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 Atheism, about me

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

  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.

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