Do you wish that everyone knew you are really an atheist? Are you afraid to say so because of peer pressure? Try not to worry. Your real friends will respect your beliefs. They will not abandon you, or persecute you for not believing in the same things as they. I've got to warn you about something. It is not easy being a "non-believer" sometimes.
When a friend or family member is ill, and they want prayers for God's intervention, it can be extremely difficult to comfort them. You know that praying to a god is not going to do anything, except boost their morale when they see you praying for them. Maybe it will make them feel a little better knowing someone cares enough to pray. Praying is an act of love. Pray to the mindless universe and causality for a positive outcome.
What about if you are sick, and people say they will pray for you? It would make them feel bad to let them know you don't believe. They so badly want to help, and to see you get better. They want it so badly, they would ask their god to take them, and to spare you. What a profound act of love!
For me, things like the aforementioned are extremely hard. It is hard for me because I love you all, and would never want to see you unhappy. More often than not, I accept their prayers, gratefully. I pray along with them, or rather I pretend to pray. I do it out of respect. Could you imagine the heartbreak if someone who loves you wanted to pray for you, but you refused their act of kindness. It would be horrible.
I don't know about you, but keeping true to myself can be extremely hard. I don't take any of the religions lightly either. I know something like this reaches all the way back to our primitive ancestors. Passed down through countless generations. Profoundly believed by billions. Believed by people so profoundly that some of the believers would rather put me to the sword rather than have me write this, or to profess my non-belief. Indeed it is extremely hard for me to deal with this because I care about you all.
I could talk of the mean things said to the atheist. Hurtful things said and done to insightful, brilliant people who questioned tribal knowledge. They only sought truth, and got hate and death for their efforts.
I might mention my fear of speaking out sometimes. I bite my tongue and keep quiet rather than stir up the mob. The mob is mindless and will follow that which destroys, maims and kills. I don't want to end up like so many others. Burned at the altar of self righteous egos, unwilling to let go of the past. I don't want to be like them.
I had these thoughts this morning, and thoughts are for sharing. Along with these thoughts go a question for you non-believers. Do you still want to walk the path of the atheist? It can be a treacherous path, filled with heartbreak, doubts and fear. It can also be an enlightening path.
Enlightening because you will have thrown off the blinders of ignorance, myth and superstition. You will finally be open to the universe's true majesty and greatness. You will have let yourself decide, with reason and logic to accept the true nature of reality. To know that the universe is greater than any gods humans can invent. Not only is it greater than what we know, but even greater than what we can know. It is infinite.
Embrace truth and knowledge. Be free from mental bondage.
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