The first time I started this blog back in 2011, I was still unsure which way I would go. Some days, I believed; others, I didn’t. At the time, I kept trying to make sense of Christianity because I wanted to go back to it. I wanted to use this blog as a way to document some of my journey. Unfortunately, I never kept up with it, and decided to completely reboot earlier this year (with much better success, I must say). That’s why you’ll never see posts going that far back.
What I was going to do first was answer the question of whether god existed, and then talk about what I should do. Now, I’ve already explained my views on whether god exists and many of the reasons why, but the question of what I should do about that remains.
Obviously, if a god, especially the Christian god, exists, there are some ways in which I would react. I would go to church, for instance, and spend time in prayer.
But what about now? What should I do about god not existing, or because I don’t think one does?
One thing is that I should spend more money in charity, taking care of the poor, because nobody is looking after humans besides humans. On that note, nobody is making sure the planet can continue to support us besides us. So, I’ve become more willing to pay taxes for programs that help people in need, even though I hate seeing so much of my paycheck disappear. I currently don’t give a lot to charity, and the main reason is that I’m trying to take care of my debt, my boyfriend, our pets, and probably eventually my boyfriend’s student debt, the way things are going. I’m also trying to save up so I can write for a living someday rather than program, which I only really got into to make money, though I do enjoy it. I do support some web comic artists that I follow through patreon, and I signed up to give a dollar a month to a company that provides clean water or means for clean water to countries that struggle with that (I’ll give details in the comments if anyone is interested).
Another thing is that I try to convince other people that I’m right about god not existing, because I have this idea that everyone cares about what is true and this other idea that false ideas can be dangerous (see: 9/11, priest child rape cover up, faith healing, etc). Of course, this is the thing I would do regardless, because I care passionately about truth and, as I just said, I expect everyone to have that same care.
Other than that, I pretty much do whatever I want. Although atheism is a large part of my identity because my religion shaped so much of who I was that my struggle to leave religion shaped much of who I am now, it doesn’t affect my day-to-day life as much as religion did. Of course, I do my best to stay within my own moral code, which starts with not causing suffering except to prevent greater suffering, but I pretty much do what I want.
Well, I actually do a lot of things I don’t want to do, but normally when I do something I don’t want to do it’s because I’m working towards a goal that requires that thing. I don’t want to clean my animals’ cages, but I do want my animals to be happy and healthy, so I do the cleaning. I didn’t really want pet rats, but I do want my boyfriend to be happy. I don’t want to go to work, but I do want to maintain financial independence. I’m sure you have your own examples, regardless of ideology.
For any fellow atheists, what actions of yours are affected by your atheism, if any?
The Complete History of the Universe: A Personal Journey 