Why I Am A 13-Year-Old Atheist

[cleanhippie]

My atheism, like many things, has many causes. Thousands of different factors, all thrown at me to produce who I am and what I believe. One of the biggest things that played into my atheism was exposure to everything. I was exposed at a very young age, to church. We never actually attended a Sunday service, but I went to a Bible day camp. Now one thing I must get straight is that my parents are just as atheistic as I am. However, I didn’t find that out until i was seven. I think that they wanted to let me make my own choice and expose me to everything. Every summer for around three years, I went to the church next door every day for a week. It was fun, I had a good time, and never got the subliminal messages about God. Never really knowing too much about religion, I just thought that it was a big game. However, one thing I did notice was the fact that all of these people were a little odd. I later found out, that this oddity is called religion.

--snip--

Now one thing that I have found out, is that many people simply don’t care. A lot of people will accept you, no matter what you believe. Other people, however, freak out on you and never speak to you again. I know this may sound corny, but these people aren’t worth befriending anyway. I used to never tell anyone that I was an Atheist. It was horrible, because if people don’t know your beliefs, they will assume that you have the same beliefs as they do. With most people, this is actually a good thing. However, with the right-wing, Bible thumper-hardcore-zombies (yes, they do exist), it gets pretty bad. And then you start getting invited to ‘Jesus camp’ and the Element.

--snip--

So, in conclusion, Atheism really doesn’t affect my life that much. Many people talk about how depressed they would be if they were an atheist, but I feel quite the opposite. I feel like I lead a great life. And I do lead a great life, because I feel like I do (This, unlike proof of god, is an acceptable use of circular logic). I don’t lead a good life because of what I believe, but because of my actions.


http://blessedatheist.com/2011/06/05/why-i-am-a-13-year-old-atheist/

[RKP5637]

1. America is a very strange place. We spout all of this stuff about individual freedom,

equality, basically the right to be as you are. And then individuals/groups/institutions spend gobs of time and money trying to brainwash others to be just like them. Like most of earth, this nation is filled with so many conflicts. Then layered on that are wars. So are humans F'ed up or what. IMO it's a very immature species.

[cleanhippie]

3. I agree with you.

I wonder sometimes, what our species would be like if we had shed this irrational belief in the supernatural 100, 500, or 1000 years ago.

Considering the sheer amount of progress we have made in jut the last 100 years (more than nearly ALL of the rest of our existence combined), we may very well be traveling the galaxy by now had it not been for the regressive beliefs we hold.

[RKP5637]

5. I think all of this irrational belief in the supernatural places a very heavy weight on

everyones shoulders. I completely understand how it came about IMO, life was so horrific there had to be something better someplace than what mankind endured. ... but to blindly continue, to wage wars, to feed hatred and bigotry ... it's often like this species needs some in depth psychoanalysis.

[rrneck]

6. If you want to get rid of religion

the greatest threat to its existence is sports. There's really no difference between a revival meeting and "the wave" at a ball game.

We're designed for cooperation to feel good. It keeps the lights on and ice in our Scotch. It seems to me that religion is unavoidable and indispensable for a successful culture.

Imagine a natural resource that is tasteless, odorless, and virtually unlimited. Plus, if you need a spike in supply you can always gin one up at will. And it's a natural resources that requires almost no infrastructure or capital investment to exploit.

Human emotion.

[Warpy]

8. I keep thinking we're just the rough draft for intelligent, technological life

on this planet. My money is on the cephalopods to be the next intelligent species once we stop killing them off for dinner. They are intelligent but they seem to lack our capacity for murdering each other.

[RKP5637]

9. One of my friends calls humans a failed extraterrestrial experiment. The more

one thinks about that, at least to me, the more it makes sense. In short, I don't think humans are going to make it. Too much effort is made by humans trying to destroy the species while feeling self righteous. Earth will survive just fine, I sadly don't think we will.

[trotsky]

10. The biggest problems we face stem from our early evolution...

as tribal primates. The "us vs. them" mentality that our most persistent memes (religion being the most notable) tap into may have worked great in fostering group unity and survival when groups were few and far between. Not so much anymore.

[RKP5637]

11. Excellent point! We need more cooperation and less competition and

diversionary tactics.

[RC]

2. I started questioning when I was 6 years old.

If God was so kind and loving then why did you have to know about him (Jesus) and believe to get into Heaven? What about all those people in Africa that never had a chance to learn about him? My mother said they would spend eternity in purgatory because they didn't believe. That struck me as being wrong.
I figured out there wasn't any Santa Claus either around that time.
We went to church every Sunday and both my parents were active in the church.

Now, if I as a 6 year old could figure this out, why can't otherwise rational adults do so?

[trotsky]

4. Yep, I was the same way.

Too many things just did not make sense. But being a "good Christian" I suppressed those things that made me uncomfortable to think about and of course played the "god's mysterious ways" card to myself hoping I would eventually be able to accept it. Eventually I just couldn't live with the intellectual dishonesty. Some folks can.

[RKP5637]

7. In short, it's a real head twister. I read once about a guy completing his Ph.D. in

paleontology, but yet at the same time believed the world was only about 6,000 years old.

Yeah, I used to get the "god's mysterious ways" crap all the time when I was young. When I was around 6 or so I decided religion was all a total bunch of BS. None of it fit IMO any rational logic. I asked questions, too many, as they threatened to throw me out of Sunday School.

So I endured thinking what a total bunch of BS, same as I think today.

Now, if people need that storyline fine, if it works for them, but what really really pisses me off are those that try to force it on others, and especially the political operatives that want to make this country into a theocracy.