I am a 23 year old English girl and I've been an Atheist since I was old enough to make a decision.
When I was a child, Christianity was taught as fact in my school, but, coming from a very rational household, I guess I always thought of God as about as likely as Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy (both of which I was suspicious about, the first because Santa had the same wrapping paper as my mum, the second because I found a pot of my milk teeth in the bathroom when I was about 7). Despite this, when a teacher tells you something is true, you believe it because you rely on adults for so much of your information at that age. They didn't start teaching Evolution until I was about 10 years old, at which point I decided that things really didn't add up, but I was one of the few that came to this conclusion.
I was the only one of my friends who was not Christened, and all of them at the time claimed to believe in God. Since then, many have come round to the idea that there may not be a god, others have cemented their faith more firmly than ever before. I really feel that given the evidence and scientific means we have available these days, there should be far more atheists in the world. My Christian friends seem to me to be fearful of the world, and it seems as though they are clutching at anything they can so that they do not have to accept the inevitability of their death.
Personally, I find the world a really wonderful, sometimes bleak, but always beautiful place to live in. I have never found religion to be be a satisfactory answer to questions we have yet to answer scientifically and I enjoy the idea of continuing to learn new and exciting things for the rest of my life, and embrace the fact that I will never know everything about the universe.
Recently, I have found I have been attacked (verbally) for not having a belief. The word "fundamentalist" has been bandied about. Of course, it is impossible to be a "fundamentalist" atheist, because fundamentalist means unchangeable, and atheists adapt their beliefs constantly to new discoveries based upon evidence. However, it seems to me that, whilst all religious opinion is tolerated or even celebrated, atheistic opinion is considered rude and offensive by its very nature. I don't understand how open-mindedness could ever cause offence to somebody whose faith is strong enough to override it, and yet I come up against misunderstandings like this on a fairly regular basis.
I would like to talk to other atheists about how they cope with this intolerance that seems to pervade public opinion.
When I was a child, Christianity was taught as fact in my school, but, coming from a very rational household, I guess I always thought of God as about as likely as Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy (both of which I was suspicious about, the first because Santa had the same wrapping paper as my mum, the second because I found a pot of my milk teeth in the bathroom when I was about 7). Despite this, when a teacher tells you something is true, you believe it because you rely on adults for so much of your information at that age. They didn't start teaching Evolution until I was about 10 years old, at which point I decided that things really didn't add up, but I was one of the few that came to this conclusion.
I was the only one of my friends who was not Christened, and all of them at the time claimed to believe in God. Since then, many have come round to the idea that there may not be a god, others have cemented their faith more firmly than ever before. I really feel that given the evidence and scientific means we have available these days, there should be far more atheists in the world. My Christian friends seem to me to be fearful of the world, and it seems as though they are clutching at anything they can so that they do not have to accept the inevitability of their death.
Personally, I find the world a really wonderful, sometimes bleak, but always beautiful place to live in. I have never found religion to be be a satisfactory answer to questions we have yet to answer scientifically and I enjoy the idea of continuing to learn new and exciting things for the rest of my life, and embrace the fact that I will never know everything about the universe.
Recently, I have found I have been attacked (verbally) for not having a belief. The word "fundamentalist" has been bandied about. Of course, it is impossible to be a "fundamentalist" atheist, because fundamentalist means unchangeable, and atheists adapt their beliefs constantly to new discoveries based upon evidence. However, it seems to me that, whilst all religious opinion is tolerated or even celebrated, atheistic opinion is considered rude and offensive by its very nature. I don't understand how open-mindedness could ever cause offence to somebody whose faith is strong enough to override it, and yet I come up against misunderstandings like this on a fairly regular basis.
I would like to talk to other atheists about how they cope with this intolerance that seems to pervade public opinion.
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