Brand New Atheist

It appears that many people need protection of their First Amendment rights from the very government that is suppose to provide them. We currently have too many people in power that think their personal beliefs are the ones that should be followed. I wonder how many of these people even know what our rights are?

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
You will find this Article in The Treaty of Tripoli (1796) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_tripoli

The Fox News Original Article Link

I just deleted a comment posted in the “America was not founded as a Christian nation” article. Someone by the name of “Anonymous”, posted a link to an article about a former atheist turned believer in God.

That linked page had nothing to do with my article about America, nor does Anonymous indicate anything about why the post was made. Anonymous doesn’t indicate that it was a good article or that they read the book mentioned and it was worth looking into. They simply posted a link.

In essence Anonymous simply SPAMMED my comments page with an irrelevant comment. There are many other articles on this site that may have relevant to.

Sometimes I truly dislike the anonymity abuse on the internet. Everybody wants a voice and to be heard unless they are saying something they wouldn’t say to your face, then they must have their anonymity.

An anonymous voice is a nonexistent one. If you are incapable of saying or doing something and taking credit for it, then your audience will be anonymous as well.

I don’t have a problem with anonymity, my problem is the abuse of it and the unnecessary use of it. Spam exists because of anonymity.

One more thing: Anonymous, there isn’t really any true anonymity on the internet. Within 30 seconds of seeing your post I knew where you posted in from. Everything leaves an address where it came from.

I do, however, want you to comment, but please keep it relevant to the article in which you’re commenting.

I continue to hear people say that the Unites States of America was founded as a Christian nation. They are either ignorant and believe something they were told or they are lying. Not only was the US not founded as a Christian nation, it protected us against religion.

Amendment 1 – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The word God does not appear in The United States Constitution.

“separation of church and state” is derived from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to a group identifying themselves as the Danbury Baptists. In that letter, referencing the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, Jefferson writes:
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

“Under God” wasn’t added to The Pledge of Allegiance until 1954. It is an unconstitutional use of the phrase and should be removed.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister who did not use the the word God.
“Under God” has only been a part of it for the last 50 years.

“In God We Trust” wasn’t added to US currency until 1957. It is an unconstitutional use of the phrase and should be removed.
This country is 220 years old and “In God We Trust” has only been a part of it for the last 50 years.

I looks to me as if some religious politicians in the 50′s decided to go against the Constitution and make the Church part of the State. These things should have never been passed, they completely go against the basis in which the country was founded.

Our founding fathers knew what they were doing with the First Amendment. They were protecting us from the very thing we declared our independence from, the singular religious rule of Great Britain.

Which one? From which religion? Which translation?

No. I have never read the Bible from beginning to end (though I tried in the Army). I have never read the Bible entirely (every single page). I have never read the Bible to prove a point. I have looked to the Bible for wisdom. I am reading the Bible online.

I’m not a book reader, I could probably list all of the books I’ve ever read in under 60 seconds. Karen couldn’t list all of the books she’s read in 2007 in 60 seconds.

I do, however, spend about 8 to 12 hours a day on my computer, I read more online in a year than most do in a lifetime. I’m a research fanatic and since becoming an atheist I have researched and read the Bible online. I still can’t bring myself to read it from beginning to end or try and memorize it for the sake of knowing it.

Since becoming an atheist I know more about the bible than my prior 36 years. Because I now have an interest in why it’s so messed up and why people believe it. If I could quote the Bible like some can, I would be a horribly obnoxious atheist.

I’m bothered by people who trust the Bible yet discount the Old Testament because of the New Testament. If the New Testament changed the rules then why hasn’t God updated the Old Testament and removed the unnecessary rules? Imaginary characters can’t make real changes, that’s why. There isn’t another single book I can think of that would leave in the old rules after changing them. If God was real, and he wrote a book, it would be the best damn book ever written and everyone would read it. But he’s not. The Bible is not a good book, it’s schizophrenic, hard to understand, contradicts itself and difficult for people to agree on the meaning.

Now that I’m and atheist I don’t really care that I never read the Bible. I know people who have and they don’t understand what they read. Besides, now that I’m an atheist I’m well aware that the Bible was written by men for men. So I don’t really feel like I missed out. Had I read the Bible before now, I would have become an atheist much sooner. I believe we have so many christians in America simply because they haven’t read their Bible.

Never accuse me of simply passing along or believing what I’ve been told by others about any subject. My opinions are mine, after my own research. If I simply believed what I was told I would still be a christian and I would believe banks are looking out for my financial interests.

Of the dozens or so people I sent a link to my new blog only two have responded so far. Both were pastors and both said it didn’t affect the way they think about me. Both of them know me on a personal level, which I think helps to dispel what an atheist is. I’m a very happy person, and an atheist.

Most of the time when someone ask me how I’m doing, I reply, “I’M BEAUTIFUL!”. It’s nice to invoke a pleasant reaction from someone. It makes people smile.

I say “I’M BEAUTIFUL!” instead of “I’M DOING BEAUTIFULLY!” because the reactions are funnier. And it’s easier to blurt out.

I’ve been doing that for about 8 years now and “I’M BEAUTIFUL” represents how I feel on the inside.

I’m quite happy, with my wife and girls, with my job, with my things, but I definitely strive for more.

People think that I was never very religious because they didn’t see it. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even my own wife has learned more about my previous spirituality since I opened up in this journal than she knew before. People who know me think they knew what I was about when it came to God, but they didn’t, because I kept it to myself. As I do with most things, it’s part of my personality. It’s been quite liberating to actually share information on this blog that I would have never shared before.

As little as two years ago I would listen to the same christian music tape in the car everywhere I went and I would sing along out loud. When I was by myself of course. I really believed and wanted to be surrounded by Gods love. It’s fortunate that when I realized God doesn’t exist it didn’t have a detrimental affect on me, I can see how it would on others.

I’m not trying to contradict myself at all. I may have said in the past that I wasn’t very religious but the truth is I was never openly or outwardly religious. I believed in God, I prayed almost daily for someone other than myself, I occasionally broke out the Bible to look something up. I didn’t spend my days reading the bible. I know more about the Bible now and have read more of the Bible now than I did in my previous 36 years.

I sent an email to about 12 of my friends today to share this new blog. The first response was a good one. My friend Rob (a pastor), asked “Why I waited so long to come out of the closet?” Excellent question.

First of all let me explain that when I was a believer I kept it to myself. So when I became a non-believer I kept it to myself. Fortunately I began writing everything down. Even when I thought I might share this new part of me there was an obvious concern. How will friends treat me, will they suddenly become afraid of me somehow?

In “The God Delusion” Richard Dawkins says, “The status of atheists in America today is on par with that of homosexuals fifty years ago.” Thats’ a scary thought, are people going to fight me because of this? It’s reason enough to be concerned or take precautions. In my previous post, I thanked several individuals for their help. They helped by indicating what it’s like to be a known atheist in America today. They all said hate mail is virtually non-existant. So if christians only occasionally get animated then should I worry about Muslims? Then I realized, they view christians and atheists as infidels, so we are no different to them.

Now that I’ve ruled out threats and harm, who am I afraid might know that I’m an atheist? No one.

Christians openly show what they believe with their Jesus fish on their cars, and their crosses hanging from the rear view mirror. If they can openly share their personal beliefs without fear of harm then so can I.

To answer your question Rob, “Why did I wait so long to come out the closet?” Fear of the unknown, I really didn’t know what would happen when people found out. I wanted to wait and get some answers from seasoned atheists about whether or not I was endangering my family (because my family come first). It was only 5 months ago yesterday that I decided I was an atheist, so it really hasn’t been that long.

I would like to thank the following people for some excellent tips on going public. This has been my own private blog until now.

Jacob Fortin (The Good Atheist) Website Podcast
John C. Snider (American Freethought) Website Podcast
Dave Van Allen (Ex-Christian) Website Podcast