A hard copy of Mail Call 8/4 states that the separation of church and state has been so misinterpreted. As the writer of a letter (8/1) to the editor on this topic, I must agree! That is why I invited people of ALL faiths and of NO faith to attend this program presented by Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. For details, see http://fresh.wash.org I extend a personal invitation to the author of this phone-in mail call to attend this presentation.

I can not agree or disagree with this person's statement that I am an atheist until he or she defines atheist. There is more than one connotation of the word atheist. I refer to myself as a humanist.

To keep the record accurate, let it be known that atheists can be ethical without the need of a threat and reward system mandated by the supernatural. I feel that religionists can only be moral through such a system. If that is what they need to be good people, I am all for their having a religion to guide them.

Hope to see some of the forum people at the FRESH meeting.

Wow, I never thought I would see a proselytizing atheist.

There are many closet atheists out there! We are the last group that is OK to discriminate against. Being of no theistic beliefs can be hard to handle at times. In the past all my peers just assumed I was a believer...afterall, everybody is except for the wicked. If I questioned the Bible, I was not given an answer. I was simply told "because it says so." This was in church as well as in personal situations. I just could not accept such "blind follower" answers. The Bible has some very violent, bloody, murderous, etc. happenings detailed. By today's standards, it would be R rated at the theater! I do not need that kind of reading to be a good person.

My atheist friends do not need a fear of the supernatural to be good people. If our actions can make someone's life better, happier, etc. then we do it! We do it because the other person needed what we could offer. We don't do things to get points to get to into an afterlife. Nor are we guided to ethical behavior by fear of Hell. There is no heaven or hell...this life on earth is all there is. So, we try to make the best of it while we are alive.

Since childhood, peers have OK'd their "bad" behavior because we were all born of sin. All they had to do was pray for forgiveness and all is forgiven. This never has made sense to me. It is OK to be bad because God wants me to pray to him???

I have tried the church thing. I always felt that I was the only one who felt so uncomfortable listening to those stories. I felt ashamed when my questions were not really answered. So, I had to pretend to believe to fit into society. Now that the kids are grown and on their own, I have been able to come out as a non-theist. The public schools in this county have a lot of teachers who are fundamentalists. I feared their religiosity would harm the kids who had an atheist Mom! One even had the kids form a prayer circle in his extracurricular activities!

There are a lot of groups that are empathtic to the non-theists. I only wish I knew of them years ago so as to have avoided the many years of feeling so isolated.

Enough for now! People like me have written books about this topic! Have a beautiful life, all of you.

Kacee

I agree with your views Kacee. The bible makes God out to be vengeful and judgemental on people. That's not the kind of god I want to worship. I believe in God, but not the one described in the bible. I believe in my OWN God, whom I believe is accepting and loving of everyone. I can only hope for a day where there is a true seperation of Church and State. Religious views/teachings do not belong in school or business. Most IMPORTANTLY, they do NOT belong in government! Vote Howard Dean!!!!!

Yes, it is good to believe in a personal God. I can handle that well. It is those people who insist that their God is the only God..the one in the Holy Bible. And, that is a very scarey book in many places! These believers say that I will burn and be tortured in Hell since I do not have their God in my life. And, God agrees! I am not worried as I am donating my body at death and then I will decompose. How can a kind and loving God be such a terrorist?

Kacee

Hmm, I do not believe in God (Jesus' dad) either. I just found it interesting that there was an "ad for atheists" on the Herald Mail Forums. I checked out your website.