Don’t Eat the Shit!
Today my sister asked me if I am an atheist. She asked me this because she does not believe in god and wondered what I am calling myself these days. I’ve been thinking about the answer to this for a long time, around 7 years now. After much thought and questioning, I have come to the conclusion that I do not consider myself to be an atheist. I have been reading up on atheism and I have chosen to not label myself. It took me a long time to realize I wasn’t catholic and that I didn’t believe in god. I even have flirted with the belief that there is something out there that is unexplainable and bigger than me and I realized, I don’t even know what that means. I won’t pretend to know everything or even much about atheism, all I know is that I’m free. I’m free to think what ever I want to think and to see myself as just me. Atheism is undergoing constant changes, some would say it is a religion (I disagree, that’s absurd), some define it as a philosophy, some a state of mind, a movement, even a disease (those pledging to the god of bigotry and ignorance). In reality I believe it to be a matter of perspective.
I’m very afraid, however, that categorizing it and becoming a movement consisting of more than one person will make atheism just another cult or a group of revolutionaries by the media and religious groups. Each individual that I’ve asked and those whose opinions I read about seems to have some similarities and a world of personal differences. I don’t want to be part of a group. I don’t want a word like atheism or any other word defining me as a person. I want to think for myself. I don’t want it to dictate my life and what I’m allowed to think and believe from this point on. I don’t think that life should be consistent or a routine. I change my mind a lot. I like changing my mind, I think it’s healthy and important to be able to change and mature and learn other perspectives. I also think that if I label myself or categorize myself I will just become a slave to my own mind and the perception of others. In middle school I called myself a “head banger” because I enjoyed rock…when my friends saw me listening to jazz or classical music or rap they would call me a “poser” and they were right…..I was claiming to be and represent only one aspect of my personality.
Bob Dylan’s personality was confusing to many. He put so much effort in opposing all attempts to pin him down and label him as this or that by the media and his fans. All the guy wanted to do was just make music. He wasn’t a messiah or the voice of the people or any of that…..I am in no way comparing myself to him….I don’t write music and I sing for my family and myself in the shower. I like to write and I don’t have a favorite color…..I don’t think that because I live a certain way or like a certain thing now that I have to be tied down to it forever. I am. I just am.
Atheism is rapidly becoming a label that entails countless things that I don’t know or don’t agree with. I sometimes act like I am one…I sometimes wake up and hate religion, sometimes I insult, sometimes I’m more peaceful and understanding, sometimes I am more rational…sometimes my husband blames it on my hormones…lol, and then I forgive him for not thinking before he speaks…he’s not perfect and neither am I. atheism is not perfect either, neither is science…so when I have to fill out an explanation of how I can prove that I am an atheist to join the atheist blogroll, because I find the subject very interesting among many others….I feel pressured to say that in part I agree with the general concept but don’t want to marry it. and maybe they’ll consider me worthy and maybe not. Atheism may preach open-mindedness but not all of the people who claim to be atheist are…their human….
My father used to tell me something when I was small that was so funny to me and yet so true…..he would tell me that some people will do what ever you can convince them of doing (the discussion was mostly about religion) and then mentally show me his campaign…..:
Eat shit! Billions of flies can’t be wrong….!
How about that for a lesson?
Tags: atheism, atheist philosophy, beliefs, bob dylan, categorizing, cult, eat shit, freedom of religion, god, media, philosophy, rationalizing, religion, society, steroetyping, thinking
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January 29, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Son, your an atheist. Your aren’t an antitheist though (the more active atheist fighting against religion). It is impossible to avoid labels; for example you are a sentient, hommo sapien sapien web blogger.
January 29, 2008 at 8:08 pm
that’s your perseption on the matter. but there is more to atheism than just not believing in god….I don’t sign a contract without reading the fine print. So like I said before I am not an atheist. You can call me one if you wish, but you would be stating an opinion and not a fact.
January 30, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Most atheists that I know use the word to simply to refer to anyone that doesn’t believe in god. (I believe that is why Samuel insists you are an atheist
) So technically you would be an atheist by the definition, whether you wished to call yourself one or not simply because you have no god belief.
That being said, I understand your trepidation with assigning the label to yourself. In the wider culture the word atheist has a heavy negative stigma and means very different things to different people. Some seem to just use it as a synonym for evil.
Labels are very useful things and give language much power, but they are also very misused and can be used to marginalize and trivialize groups of people. The individual will always chaff where their labels don’t quite fit them, and know one likes to be identified as personifying a single characteristic.
I admire your strength of character to be yourself and share that with us.
Thanks!
January 30, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Ok….so by definition I am and Atheist, because I don’t believe, however, the word atheist and being an Atheist is different, in my opinion. Atheism is currently undergoing some changes and in addition to its simple definition it now also carries a wide array of associations. Some use the label “strong atheism” as permission to bash religion. Unfortunately, I have been guilty of this as well….I’m not proud of some of my language used to describe religion and religious people. I understand that it is very hard to part ways with a belief that has taken so much part in their lives and they reject anything that might destroy this belief because it is hard to hold on to it as well…so I have learned that I’m not in the business of converting or ridiculing anyone….what I will do, however is teach my children to think, analyze, rationalize, investigate, and be open-minded. It’s what I think many atheists should do…instead of trying to convert people who are so incredibly indoctrinated by their beliefs. Maybe the future is something to look forward to and eventually religion will one day become part of history instead of a manipulator of it.
January 30, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Well said.