Who We Are
There have been many famous atheists over the years and there are many today. Our numbers are growing every day. Atheists are normal people from every walk of life. We are politically conservative and liberal, we are kind and unkind, we are good and bad, we are brilliant and stupid, we are generous and greedy, we are talented and without talent. Therefore, we are human.
However, atheists have one thing in common: we do not subscribe to gods, fairies, or any other myths. Science, fact, and reason are our guide. These things we hold in the highest esteem. Most atheists see organized religion as ultimately bad for the development of society. Belief in these myths is a holdover from our human past as we grew from primitives to sentient beings. We believe there is true enlightenment and freedom in letting go of these myths.
Hi my name is
Helen Mitzman. Today I am a happy lifetime member of American Atheists - the result of an unhappy childhood in a religious institution. Following my parents’ divorce, my father decided that a convent would best serve the religious needs of my two sisters and me. The convent managed by a religious order of strict disciplinarians punished children for the smallest infraction. For example: A playground cartwheel drew an hour in a broom closet - the consequence of bed wetting was more severe - attendants draped urine soaked bed sheets over the offenders head as they knelt bedside for an hour.
Cruel punishment from servants of God and the threat of God’s hell and purgatory caused great damage to self esteem and courage. I began to question the wisdom of religion and existence of God, eventually discarding both. A turning point came with a Chronicle front page ad “Breaking Away” - referring to religion with an invitation to join American Atheists. I eagerly joined and found peace loving people dedicated to the protection of nonbelievers from an over-riding force which seeks to implant religious teaching in public schools and other violations of Church-State separation law.
Hi,
my name is Paul Gehrman (Author of
Kaleidoscope). I grew up in a fairly religious environment in
Texas. I went to protestant church most Sundays and I was a believer
into my twenties. Although I knew fairly early on that religion was
judgmental, divisive, and extraordinarily hypocritical, I still
believed most of the dogma until I began to appreciate the explosive
explanatory power of Darwin’s ideas and how religion was ultimately
an assault not only on science, but on human knowledge generally.
After 9/11, I felt compelled to write about the dangers of religious
belief, including its dreadful depiction of humanity as inherently
dirty, sinful, etc. I spent four years writing, which resulted in
the publication of my novel, Kaleidoscope, in 2009.
Now that I’ve completely extricated myself from the hold of religious dogma, I have great appreciation for how manipulative and vicious religion can be, particularly on children, who are frightened into believing with threats of eternal torture, ostracism, etc. This is unethical to say the least. I think all people of goodwill should vigorously oppose this thought cancer in the hope that we can move humanity past superstition, bigotry, homophobia, etc., and to a place where reason, knowledge, and intellectual honesty are highly valued.
Hi, my name is
Julia Buss (Author of
Flying the
Edge of America) and I am an atheist. I call myself an atheist because I think that there is a very low probability that there is any kind of god in the universe. On a personal level, I find that my life is happy and fulfilled without a god or a religion. Therefore I do not feel the need to try to find any evidence for a god. I consider myself lucky because I was raised without religion having any place in my childhood, so I was not indoctrinated or trained from an early age to hold it in any place of importance. I do not care whether others choose to believe in the supernatural, in angels or various mysterious beings. But I do think it is important to identify myself as an atheist because I believe it is harmful to society when irrational beliefs drive government or culture. If religions were merely harmless beliefs and did not promote such things as misogyny, homophobia, and war I would not feel the need to take a stand against the belief in
these fantasy worlds and beings.
Hi,
my name is Tommi Avicolli Mecca, I
am a writer and activist who lives in San Francisco. I was raised
Roman Catholic in the working-class, Italian/American area of South
Philadelphia. I was an altar boy because a nun told me I had to be.
My uncle decided I was going to be a priest. At 16, I fell in love
with a classmate and realized that I couldn't be gay and catholic. I
started reading Sartre after my brother turned me on to No Exit.
Then I made the ultimate decision: torn between catholicism and the
hot guy I was in love with, I said to hell with the repressive and
anti-sex religion that only caused me guilt and made me feel like a
hopeless sinner. I declared myself an atheist. Four years later in
college, I joined the Gay Liberation Front and became a lifelong
unrepentant sinner. I have been an atheist for over 40 years.
Hi,
my name is Larry Kaufman. I was brought up in a moderately religious jewish family. I was Bar Mitzvahed and paid mild attention to jewish
holidays and observances. I did consider myself jewish and felt
"part" of that group. I never thought of myself as an atheist or
gave much thought to religion. Around the age of 50, I got
interested in evolution and started reading Dawkins and other
writers. A few months into that journey, I started to understand for
the first time the nature of our humanity and our place in this
world among other animals. From there, it was a quick step to start
thinking about religion and god, and how it was obviously made up by
men afraid of the unknown, of death, of the dark. I read some books
on religion and atheism, and one day woke up and realized that I had
gone from being a mildly religious person to an atheist. I don't
just feel that religion is false and delusional, but really quite
malicious. In an ironic way it is tightly linked to evolution. For
it is our very nature as human animals - our fear, our greed, our
hopes, and our needs which are so effectively preyed on by religion
and its leaders. I also have no patience for those who are not
religious, but believe in god or something out there. It is that
"something out there" which gives credibility to all the loonies in
the world who think they know what god is thinking. I am fully out
of the closet as an atheist and spend whatever time I can trying to
save friends and family from this delusional disorder. I've been a
member of the SF Atheists 2007.
Hi,
my name is David Fitzgerald. I was raised a devout Southern Baptist with a loving extended church
family, and even worked at a Cambodian mission for my church. And
even though I had to wrestle with the usual Christian burdens of
guilt, nagging doubts and cognitive dissonance (and in hindsight, it
made me a little more judgmental, anti-scientific and close-minded
than I like to admit!), in general I took great comfort from my
faith and social network of believers – as long as they were the
right kind of Christian, of course… But one day in the middle of a
friendly theological debate with a friend, I was shocked to find
myself making knee-jerk reactions and ready to say anything to
defend my faith without the slightest idea if my response was
actually true or not. The complete story is in my essay “How Much
Reality Do You Want?” (which can be found here in the Essays
section). Now that I’m a delighted atheist, I feel so much closer
to all my fellow human beings (not just those who think like I do!).
Our vast and amazing evolving universe seems so much bigger now, and
paradoxically I feel more a part of it than I ever did when I was
trying to cram it all into the too-small box of my former Christian
worldview. It’s wonderful to unload the absurd and hateful baggage
of religion, while keeping its best values for a secular humanism
that’s grounded in reality, and guided by reason and compassion.
There’s a real joy in intellectual honesty, in not trying to
constantly buttress dogma against reality, in learning to love this
fallible, precious world for what it is, and working to make it a
better home for all of us.
Hi,
my name is David Millett. I am an English, Australian, American.
While growing up in Australia I became a born again christian.
Notice that I do not capitalize the word christian as I refuse to
give this idea any precedence over any other. I spent several years
of my life reading the bible and learning how to convert others to
christianity. I discovered in time how false and divisive this
doctrine is. And how it, and belief in all other myths and
religions, is in fact ultimately a very destructive force for
society. I also discovered that being complacent about others
beliefs is not good enough as it leads to laws, that we all must
obey, based on hatred, malice, and at best ignorance. This is why I
am an Atheist.
Hi
my name is Mark W. Thomas. In
college I realized that we’re not that physiologically different
from other animals, and religion and god-belief didn’t make sense.
In the 90’s I decided to study atheism, starting with Atheism: The
Case Against God by George H. Smith. I also read extensively on the
Internet Infidels website
http://www.infidels.org In 2000 I went to the American
Atheists convention in San Francisco, where I had a great time and
met some wonderful people.
I was hooked.
Hi
my name is Larry Hicok.
I was raised in a Protestant family, with a mother who was quite religious. The dogma never made much sense to me, and yet I did not reject it. I simply put it aside as something to study when I got older and could better grasp the concepts. When I was 13 or 14, I read an insightful book by Harry Barnes, called The History of Western Civilization. It documented the development of western religions, and clearly demonstrated that early Christianity was an amalgamation of earlier religious traditions, and that many accepted modern Christian tenets were added on later by the Church in an attempt to incorporate existing non-Christian traditions. I quickly became an Atheist.
In high school in a small town in Oregon, I was inspired by Madalyn Murray O'Hair's victory over prayer in public schools. Our student body elected a Chaplain who gave grace at school events, including assemblies. I complained to the ACLU in Portland, and was told they would handle my case if it went to court. I then visited the Vice Principal, and informed him that, as an Atheist, I was offended by this violation, and that the ACLU will take my case if it has to go to court. He immediately ceased the practice, although I suspect it resumed after I graduated. For many years I was like most other Atheists in this country, feeling that my Atheism was not that important compared to so many other problems in the world. I was awakened from my intellectual sleep by 911. Muslim fundamentalists commit terror in the name of god, and then Christian fundamentalists fight back in a Crusade that echoed their opponents. I began to look at the way that "my country right or wrong" was usually accompanied by a statement of divine purpose. I realized that both sentiments were fundamentally identical in their epistemology and their psychology. I realized that critical thinking is the only thing that will save our species from the devastation of environmental destruction and high tech warfare. Deadly technology and minds that still view the world through Bronze Age lenses are a deadly combination.
I am not confident that we will still be here in 100 years, but I try to make a positive difference.