Hello, I'm an Atheist

Hi there folks. My name is Arastide and I'm an Atheist.

How can you tell? Well, you can't really. I could be your friend, neighbour, garbage man, cop...I could be anybody. I tend not to stand out in a crowd. I'm just an average ordinary guy. I go to work. I mow my lawn. I take my wife out for dinner.

I am not a closet atheist. I will gladly admit to anyone who asks what I am. It's not that I am standing proudly bearing the atheist flag, nor do I belong to any atheist club or organization. I am just a guy on this crazy journey trying to make sense of the world around me.

So why the hell are people so scared of me?

I totally believe in the rights of all people to worship the Deity of their choice, or to not believe in one at all. I think this is a fundamental right for everyone. So why is it that Theists froth at the mouth when it comes to people that choose to believe in logic and free will over dogma and control?

I am not a bad person.
I like people. (though I'm starting to like animals more)
I don't carry a gun.
I haven't been in a violent confrontation with anyone since high school
I do not have horns or belch smoke.
I do not eat babies.

I grew up with a family well versed in morals. I learned empathy at a very early age, and though a juvenile delinquent in my hormone flooded youth, I still knew the difference between right and wrong.

I also learned to question all things, and the first thing I began to question was why I was expected to blindly follow the teachings of my church.

When my mother died a horrible death from cancer back in the 60s, I was told that it was "Gods Plan". What kind of big "plan" required my mother to suffer so much pain and suffering?

Later I began to see all the suffering in the world related to religions. Everyone seemed to think they had the right to wage war on those who didn't see the world through their particular god coloured glasses. Every day I see innocent people getting killed because they do not belong to this religion or that religion. What the heck is up with that? Is "Religious Tolerance" becoming an oxymoron?

Even where I live, certain religious denominations are shattering into pieces over the souls of gay couples who love each other. Some say they are abominations, and should not be allowed to exist let alone get married, while others say that they are merely misguided and will find their way with prayer and understanding.

Personally, I think that if two people love each other, power to them. The world definitely needs more love in it.

I am still a spiritual person. When I walk through the woods on a spring day, I feel the life teeming about me, and I know that I am a part of it. I also know that someday, I will shuffle off this mortal coil. What comes after this? I don't know, but I do know that billions have passed this way before me, so I know it is what is supposed to happen.

I am sure that whatever comes after this life is going to be a totally unexpected surprise.

I am not trying to subvert or convert anyone or cause them to sin or anything like that, You can be whoever you want to be and worship whoever you want to.

I just want to be understood and not pitied, prayed for vilified or crucified.

I am happy being who and what I am.

Peace