TurboFool (Neither, really)

I don’t believe in God. That’s no secret. If you’ve read my blog or had a conversation with me on the topic, you’re aware of this. I work hard to be respectful of the people I know and love and their right to believe what they wish, and I avoid arguments with them simply because I like to maintain the relationships I have with them. But that doesn’t keep me quiet everywhere, and that doesn’t stop me from caring.

But why DO I care? After all, if I don’t believe, then what does it matter? Why do I as an atheist, or all atheists, seem to spend so much time talking about something we don’t believe in? Religious people seem to find this concept silly, and on the surface I can see why. I don’t put a title on my lack of belief in fairies, nor do I write blog posts about it, have heated discussions online, join activist groups, attend conferences, or read books about it. And since I respect each individual’s right to those beliefs, what does it matter?

I’ve wanted to answer this question for quite some time, honestly, and get into the nitty-gritty of it. But today, my Twitter friend @natheist favorited a new (well, maybe just new to me, I didn’t check the date) video by the AWESOME @gogreen18 (who is awesome, to clarify, for being brilliant and well-spoken, all while happening to prove the stereotype that gorgeous women can’t be either is complete bull) that just so happens to say everything I wanted to say better, more compactly, and with prettier eyes. Take a look:

That’s it, in a nutshell. That’s why I care, why it all matters. Historically, and currently, religion tends to impact my life and those of the people I love more than most other forces, and it’s my opinion, and that of a consistently growing number of people, that it does so negatively. Now perhaps you’re one of those who believes in a god or spirituality in some more generalized or personal sense, and one who doesn’t buy into this organized religion thing. Then perhaps you’re one of the people who doesn’t directly harm me. But when you believe your holy text overrides my rights as someone who hasn’t bought into it, you impact my life. And that’s when I have to start doing something about it.

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Today I came across this article on newsday.com which talks about a soldier suing the military over their unfair treatment of his Atheist views.

According to the article, and the suit, this soldier tried to hold a meeting for fellow Atheists and other non-Christians, presumably as a way of garnering a similar level of support and community that the prayer and religious groups have. Despite having his fliers approved, the soldier’s actual meeting was barred by his superior, and he was threatened with military charges and the blocking of his re-enlistment.

Spec. Jeremy Hall is now suing the military over this and other encroachment on his rights to free speech and freedom of (and from) religion. He has cited other incidents, including being forced to submit to religious tests as qualification for his post.

This situation is a perfect example for me of why my Atheism has become so important to me in recent years. As I’ve noted in my About Me page, the lack of a belief in something really shouldn’t be an issue that I care so much about. I have no belief in Godzilla, either, but you don’t see me dedicating sections of my site to proving there’s no Godzilla. This is, I think, true of the vast majority of Atheists. Why waste effort on something we don’t believe exists? But Christians (I point out only Christians because I rarely come across members of any other religion who give a crap) continually go on about how they’re being persecuted (oh how hard it is to be in the majority and in control of the government) by Atheists, and how it seems like we’re at war with them, trying to take away their faith.

Bullshit.

I don’t give a crap what you believe. Believe in God, Allah, Buddha, a giant tortoise, Zeus, Karma, Ra, or any God, Goddess, spirit, universal “truth,” or other mindset you may please. Seriously. I don’t care. But get it out of my face. And no, by saying that, I don’t mean hide your beliefs; I just mean not to try to force your beliefs onto me, whether by constantly reminding me I’m going to Hell for not believing, or by making your religion’s rules into LAWS (and I’m sorry, but if people are to have free will to choose whether or not to sin, and this is one of God’s tests for them, aren’t you fucking up God’s process by outlawing sins?). Your religion is yours, not mine. You think you know better, so live smugly in that knowledge while I live smugly in mine. But you are not making the world a better place by forcing all the infidels and heathens to live by your religion’s rules. You’re just creating a bunch of angry, oppressed people, and history shows that those groups may get over that anger eventually, but usually after they’ve licked that oppression issue… at least until their founding principles are far enough in the past that the rulers can start convincing people they don’t matter anymore.

And that’s where we stand now. We’re sick of watching you erode our rights because your several-thousand-year-old holy book of choice tells you you can’t do certain fun things that the rest of us enjoy. We’re sick of seeing your interests get preferential treatment over ours because your people are in power, when those interests benefit ONLY you and hurt the rest of us. And less and less of us are willing to take it. We’re not at war with you, but we are beginning to fight, and we didn’t start it.

AlterNet, from whom I found this article (via StumbleUpon), noted the irony of how so many religious people, usually in an effort to prove some sort of point (I never do get quite what point they’re trying to prove), try to claim that Atheism is actually a religion (which, of course, it’s not, just like the big blank screen in a theater at 4:00 in the morning isn’t a movie), yet are completely unwilling to provide it the same rights as one. Make a choice, people. Call it (incorrectly) a religion, and give Atheist groups the same tax breaks and other benefits of churches, or shut up.

I wish this soldier the best of luck with his lawsuit. I don’t expect it to work out well in his favor, considering the might of our military and the backing they have in Washington, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed, which is of course the Atheist equivalent of prayer.