Deep South Atheism

Over the last roughly 6,000 years of recorded human history, religion has seen a steady decline in importance in nearly every area of human concern.  We no longer look to the priest when we see a solar eclipse or when we get sick...instead, we turn to an astronomer and a doctor.  When we see a strange animal, we don't look to the old myths for information, but rather a biologist.  The examples are endless...we don't reach for the sacred texts when planting our crops, opting for Poor Richard's Almanac...we don't pray for rain during a drought ( unless you happen to be the governor of Georgia ), but turn on the weather report.  And so on and so forth. Except in one area, that is.  There is still one area in which the faithful, whatever that faith might be, still inexplicably cling to a sense or superiority.  Ah ha, they say...you might have better answers for these other 99 questions, but you still can't answer the one question about morality!   And, f...

Let's imagine a human ruler who follows Yahweh's model of rule.  What would that look like? For starters, if you aren't a loyal member of the Party, you are the enemy.  No crimes are too heinous to commit against non-party members, and nearly no crimes committed by party members are unforgivable.  Everyone is welcome to join the Party...encouraged to do so...in fact, compelled to do so upon penalty of pain and suffering.  Anyone who refuses to join is seen as subversive and under the influence of enemy agents and will be treated as such.  Once you profess the oath of loyalty to the Party and the Great Leader, you're in...so long as you continue to make such professions and go through the motions of party loyalty on a regular basis.  In this same line of reasoning, your actual behavior is not an issue.  You can do whatever you like, hurt whoever you wish in whatever ways you wish, just so long as you ask the Leader for forgiveness.  In fact, yo...

History may speak of movements and talk about populations, but at it's most basic level, life is experienced by the individual. All the tens of millions of casualties, both military and civilian, that we read about in World War Two is really just a convenient way of telling one story instead of all the individual stories of pain and suffering.  It's a lot to wrap our minds around...as Joseph Stalin (may or may not have) said, "One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic."  While that idea is obviously a disturbing one, it's quite accurate.  Do we know the individual stories of those million dead?  Upon hearing that  smoking causes 6 millions deaths world wide every year , do we get as emotionally distressed or invested as we do upon hearing that our own family member or even a friend of a friend has been diagnosed with lung cancer?  Of course not.  We simply couldn't function on a daily basis if that's how our minds worked. With that in mind, ...

Working in the South presents some interesting challenges that I don't recall facing in other places.  I grew up in the military and we had our fair share of very religious neighbors and the like, but I really think the extreme diversity that we had prevented any one group from feeling like they had license to push the others around.  There were also very strict rules in place about discussing religion at work, among other things.  I can't say that I recall a single conversation about religion that I didn't actively search out. I have to admit that it was somewhat surprising to me to discover how readily and even nonchalantly people will bring up religion here.  Casual mentions of church activities, asking what church you attend, the ubiquitous "have a blessed day"...it's hard to go a day without hearing at least some indirect reference to religion.  And yes, just so we are all clear, it's always Christianity of some flavor or another.  I have yet to be ...

I would like to welcome you to the first post of my new blog, The Deep South Atheist.  As the name might imply, I am an atheist living in the Deep South.  For what it’s worth, I was not an atheist when I moved here.  Living in the Bible Belt has, however, greatly influenced and, at times, fueled the personal growth I experienced, ultimately allowing me to shake off the last vestiges of my old faith and live my life free of the confines and limitations of religion.  No longer am I a Catholic, Christian, or believer in any sort of god or gods. Of course, throwing off my personal beliefs did not mean that I was free of the influence of religion in my life.  The Bible Belt is so named for good reason.  When I first moved to Georgia in 1997, Sunday liquor sales were still prohibited.  This was not rectified until 2011 , and then only on a county by county basic; 54 out of 159 counties still have the prohibition in place.  Even in the coun...

Not what you think...although there are plenty of atheists in the ranks of Christian clergy No, what I'm talking about is becoming an ordained minister in the First Church of Atheism .  Enjoy all the privileges of being an ordained minister, conduct weddings and funerals, park in clergy parking, etc. For the record, I am ordained through this group, but I'm not otherwise affiliated with them.  If you need a humanist/secular ceremony officiated, hit me up !

I know it can be hard. It's been a way of life for years, probably your whole life. Maybe you never even thought about the reasons, it's just something that's a given, maybe even self-evident. Perhaps it's more of a convenience thing or a courtesy to friends and family members. Maybe you're a buffet Baptist or cafeteria Catholic. An Easter and Christmas Christian. That's ok. I totally get it. Our culture is saturated with Christianity and the vast majority of people you know and encounter every day are most likely Christian. Leaving has probably never even been considered as a feasible option, let alone a likely one. Let me tell you...you are not alone. Hard numbers are impossible to nail down, but anecdotal evidence will tell you that there are non-believers all throughout the Christian community (I know, but it does at least indicate that something is going on, even if it doesn't necessarily prove exactly what is going on). Organizations ...