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How do you tell religious people that you're an atheist?
gearl comments on Oct 23, 2017:
If they ask me what religion I am or what I believe, I say that I’m atheist. I might add that I live in a small extremely religious town and at the present time I'm about the only nonbeliever here that I know of. I haven't had much blow-back.
Are you an open or closet agnostic/atheist, and why?
gearl comments on Oct 23, 2017:
Open I don’t get in people’s faces but: I would join a march. I would be in a debate if asked. I have a bumper sticker that announces to all that “I am going to hell in every religion” I try not to inflame reactions while not backing down from argument. I try to keep a sense of humor.
Should religion be taught in schools?
gearl comments on Oct 22, 2017:
A college comparative religions class helped me when I first started questioning. A class on the Bible would be dynamite if it could be taught by a non-believer. How long was a creative day? Where did the light come from on day one when the sun wasn’t created till day four? What is the firmament? How did plants live without the sun? If the stars are 13.82 billion years old why does the Bible say they were created on the same day as the moon which is about 4.5 billion years old? Is science wrong? Why are there two different Genesis accounts? Alas, that will never happen in a Bible class as religion classes are taught by believers with the hard questions left out. So NO.
When did you first doubt religion?
gearl comments on Oct 22, 2017:
I’m jealous! I was a believer until after 40. I left at 39 but continued searching for a few years. I divorced at 39 and remarried at 51, by which time I was agnostic. I guess I’m a slow learner. My wife is Catholic and wanted our daughter to learn Catholicism but after attending CCD for a year she had had enough. Later when she asked me about the Bible, I gave her one to read. Start at Gen 1: 1 and go for it. She made it all the way to Lot and he having sex with his daughters did her in. She’s been an atheist since. She was about nine at the time. My wife is very understanding about it and respects our stance and the way I handled it. I think it is wonderful that now so many young adults are already thinking critically.
I am going through a very rough patch in my life right now.
gearl comments on Oct 22, 2017:
I was a very religious person up until age 39 when I finally saw the light so to speak. During that time I periodically had bouts of terrible “bad luck” which would last for a period of time. When I left the church, I lost my wife and family and all my “friends.” It was a difficult time, to say the least, but when things got better they got much better. Either the “bad luck times” were just things I was bringing on myself or I simply developed a more rational attitude toward them. A great load was lifted from my shoulders and I wasn’t guilty for things I should never have been guilty for in the first place. I remarried and we had a girl that has grown into a wonderful young lady and I’m happy and don’t really believe in luck. You already seem to have a good attitude so you’ll be fine, which it seems you already know, so I’m just trying to reinforce that attitude.
Is there a documentary or book that really changed the way you thought about life?
gearl comments on Oct 22, 2017:
There were many but “1984” was most influential. I was a JW and the similarity was so evident. Twenty-five years later “The God Delusion” was instrumental in my finally accepting myself as an atheist rather than just labeling myself an agnostic.
Atheist, Humanist, Secularist, Skeptic, Freethinker
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