Atheist Attic Visitor Profile
What is your name? (Real or pseudo)
What is your date of birth?
What is your gender?
What is your race?
What is your e-mail address? (optional)
What is the name and URL of your homepage? (optional)
Where do you live? (City, State, Country)
Doylestown, PA, United States
How would you best describe your form of freethought? (Atheist, Agnostic, Humanist, etc.)
Were you raised as a freethinker or to be religious?
Although my parents were not overtly religious, my grandfather insisted that I, as the first-born son of an Italian Roman Catholic family, be educated at a Catholic school. By the fourth grade, they'd had enough of me, and kicked me out.
What originally set you on the path to freethought?
My experiences in a Catholic school. I, like so many other children, was constantly asking "Why?" Any time I asked this about religion, I never received a satisfying answer. Any other subject, they explained it to me to my satisfaction, but somehow religion never could. That was the beginning.
When did you "come out" as a freethinker to family/friends/public, and how did it go over?
I've always been outspoken and have always challenged traditional thoughts and beliefs. But I finally "came out" to a group of people who've known me for years one night, when one of them sent a terrible email about how tragic it is for children that schools refuse to allow prayers. I had to fire off a response immediately, and talked about my experiences being forced to conform to a belief system that was not my own. And I had to remind them that there was a point when Christians were tortured for their beliefs.
Do you feel it necessary to continue to hide your beliefs in any circumstances, and if so, why?
Especially in the light of the massive wave of blind religious/patriotic obedience in the wake of the 9.11 tragedy, I feel it is more important than ever to be as vocal as possible about my beliefs. Christians are closer than ever to taking over the nation, and killing the last vestiges of a secular government.
Have you ever been the victim of discrimination or abuse because of your beliefs?
I have anti-religion stickers on my car, and preiodically I'll have a redneck in a pickup truck chase me for several miles because he's "offended" by my freedom of speech. The one that most commonly offends people: a sticker that says, "Camcorder Truth Jihad."
In what types of freethought activism, if any, do you participate?
I'm an active member of the Green Party, a political party dedicated to the separation of church and state, among other things. I'll work as hard as I can to get as many Greens in to government as I can, even down to schoolboards and borough councils.
What do you feel is the best part of being a freethinker?
I've always defined the world in which I live by the truths by which I live. Freethought allows those truths to evolve, as information and knowledge change. Organized religions are incapable of evolution, and so their belief systems quickly grow obsolete. Freethought, as the continual pursuit of truth, is never obsolete.
What do you feel is the worst part of being a freethinker?
That there aren't so many of us as there should be, in this "age of enlightenment."
What is the societal atmosphere for freethinkers where you live?
I live in a wealthy, conservative area. I'm surrounded by fat, rich, god-fearing Republicans. Take a guess.
How do you define "freedom of religion" and do you think your country attempts to grant this?
Freedom of religion is, to me, allowing everyone the right to her own beliefs. It also means the governing authority takes no active role in supporting or denouncing ANY belief system. I feel that the U.S. is still a secular nation, supporting freedom of religion, but that it is slowly being consumed from the inside out by power-hungry fundamentalist Christians who will be the death of freedom of religion.
If you could share one thought with whoever might read this profile of you, what would it be?
Don't be afraid to express your beliefs. The Christians need to know we're here, and that we're not afraid to challenge them. We have a voice, let's use it.
