What is your name? (Real or pseudo)

Tracy

What is your date of birth?

January 3, ‘65

What is your gender?

F

What is your race?

American

What is your e-mail address? (optional)

tracy_liz@geocities.com

What is the name and URL of your homepage? (optional)

Tracy's Passion Page

Where do you live? (City, State, Country)

USA

How would you best describe your form of freethought? (Atheist, Agnostic, Humanist, etc.)

Humanist & Atheist

Were you raised as a freethinker or to be religious?

Both ways.

I was baptized Episcopalian & attended Sunday School every week. I loved it! Stories, singing, friends… those who know me would be shocked to find a picture of me during a Church pageant where I was dressed as an angel!!

I say "both" because although I was exposed to religion, I was raised to "think freely." Mom never really discussed religion with me as a kid, and I don’t think I ever even asked her how she felt about it.

What originally set you on the path to freethought?

When Sunday School ceased to be fun (about the 2nd grade, I think), I ceased going. Mom allowed me to come to my own decisions about religion. She taught me a lot about the world, though. My sister and I "rescued" hundreds of polliwogs from a drying up pond, and she obligingly set up aquariums for them in the back yard, where we watched them evolve from aquatic water-breathing fishy things to frogs with legs and lungs who hopped out to land and freedom. She set up a microscope where we could study the microscopic life found in pond scum when we were 7 or 8. She watched Nova and Carl Sagan on TV, and was always in awe of the world and its beauty. I never heard her utter one comment that degraded another because of their race or culture, and her compassion was never cluttered with religious clichés. She exposed me to both worlds. Frankly, I found the world of science and compassion much more appealing and logical than that of staunch, silly, irrational and condemning religious dogmas. Religions, although cute, didn’t make sense against the world I could observe.

When did you "come out" as a freethinker to family/friends/public, and how did it go over?

I called myself "agnostic" a long time before I decided to accurately ID my lack of beliefs. When I was about 16, I told my Grandma I was an Atheist, and she literally gasped. "Tracy! You don’t mean that! You mean you’re agnostic; you’re not sure what you believe yet!" A perfectly natural reaction from my 100% Irish Grandma who was raised with certain paradigms in keeping with her culture. She still treated me with the same unconditional love; she composed herself from her initial shock and didn’t bring it up again.

When Grandma died a horrible, painful, morphine-laden death to cancer, my Grandfather was devastated. "Tracy, there is no god! Don’t ever believe it! No good, kind, loving god worthy of worship would ever allow a lady as fine, honorable and utterly beautiful as your Grandma to die like this."

No, that’s not why I became an Atheist; I’d already been an admitted Atheist for over a decade at this point. But at that point the "god works in mysterious ways" crap stopped being a cute, quaint little cliché for the mentally challenged and started to piss me off.

As far as other people’s reaction to my Atheism… varies.

Do you feel it necessary to continue to hide your beliefs in any circumstances, and if so, why?

Yes. I’ll answer when directly asked, but I don’t volunteer them in most circumstances. I read a lot, and I've studied the Bible extensively. Sometimes I’ll answer, "You really don’t want to get into this with me, trust me," or something like that when someone who I regard as particularly fragile or dim-witted gets really pushy. If they still push, or if I think they’re somewhat rational, I am more than happy to share my outlook.

Life’s a balance, and I have to sort out what will be the most effective in a given circumstance. If, for example, there were a school board meeting in which the posting of the 10 Cs in my kids’ school was being discussed, I’d invalidate myself immediately in many people’s minds as a liberal, immoral, heathen atheist if I just came right out with it, creating one more obstacle to overcome when making my points. ("Freedom of religion, not freedom from," quoth the Fundie...) A more effective approach might be to defend other non-Christian religions. I might, for example, ask that the 5 pillars of Islam be posted as well, for our Islamic friends, and that I, as a Buddhist, would like to see the Four Noble Truths and the Enlightened Path posted. This would give pause for thought. Of course, if many people there knew me and considered me morally sound and compassionate, I might proclaim my Atheism right away--it’s confusing for many Christians if they’ve been taught the evil natures of Atheists, and then are confronted with a real-live one who doesn’t fit. That, too, might give cause for thought. Gotta pick the battles & the most effective way to win them.

Have you ever been the victim of discrimination or abuse because of your beliefs?

Not really.

In what types of freethought activism, if any, do you participate?

I’m a member of the American Humanist Association, the Skeptics Society, and the ACLU. I also have a web-page dedicated to it. (I'm especially proud of my "Blasphemous Links" page! =) ) Worth noting, however, that my Patriotic type pages don’t directly link to my religious pages. Two reasons. One, I try & live by my own values of not mixing government with religion. Two, I don’t want my religious views to affect the reception of my views about "equality" and other such things in my Military pages. Much easier to dismiss a point of view if it’s coming from an idealistic, liberal, feminazi atheist... again, picking the battles and finding the balance.

What do you feel is the best part of being a freethinker?

Freedom to love life for what it is without any threats or promises, & power to own my own destiny.

What do you feel is the worst part of being a freethinker?

The knowledge of…

The power and influence of certain religious groups on society, and the inability of so many people to open their eyes, take responsibility for themselves and think on their own.

Such a waste.

What is the societal atmosphere for freethinkers where you live?

Varies.

How do you define "freedom of religion" and do you think your country attempts to grant this?

Freedom to believe and think as we choose. I think our country’s made up of people, some who do, some who don’t. I believe it’s in our hands to ensure our freedoms. I think the power of the KKKristian KKKoalition is absolutely terrifying, but as long as we keep the structure of our country intact, we’ll be fine. This means we need to protect our constitution and rights by ensuring we elect Presidents who will protect our judiciary branch when they select Supreme Court Justices. We need to elect representatives who are well educated in science and sincerely care about the freedoms of all people. We need to provide a rational, sane voice against proposals and bills that "sound" good to some devoutly religious people who aren’t able to think the ramifications of them through. One of my favorite examples is a KKK supported bill to "stop Taxpayer-funding for Pornography." Anyone who just listened to the hype would have believed it. What was it really? A censorship issue to cut funding to the National Endowment for the Arts. We need to continue to clear up misconceptions like that and to encourage people to educate themselves if we want to retain our freedoms. (And I don’t mean it needs to be a "formal" education!!! Libraries are free. I use mine a lot.) An uneducated mob of people will not make educated choices to ensure our freedoms… all of them… are preserved.

If you could share one thought with whoever might read this profile of you, what would it be?

Don’t try and convert me; it’s a waste of your time. I've read the Bible. Have you, really? Religions are clearly mythologies, legends and superstitions that have no place in a rational and caring society. I’ve already heard all the drivel. Go solve a real problem.