I have come to realize something about myself – as passionate as I am about being a strong & positive voice for Atheism, my roots will always be with humanism. More than anything, I wish we could unite in our diversity and free ourselves from this tangled web of greed and self proclaimed righteousness and replace it with a wave of love that would be so powerful it would change our vision completely and douse the trivial nonsense that we humans are so ignorantly willing to kill one another over.

Anyway, as an Atheist, I actually have no issue with those who cling to a harmless faith. Who am I to judge the belief of another? Who am I to strip someone of something that may very well give them a great deal of strength or joy? However, I do so wish religions in general would take greater strides toward a healthier place where its devout followers might be freed from savage-age ignorance to coexist in a modern world. I wish there weren’t so much outdated and pious doctrine that ultimately perpetuates conflict, self loathing, ignorance, oppression and suffering. I wish religions would put equality and physical & mental well-being ahead of ancient dogma that forces believers to choose between faith or humanity… and all too often, forgo basic common sense. And I’m by no means suggesting that religion change just for me… it has no bearing on my personal life and its god is quite frankly a moot point, to me. The world will keep spinning whether we believe or don’t believe. I wish religions would change for its’ believers. My heart truly goes out to them. I just don’t think they need to be riddled with iron age burdens and torment that are simply unnecessary in the 21st century. I know many open minded religious people who simply wave off the old doctrines as silliness and I applaud them for their mental gymnastics in finding a way to reconcile humanity with harmful dogma. But church officials and administrators are hard pressed to do the same and until change comes from the very top, there will continue to be believers tangled in the web of their own religion.

For the record, my concern with most organized religions doesn’t actually come from a place of Atheism. Atheism is simply a disbelief in gods or more accurately, anceint stories. But interestingly, Atheism did inadvertently free me from the needless burden of defending and sometimes condoning unacceptable and unthinkable behavior and allowed me to fully embrace Humanism. When I imagine a kinder world where everyone gets to be equal and healthy, that includes the well being of religious people. My concern genuinely comes from a place of Humanism.

Sometimes I wonder if Atheism has actually made me a better Christian. How’s that for irony. But then again, Christianity is far too laden and convoluted with man-made doctrine to allow its followers to truly know Jesus. I guess it’s no surprise that once I got away from religion, only then did I truly have something in common with Jesus… after all… Jesus wasn’t a christian, either. He was a humanist.

#Peace