I didn't read all of the atheism/theism/please stop posting these/whatever diaries this past weekend, but I read a handful of them along with the comments in them.
As an atheist, after reading many comments, I feel compelled to speak out. Although a lot of stuff I'm about to say here is visceral, I will try to be as thoughtful as I can, since this is, after all, a community.
I have a good deal on which to touch. Join me below if you will
What makes me atheist?
In a nutshell, I find no reliable evidence for the existence of any deities. To elaborate and dispel notions many have, that's not the same as saying I believe no gods exist. I, like most atheists, would reconsider my stance if new evidence came to light. Some atheists do assert that no gods exist. I saw a direct quote from one a few years ago somewhere else: "I'm absolutely certain that no gods exist". That's it, though. I have seen no other atheist, even Richard Dawkins, be so cocksure.
What else led me to atheism?
I didn't grow up as a child in evangelical Christianity, but I was fully immersed in it in my late teens and almost all of my twenties. I certainly wasn't dozing off in Sunday School or during the sermon. I was active in Bible studies and the like. I even conducted two one-time, informal sessions.
I was also involved in radical right-wing politics, but I won't get too much into that here since I already did that in my very first diary here. But that, along with evangelicalism, went together for me like mashed potatoes and gravy.
Then, somewhere along the way, around the summer of 1999, a couple of years after I finally moved out of my parents' house and into my own apartment, some of the strict 'moral' teachings (which were quite petty) stopped making sense. One of the first things that caused me to question the whole thing was the Biblical injunction against Christians being "unequally yoked" with "unbelievers". I was single in those years, and, if you're single, out of high school, and in an evangelical Christian church, that message gets drilled into you. It caused a lot of inner conflict because I wanted to "please God" but I also enjoyed going to bars and meeting women just a little too much (even though my actual dating experience was very thin). It may sound crazy that something like that - a de facto restriction on who you can have romantic relationships with - began my questioning, but the truth is it didn't stop there.
I just cold-turkey quit attending the church I belonged to, though I didn't become atheist right there and then. It took at least a few more years for that to take hold. But at that point I was no longer an evangelical Christian - just held on to a generic God belief. Austin Cline's blog was a catalyst, at least in part, for my atheism, as well as actually being challenged on some assumptions I had - and questioning my own. I concluded that it made no sense to insist on applying critical thinking to claims made by politicians, salespeople, TV/radio advertisements, etc. but exempt questions about the cosmos/deities from that. Then I concluded that there was no longer any reason for me to believe in the existence of any gods.
How was my atheism received?
I feel very fortunate for my wife. She doesn't have 1/100th the interest in politics or philosophical discussions that I do - and that's perfectly fine, but she's behind me 100 percent. She is the one person with whom I know I feel safe to be completely myself. And I strive to help her feel the same way.
Among my relatives/old friends: a bit of a mixture. My Mom is certainly saddened by it, but around each other it's just a subject we haven't broached. My brother, who is gay (and somehow idolizes Ronald Reagan, but I digress) has been completely cool and non-judgmental about it, even though he is a Christian. My Dad, before he died, a couple of times expressed open disappointment with my atheism. A few other relatives take it upon themselves to chide me for it, and I don't always go out of my way to keep in touch with them. One of them wrote a very scathing email about it that felt like emotional blackmail. The message was basically "Your mom raised you to be a decent person and here you go springing this on us?"
Atheism and the journeys of other minorities
What atheists endure is not precisely the same as what racial minorities, non-heterosexuals, or women go through in the struggle for equality. You can't just take one look at me and conclude I'm an atheist, then fearfully walk to the other side of the street. People don't observe my mannerisms, speech (I'm alluding to talking with a lisp here), hobbies, and say "He must be an atheist". We haven't been the victims of organized lynchings. We haven't been systematically marginalized out of mainstream economic life like racial minorities have in this country. We haven't been stopped by a police officer for "driving while atheist" (that's right, I know of no documented evidence of a Darwin fish decal on our cars having anything to do with pulled over). Shopkeepers don't, consciously or sub-consciously, follow us around their stores making sure we don't treat ourselves to any five-finger discounts. We aren't expected to perform certain "roles" in the household.
That said, atheists' struggle for equality and acceptance does have many parallels with the struggles of other minorities. Racial minorities and women were told for the longest time to "know their place" and not "get too uppity". They were often told that their demands were "too radical", or that they were "asking for too much, too soon", or that they were demanding "special rights". Same thing with non-heterosexuals. Many times homosexuals were given the patronizing demand to "not shove it in our faces". For many an atheists, the things insisted by society at large feels a lot like what was (and in some cases still is) demanded of gays, blacks, women, Muslims, etc.
Part of this is just basic human psychology. People get uncomfortable when somebody, or something, calls into question their fundamental assumptions. Some of it is "fight or flight". What cannot be denied is that the progress minority groups of all kinds have made came with both comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. I, as a white male, have plenty to learn about the struggles of non-whites and non-males. I've seen atheists drink some nasty Kook-Aid when it comes to racial equality. I, as a white male, have much to learn about white privilege and male privilege. I've already mentioned twice that just in the last year I turned my head upon seeing my brother and his partner display affection. I have much to learn, as do all of us. Some folks within racial minority populations have their own hangups about other racial minorities, as well as hangups about homosexuality. We need no clearer example than Eminem, who has shown a sensitivity towards racial issues but puts forth some of the most misogynistic stuff you'll ever hear. And, truth be told, us atheists sometimes do hold unwarranted assumptions about religious believers. There's a lot of nuance to it.
Am I suggesting that atheists be insufferably obnoxious and belittle theists? Absolutely not! Every one of us has a fundamental right to believe whatever we want and to order our personal lives around those beliefs accordingly. To a large extent, I believe we should respect the rights of parents to raise their children in those beliefs (I draw the line at things such as parents using their religious beliefs to deny their children medical care). I saw one atheist argue that parents who teach their children that Hell is real should have their kids forcibly removed from the home by the state. I don't know about any of you, but to me that opens up a Pandora's Box I don't want opened. The reality is that many choices people make based on their religious beliefs have no impact on my life. Granted, some do - such as global warming denial, insisting on teaching creationism in science classes, but as long as no encroachment takes place, we need to live and let live.
Plus, people of all religious beliefs, as well as those with none, should be welcome in the national political discourse. People should even feel free to base their political values on their religious beliefs. On the other hand, it's not unreasonable at all to insist that any advocacy for any type of legislation or public policy be backed up with secular reasoning. That is, "thus saith the Lord!" or "Allah wills it so" is never a good reason to enact a law binding on all of us.
Discussing religion
"Live and let live" doesn't imply an inalienable right to never have your beliefs challenged. If nothing else, if our beliefs are worthy of maintaining, we should have nothing to fear about honest, skeptical inquiry of those beliefs. Therefore diaries about theism/atheism should be more than welcome here. Our values as progressives don't exist in a vacuum. What we think is often a product of how we think. We should be willing to allow all of our assumptions/beliefs open to skeptical inquiry. Unwillingness to do so robs us of many opportunities to learn and grow. To exempt some of those beliefs from that is often little more than an exercise in special pleading.