Boston Atheists member Geoffp writes:
My personal why-I'm-an-atheist story is not very interesting, other than the importance of teaching your children to be skeptics and ask questions. My religious grandparents were very upset when my parent decided not to baptize us. So my parents made a deal with my grandparents, that while religion wouldn't be practiced (or disparaged) in our house, they would take us to church and send us to Sunday school - my parents thought it was a good way to meet and socialize with our community, and there is value in some of the teachings. However, my parents, both scientists, taught us to ask questions, be skeptical, look for flaws in reasoning (including our own, very important). Having been armed with the tools to resist indoctrination and propaganda, those religious classes and sessions never made sense to my brothers and me. After a few years of frustration of both us children (for not getting good answers) and our religious teachers (tired of our 'disruptions') we ended up stopping going entirely. My parents were very happy.
The only downside is that at age 10 or 11, when you're supposed to think adults are these magical superior beings, I was stunned that so many clearly believed all these stories. It gave me a sense of incredulous superiority that set me up to be a right arrogant b*stard for most of my life. I hope I've curbed it a little...
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This post is part of a series, in which members of the Boston secular community explain how they came to the decision to identify as atheists. To read more posts in the series, click here. To submit your own story, email bostonatheists@gmail.com.
My personal why-I'm-an-atheist story is not very interesting, other than the importance of teaching your children to be skeptics and ask questions. My religious grandparents were very upset when my parent decided not to baptize us. So my parents made a deal with my grandparents, that while religion wouldn't be practiced (or disparaged) in our house, they would take us to church and send us to Sunday school - my parents thought it was a good way to meet and socialize with our community, and there is value in some of the teachings. However, my parents, both scientists, taught us to ask questions, be skeptical, look for flaws in reasoning (including our own, very important). Having been armed with the tools to resist indoctrination and propaganda, those religious classes and sessions never made sense to my brothers and me. After a few years of frustration of both us children (for not getting good answers) and our religious teachers (tired of our 'disruptions') we ended up stopping going entirely. My parents were very happy.
The only downside is that at age 10 or 11, when you're supposed to think adults are these magical superior beings, I was stunned that so many clearly believed all these stories. It gave me a sense of incredulous superiority that set me up to be a right arrogant b*stard for most of my life. I hope I've curbed it a little...
*
This post is part of a series, in which members of the Boston secular community explain how they came to the decision to identify as atheists. To read more posts in the series, click here. To submit your own story, email bostonatheists@gmail.com.
