Truth Telling/Telling My Truth

I have something to tell you. I am an atheist, and I am an atheist because I am agnostic. I guess you could call me an agnostic atheist. 

a·the·ist  noun  a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods. (Google Dictionary)

ag·nos·tic noun  a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God. (Google Dictionary)

Agnostic Atheism is a philosophical position that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity and agnostic because they claim that the existence of a deity is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact. (Wikipedia)

Now you know that you know an atheist and that she is a normal, kind, friendly person.

I have nothing against holding a belief in a god. I was a believer in God and Christ for a solid twelve years of my life. I know first-hand the great comfort, peace, and joy that comes with having faith in a higher being and worshipping in a community of fellow believers. I get it. Religions, faiths, and myths have been a central piece of human communities since human communities began. We are knowledge-seeking creatures and it only makes sense that humans, as a species, have been looking for and suggesting explanations for the world around us, the life inside us, and the beauty, magnitude, suffering, connection, and mystery of it all.

People have believed in fairies, gods of thunder, fertility goddesses, gods of the seas, spirits, shape-shifting animals, giants, gods of the sky, and many other deities to explain it all. I'm cool with that, I just wish we could realize that each person's god is no greater than the god of his neighbor, the gods of her ancestors, or the inexplicable mysteries of the mystic down the street. (Also, I'm cool with your beliefs as long as they don't turn you into terrible people who harm yourselves or others. Then I have a problem with your beliefs.)

If you don't know much about religions outside from the ones you were raised with or regularly exposed to in your community, I challenge you to learn about other people's beliefs. Read a lot of books about religions past and present. If you're the extroverted type, go to church with a neighbor, drop in at your local Hindu/Jewish/Sikh temple for a visit, ask that Wiccan coworker what she believes. There is something beautiful and terrifying about the ways that religions and beliefs both unite us and divide us. It paints a vivid portrait of what it means to be human.

So yeah, I don't believe in god because I'm seeking after truth and facts and right now, as far as I can tell, no one knows and no one can prove the existence of a god. At the same time, I know that my agnostic atheism is no greater than your belief in a higher being.

I see your humanity, and I think it is beautiful.

Happy Passover, Vernal Equinox, Full Moon, and Easter. May your Spring holiday of choice bring you happiness as you focus on the rebirth of the planet, the fresh chance to start each day anew, and the hope and joy that comes with this season.