Nor am I

Christian

Catholic

Baptist

Church of Christ

Pentecostal

(Insert other Christian denominations here)

Buddhist

Hindu

Jain

Muslim

Fondu

Etcetera

Etcetera

Etcetera

I'm probably Agnostic, which I've been informed is the most cowardly and faithless of all belief systems, but I conform to nothing and refuse a label because I don't really care. I hate the very limiting term "belief system."

In turn, I suppose none of the above matters.

In my observation, to be atheist simply means to believe only what can be proven factually and scientifically or otherwise obviously.

I have total respect for that.

It doesn't mean putting faith in theories, as some would misunderstand and use to call flaw to the atheist "non-existent belief" belief system. It simply means understanding what has been proven, which also means understanding that even these things can (and inevitably will) change.

It means a surgeon is given thanks for his twelve-plus years of medical school when he saves your life.

It means exploration into the unknown and (theoretically) infinite universe.

It means questioning everything on the table that is deserving of interrogation.

It means half of the reason (probably more) that human beings in first world countries have the life expectancy that they have today.

It means that thunder is a result of lightening and not a result of an angry dude throwing bolts down from the sky.

It means, before we damn and shake fingers in the faces of all atheists, we may want to thank our lucky stars they exist or we might still be chanting prayers and bleeding ourselves out of fever instead of taking antibiotics.

It means not using an uppercase A when spelling the word "atheist."

And I have total respect for that.

None can make me, 

None can break me, 

I'm strong, 

I'm responsible for what I'm, 

Or what I do with my life. 

I don't step back,  

coz of some blind believes

Come on, they are blind, 

But I can see. 

I can burn night oil, 

I can accept fall down,  

I again dare to get up.

Self flaws are easier to be forgiven, 

I don't give others power to ruin me, 

I don't spill my failures on GOD's shoulders. 

Yes I am an atheist, 

& I am responsible.

I don't like probability & possibility

Always disliked maths & calculations.

I simply choose to begin with certainty of "Shall WIN".

Only thing I believe is,

Universe is to make me, 

I just have to step up, 

Deleting the reasons to stop.

Believing

In Nothing

Unknown

Not unsure,

Definitely

Assured

That Nothing

Definable

As a deity

                    (Not just capital G.O.D 

                                                         but any gods)

Exists above

Or among us,

Steadfast

Conviction

In science

Reliance

On only

The earthly,

Believing

In Something

Under

The guise of

Nothing

I was born,

formed by the coming together of an egg and a sperm.

My Mother and Father’s DNA fused, developed full term.

There is no higher power, creator, deity or god,

Is a priest or minister that claims so, a fraud?

One creature with magical capacity looking down from above?

A judge and a jury, unforgiving, is not my idea of love.

A spiritual guide, unseen apparition watching all that we do,

Doesn’t this seem like a fantasy or hallucination to you?

I can’t hold onto a belief in something so unscientific.

These stories from ancient times, are certainly terrific.

We are here on this earth, masters of our own fates.

I'm not wasting my time wondering, what someday awaits.

No celestial or divine beings are idols of mine.

I don’t worship in a church, mosque, temple or shrine.

My good deeds and kindness come from within,

I don't need a book to tell me not to sin.

I'm not worried that my soul will be banished to hell,

Because in this life I am happy and treat others well. 

It’s the here and the now, people alive that matter.

So please don’t involve me in your religious chatter.

What happens, Prosers, when you tap the "Write" button?

For me, I'm not sure. The blankness kind of gets to me, and I feel like I have to fill it.

The silence during prayers felt the same way to me as a child.

It felt like no matter how hard I clenched my hands together, they always came up empty after "amen."

Raised religious, baptist actually, I find myself an atheist now.

And I think it's strange how sometimes I'm motivated to pray because a horror movie scared me, or my dad's in bad health again, etc, etc, et cetera, even though I know why.

I only do this because it brings me comfort, not because I believe.

It took me a long time to figure that out.

Because there's a difference, I think, between being a holiday Christian, a bible reader, churchgoer, agnostic, or an atheist.

And that is this:

Whether your beliefs are your question, or your answer.

For me, beliefs are the question.

What do I believe?

In life, I suppose. That we're here, and that's pretty much all I know for certain. Questions bring me joy, discovery, vigor in my everyday.

I can hope that life has meaning, but I don't know, not really. That's why I try so hard, because I'm in a constant state of uncertainty.

Is that hard?

Yeah, actually.

It is very hard sometimes.

But no harder, I think, than when beliefs are your answer.

When something is so automatic, and so sure in your head, that there is no room for an open mind, it must be difficult. Not to say that religion cannot allow for open minds, of course.

It's just that most do not.

And they certainly never worked for me.

I won't pretend to understand the mentality, it's just how it's always appeared to me.

Kind of like drinking the Kool-Aid.

I used to wonder why, why couldn't I act/feel/think/be the same as the other kids who were so, so into it.

But it's okay. I get it, I accept it.

And I've found my alternative.

Beliefs are my question, and I thrive in the not knowing. An adventure, with no map, no scripture.

While I understand guidance, my faith was never placed in the religious kind.

See, I appreciate goodness, and sin.

For what they both offer to me, minus their stigma.

I think, the strongest morals come to those who forge them on their own.

Which is why, when I tap that button, and fill these pages, they're filled with me - my questions, they're in my writing.

And my answers?

Who knows.

An atheist's are much harder to find.

Atheists do not believe in the existence of God,

An outlook many people believe is quite flawed.

No deity's direction,

Pure self-reflection,

On a non-spiritual journey, they aimlessly plod.

A quote I usually remember when I think of Atheism is "Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes, or he doesn't care to, or he doesn't exist. God is either: impotent, evil, or imaginary." Why am I an atheist? Take a good look around at the world. At the starving children, poverty, disease, war, and hatred. That's why. Because if God does exist then I really want an explanation. I used to pray to God every day. Right before I went to sleep. I didn't know the prayers, so I just talked and hoped someone would hear me. No one did. I prayed for my grades, my health, my future success. Well it looks like all three are gone. I don't believe in God because I can't believe in an all powerful being that can't make our world a better place, that does nothing while I go through hell. I don't want to believe in a God that stands by while the world is suffering. An atheist is someone who has opened his/her eyes to the harshness of reality. God is a hope that many cling onto because if there is no God there is no easy answer. What's the point of life, what happens when we die, etc. But there is no easy answer. The idea of simply not existing eventually terrifies people. The unknown has always terrified people. But atheists realize that what is scarier than the unknown is believing in something that doesn't exist.

*I hope this offends no one, it is simply my opinion on a very controversial matter.*