Coming Out

This post is my official coming out as an atheist.

I am what is defined as a strong or positive atheist – someone who does not believe in gods or anything supernatural. It does not mean I am 100% certain (just like I can’t be 100% certain fairies do not exist), but that I have yet to see evidence that would prove me wrong.

My perspective is different than from someone who is agnostic – a person who doesn’t think there is a god, but who is decidedly uncommitted. I think it would be fair to say agnostics are not as confident in their non-belief. Then again, they may just be more polite.

Atheism is but one part of my world view. It is certainly a very important part of who I am but, in my opinion, there is a lot more interesting stuff to talk about than merely what I don’t believe in. That’s why I intend on focusing here on what I do believe in.

I’ve decided to come out primarily for three reasons. First, because I believe atheists are a silent, repressed group of people who are largely afraid to declare their non-belief. I think we should encourage one another to say to the world that that there is absolutely nothing wrong with what we believe (or don’t believe!).

Secondly, I have come out because I am concerned about where our precious world is heading, and because I believe we atheists can contribute to solving problems in amazingly positive ways. I want to be a part of that.

Lastly, I happen to think that people who do not believe in god can have beautiful, loving, happy, fulfilling lives. I want to share the message that a secular life is not an empty one!

Peace.

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June 18, 2008 · Filed Under About Me, Atheism

Comments

2 Responses to “Coming Out”

  1. Jason R on February 26th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    Its an old blog post, but I want to say that coming out as an Atheist is very mind opening experience. 

    Congratulations

    Reply to this comment

  2. Christina on June 16th, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    I realize I have found this post nearly a year after it was posted, but I still wanted to comment on the difference between atheists and agnostics. I’ve discussed this quite a bit with both the religious and non-religious and I’ve read a bit about it as well. The most effective way for me to describe these labels is to not necessarily separate them.

    For instance, think of being as agnostic as a state of certainty in the mind–not sure, which would be the opposite of gnostic–sure. And a theistic label would have to do with one’s actual belief. (This is better explained by others, of course, for I am still figuring it out for myself).

    This would allow the description of agnostic theists (those who are not sure if a god exists-but believe there is), gnostic theists (those who know that god exists and believe in him/her), agnostic atheists (those who are not sure if a god exists but believe there is no god) and gnostic atheists (those who know god does not exist and do not believe in him/her). For some reason, I think I heard Dawkins describe himself as an agnostic atheist–we can never be certain, but we can certainly not believe in something that has no evidence for its existence.

    Reply to this comment

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