A Declaration from an Atheist

https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/p/a-declaration-from-atheist.html

24/01/01 big-endian date format. 

Kinloss House, Singapore

Please believe me. I am being open and honest.

I am a lifelong (74 years so far), atheist. The reason I am an atheist is simple. I have never been indoctrinated in any religion.

I have been exposed to religion somewhat. I'm English, and I attended many schools, being a service child. Some of the schools I attended were Church of England founded. The Church greatly values education. Then I was at a boarding school in Singapore. Confined, and bored out of my mind, I went to confirmation classes, and actually went through the motions of being confirmed. At least it got me out of the school premises on a Sunday, when I went to communion and sang in the choir. 

I was disappointed though. The people offering confirmation classes had hinted that they had some intriguing knowledge to impart. But none was forthcoming. At about the same time, I was being taught basic science. Not evolution, just basic chemistry and physics. I thought to myself, "These science guys can actually demonstrate that what they say is true. The religion guys? No, they can't". This was my confirmation of atheism.

Don't get me wrong. I don't care whether there is a god or not. I just want to know the truth, as far as I can determine it. I'm not motivated by a desire to avoid the responsibility for "sin". To deny God to avoid any blame would be totally incoherent. If there is a God, there would be no avoiding him anyway. And if we are sinners, we are all sinners in any case. 

When I left school, I thought long and hard about what to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to make a difference. Make life better and more rewarding for other people. I decided to train to become a teacher. Nobody goes into teaching for the money. It is a job that takes all you have to give. I happened to get into a Christian-founded college of education for my training. They knew I was an atheist. Perhaps they thought they could turn me, but they didn't try very hard. They saw in me the potential to become a good teacher, which I did. They taught evolution, and even took us to Darwin's Down House. My blog is part of the result. 

If you want to know a bit more about me, you can go here, https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/p/arent-you-just-plagiarist-why-dont-you.html and here, https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/p/why-evolutionary-science-is-vitally.html or go to the "Contents" link, https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/

Happy new year,

Barry