Conversion to Atheism: Why I Gave Up Religion and God

It's odd to describe atheism as a religion. But I converted to non-belief. To describe seeing the Universe as amoral and quite godless requires more than platitudes. It's not so much of a belief-in-general but a lack of belief in anything which defies logic, or which cannot be verified. Of all personal belief sets, atheism is perhaps the least understood of all by the great majority of people. Yet for so many of us, it's the only logical choice. As more and more people begin to honestly question the stories told them by their elders, we atheists grow daily in numbers and personal courage to self-identify. I am one of them, and I'm glad for it.

Why I call myself an atheist: Belief in any sort of a "God" appears to be a hold-over from the days when humanity had even less knowledge about the world around them, and at the time, "God" or gods served as the best explanation for the mysteries surrounding us all. But humanity now knows more about the reality which surrounds us, and to continue to insist everything stems from any creator and ignore the facts before us is willful ignorance. There is no need for a illusionary higher power.

Personally, I see life as the greatest joy there can be. Just the fact we exist thrills me. The odds of any one of us even being here are mind-boggling . I just don't see a point to waiting on someone else's description of an "afterlife" when there's quite a bit of life we need to handle here and now.

Some of what people have been told by religious leaders is evil, really isn't. And some things religions endorse, are evil. For example, slavery is evil, yet it's endorsed in the Judeo-Christian bible - Jesus never once decried it and neither did Moses. Punishing a woman for adultery when she's a rape victim is also despicable - but how many times has it happened under Sharia Law? Those are only two among hundreds of such examples. Many religions seem centered around warfare and combat in one way or another.

Perhaps I've always had doubts to what I was being told by preachers. I've never really understood how we were all guilty for something some guy named Adam was said to have done thousands of years ago. I've always been confused why church folks say to not work on Sundays, and then after church go visit a restaurant, and make others work. I've always been a bit repulsed by God's (any of them) incessant demands for blood and death out of one side of his imaginary mouth, while talking about love and peace out of the other. The reasons for not believing what preachers have said ad-nauseum could fill a thousand websites. In fact, they already do.

As for the more agriculturally-based religions, I find them silly. Now that we know more of the science behind the cycles of life on Earth, why keep calling them gods and goddesses? All religions claim to be "the truth," and they can't even agree within their same books. And y'all want me to join you? No thanks. I have chosen to not follow any of them.

It's not usually the followers I have so much trouble with. I've met thousands of both absolutely wonderful, and absolutely terrible people, who just happen to practice all sorts of religions. I grew up in a Christian home, myself. It's also not the concepts of love or charity I find silly. These things really exist. My problem is with the very concept of "God" itself. As far as I'm able to tell, no god has ran any service or written one book, ever. These holy books were all laid out long ago by clever, crafty people, who made sure to add escape clauses, in the event people like myself ever questioned them.

An atheist is not living a life free of sacrifice. Being open about my non-belief has cost me friendships, opportunities and jobs. I'm labeled a fool by Psalms 14:1, a favorite fall-back bible quote of those who wish to avoid any honest, open discussion - usually professional preachers. Living here in the bible-belt, it's fairly common to see a look of scorn towards me on the faces of those who choose to keep the indoctrination they were given as infants, before their brains learned to distinguish fantasy from reality.

And, even with all the reasons I call myself an atheist openly, I'll admit to the smallest possible chance I could somehow be wrong, and there could be some sort of higher power, somewhere. In return, the religious of society make a laundry-list of assumptions about me. Ask any preacher what they think they know about atheists in this country, and see for yourself, the light I'm held in by so many millions of my fellow Americans.

To even broach the subject of non-belief causes confusion and trouble. An atheist can walk into a room full of people debating their own personal beliefs about their religions, and on mentioning their own point-of-view, they will witness that same room full of people unite suddenly in their derision. I've seen it personally, too many times.

Are there any benefits to being an atheist? Many. I'd have to say perhaps the number one benefit is the freedom from undeserved guilt laid upon me, by those who know just as little about what comes after death as anyone else. Since abandoning an imaginary and irrelevant god, I've had less hatred towards strangers and more understanding for my fellow human. I'm also no longer relying on some vague hope to be forgiven, as an excuse to take part in inexcusable behavior, and I do less wrong now, for the sake of not doing wrong. Doing good - when I get the chance and am able to - is it's own reward now more than ever. I do not need any sort of guidance from others for morality. People have a fairly reliable moral compass of their own.

Perhaps the biggest benefit to abandoning the god mythos is the understanding that, in all likelihood, there is no afterlife waiting. The full understanding of the time I have alive is all I have serves to remind me not to waste the most precious of all resources any living creature could ever know. When my body dies, it will become food for worms and my consciousness will cease to be. It's that simple. I'm just lucky to be here, for as long as I will. We all are, whether you believe it or not.