OC HIGH: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : I’m an Atheist and Proud to Be One

Before I knew what the word atheist meant, I had the impression that it was a dirty word, a dirty thing to be. Standing alongside anarchist and socialist, it was classified in my mind as a person with ideas that I did not know or understand but that were supposed to be undesirable.

I really don’t know for certain where this feeling--for it was an emotion that the word evoked--came from. It certainly wasn’t from my parents, the origin of most childhood beliefs and opinions.

So I suppose it must have been inferred from comments I heard outside my home or on television. Perhaps even from the parrot-like speech of other equally young children who were repeating it from their parents with the typical bluntness and lack of discretion that is a trait of childhood. Whatever the source, however, the feeling existed.

I never actually did understand the term atheism --what it really means--until recently, for the simple reason that for many years, I did not truly comprehend the meaning of religion. Once I did learn, and consequently found that I agreed with atheist beliefs, I began to feel somewhat isolated from many of my peers.

In order to deal with the stigma that I continued to perceive in association with the word atheist, I adopted the practice of labeling myself as simply “not religious.” I didn’t accept the atheist label and thereby attempted to avoid the inevitable disapproving gazes and questions like “How can you not believe in God?”

In the past several years, however, I have finally gained the understanding necessary to fully explore my beliefs.

An acquaintance with the beliefs of the religious community and a growing understanding of the world in general has provided me with a more acute appreciation and understanding of myself and my ideas. Regardless of what others think or believe, I am an atheist and am proud to be one.

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This knowledge, however, has only compounded my perception of the social stigmas associated with not believing in God. In recent months, I have found atheism accused of everything from increased crime and a rise in the number of teen-age pregnancies to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The freedom of religion that this country professes to believe in, and that has provided a remarkable amount of tolerance for different religious groups in the United States, has yet to include the lack of religion as a fully legitimate viewpoint, at least in the minds of a quite vocal segment of the population.

Increasingly, I have been finding my views insulted by movements such as the one that is trying to introduce prayer into the public schools--flagrant examples of a self-righteous minority trying to foist its views of morality upon everyone.

To those who would support such a program, let me say, “I have morals, thank you.” I “sin” less often than many religious people I know.

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I believe in humanity. I believe that this world is all that we have and that we need to make it a better place to live for everyone. I do not need the fear of some omnipotent deity to motivate me to be a good, upstanding citizen. And I don’t need to be forced to recite words that mean nothing to me, to be put on the spot or to feel embarrassed and isolated in a “moment of silence” simply to satisfy the desires of those wishing to pressure the youths of this nation into religion.

In short, I myself am proof that secular beliefs are not the cause of society’s problems today. To truly combat these menaces, one must look deeper--to poverty, to disillusionment and to intolerance itself.

Now, do not misunderstand me. I have no problem with anyone expressing his or her religious beliefs in a private setting, or even sharing them with me so that I may better understand him or her and other people different from myself. All I ask is that the religious community keep its spiritual beliefs out of the classrooms of public schools, that it uphold the separation of church and state and condemn religious intolerance.

Everyone has a right to his or her own beliefs-- everyone. I do not belittle the beliefs of others and I would never try to force my beliefs on another, so I would greatly appreciate it if all others would be kind enough to extend to me this same courtesy.

To those who would harass me to convert, all that you will earn from trying to force religion upon me is my bitterness and my anger, and that will not make the world a better place to live.