Hi Martin,

Just read some of your site. As you say, "Its BIG!" It must have taken you ages to put together? Anyway, the bit I found "disturbing" was as follows:- I quote a little from your piece "Born Atheist"

"Since then I have rarely been to church. Family weddings, funerals and Christenings. I usually pretend to sing. I stand up and sit down with the others. But I got married in church,and two of those family christenings were my children. My wife is a Christian. She will not discuss religion with me. She knows I will wipe the floor with her in any kind of argument. But she's the boss. She even got me to be a Godfather to the child of her best friend, I made it clear to the parents that I didn't believe in God and if I recited any vows it would not be sincere but they wanted me to do it, so I went through with the sham. I have moral qualms about lying in church but my Christian relatives just want me to go through the motions. Whatever, it is all a waste of time, it always has been."

These don't sound like the words/deeds of an "Atheist" to me. They are the actions of the many who are religiously indifferent.

1) Getting married in church?

2) Having your own children christened?

3) Being a godfather to a child?

Just because your Christian wife and relatives are hypocrites, (knowing your views) you shouldn't commiserate in their shams. People who are religiously colour-blind do these things, but shouldn't someone who claims to be "an Atheist" make a stand on these matters?

Dave.

"Atheist" does not deserve a capital letter. Let your spellchecker be your guide. Religions get capital letters and so do the names of systems of thought named after individuals. Atheism is neither, that is why I only give it one in titles or the beginning of a sentence.

Atheism is not a creed that you can be disloyal to. It is a simple belief, or absence of other beliefs.

You aren't married are you? Compromise is inevitable if you try to reconcile your beliefs, especially with somebody else, even more so if you have children together.

Martin

Hi Martin,

I accept your comments on capital letters. However, just as I wouldn't expect a vegetarian to eat meat, I wouldn't expect an atheist to attend religious services.

OK. Getting married in church is understandable. Its the brides big day. There are the relatives from both sides to consider, the photographs, the video etc. etc. But, allowing your two children to be baptized into the Christian faith, labelling them for life before they are old enough to choose, is not compatible with atheism in my book. How can the religious meme be eradicated if even atheists are ensuring its success? As for your pretence at being a Godfather. Well, it's just being mischievous, and confirms that you don't take your atheism seriously.

I'm sure our mentor Richard Dawkins wouldn't condone such behavior. Mind you, he has been married and, presumably, divorced several times.

Dave.

PS. A Dawkins quote, "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world."

The vegetarian is an interesting example. If you invite a vegetarian for a meal you will offer them a vegetarian meal, and possibly eat it yourself as well, if you are invited for a meal at the house of a vegetarian you expect to be offered a meat free meal; it seems that give and take is in one direction only.

I don't believe in God. That is the start and end to it. By going to church services I am not endorsing their God, I cannot do that. I do not recite prayers or the creed. I became a godfather because I was asked to, despite making my position on the matter clear, it was obvious that the parent's intentions had little to do with deeply held beliefs and were far more social. The act of choosing godparents is more about appointing fallback parents than it is about the stuff the Church teaches. I was chosen as godfather because I was trusted, with my wife, to be the replacement parents if the child was orphaned. To refuse their request because it involved me making a meaningless statement didn't seem appropriate compared to the wellbeing of a child. I think I made the truly honourable decision, don't you?

I do what I can to avoid being seen or counted as religious by default but I don't make a fetish out of it, that would not be rational. After all, atheism is not a religion.

I love the quote, I have used it on the Atheism Zone, it sums up my attitude admirably. The universe is a fantastic place to learn; to reveal in mysteries and superstitions is deeply offensive to my morality. I am resigned to never being able to understand cutting edge physics and cosmology but I will never be happy with that. Unlike most religious people I do not seek any release from the quest for a fuller understanding.

Martin