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I’m Not Trying to Convince You
Now stop trying to convince me
Let’s start with some basic semantics before wading into the fray. I’m not an atheist or a non-believer. I believe in many things including an often innate propensity for human compassion and the power of freshly baked cookies. The term atheist is kind of ridiculous as it means believing that something that can’t be seen or touched or heard doesn’t exist (wait, what?).
Here’s a radical proposition: We can all believe whatever we want as long as we’re not trying to impose our beliefs on others.
And this is where I draw the line.
There seem to be a few too many people who are intent on convincing me that my life is lacking something necessary — or worse, denigrating me — because I don’t share their belief in God. Or Christ. Or Allah. Or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
As a non-theist, I am fully capable of living a morally sound life without some deity judging me. Even without a supernatural God directing my behavior I’m still never going to run amok and start slapping little old ladies and kicking puppies. In fact, if I really need a stern, implacable, and all-powerful deity to keep me in line what does that say about my sense of morality? I can only behave properly under the threat of damnation?
