I've always been a skeptical guy. My wife finds boundless humor in the fact that, at the age of five, I logically deduced that Santa couldn't possibly be real because there was no way a fat bearded guy who didn't even know me or my family was going to break into our house and leave a bunch of free merch for us to enjoy, no-strings attached. Even at that age I realized that altruism was rare and that most people had a self-serving angle in everything they did. It was with this same inherent sense of skepticism that led me to question the nature and existence of god not much later.
I'll get into my own complicated family history in a future post, but the important thing that you need to know now is that I have no memory of ever believing in a god of any type. Some people I know, particularly family members with ulterior motives, have claimed otherwise, but the simple truth is that the idea never made sense to me on any level.
There's a good chance that you're reading this and either rolling your eyes or grabbing your pitchfork and crucifix, ready to catch the next flight out to California and show me what's what. Luckily, TSA probably won't let you take the pitchfork. But the fact remains, my disbelief of a god makes me a member of one of the most-hated minorities on Earth right now. 98% of the world's population claims to believe in a god (most of them the same god, whether they want to admit as much or not), and statistics show that a good portion of that 98% either distrusts atheists or will actually set out to harm them (physically or otherwise) if given the choice. As a lifelong atheist, this scares the hell out of me. In more ways than one.
The reason I've decided to write this blog is that I want to help the world to understand atheists better; our motivations, our thought-processes, our goals. And most importantly, why we stubbornly refuse to throw in the towel and start believing. I realize that there are other prominent atheists out there voicing their opinions and speaking out, and unfortunately, most of those people are jerks. I totally agree with the majority of their points and beliefs, and I honestly like a lot of these people, but they're still jerks, and I can understand why they rile you and make your face all puffy and red.
My point is, even though I don't believe in the same things you do, I'm not out to destroy your beliefs or lifestyle, and I'm not going to try to lure you into my magical world of atheism. I'm also not out to anger you, though it's bound to happen at some point. I will be blunt about my beliefs, and I won't pander to your sensibilities for the sake of being polite, but on the same token I won't treat this blog as a tool to smash theistic beliefs and convert you over to the dark side. If after a few months of reading this blog you do decide to throw down your bible/Qu'ran/kipa/whatever and run naked in the streets yelling that there is no god and I wish that there were more late-night dining options in my town, that's fine by me. But if you simply decide to embrace your faith but make an effort to be more courteous to others with different belief systems, that will delight me all the same.
No matter who you are, I appreciate your readership, and I look forward to sharing my worldview with you.
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