About
Atheist Geek News is - shockingly - the creation of an atheist who has no shame. ::Gasp!:: Not only in terms of his atheism, but also in his dark and off color sense of humor. When The Atheist Geek isn’t offering advice to his fellow ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses on how to deal with over-eager evangelists or to his fellow atheists on … well, pretty much the same kinda stuff … he’s probably busy making fun of the latest sci-fi movie, ragging on Star Trek fans, or writing lengthy dissertations on how neat boobies are. Yes, he’s truly a wonderful puzzle. But don’t get too close. He may not be wearing pants under that desk, ya know.
Did I mention that parts of this web site aren’t intended for the “overly sensitive” or “politically correct” crowds? Well, at least he only refers to himself in the third person when he’s rambling on about his many crippling flaws or writing a bio page.
Atheism and The Atheist Geek
Like most atheists, I’m accustomed to having a list of bizarre and offensive assumptions hurled my way. Let’s hit the most obvious right now: no, I didn’t become an atheist because I had a bad religious experience with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Certainly not in the way most people mean.
I knew that there were over 1,500 denominations of Christianity alone in the United States when I left the Watchtower Society. There are thousands of other non-Christian religions out there as well. And if the Watchtower Society wasn’t the true religion after all, then God could hardly be blamed for all the misery I experienced. Shit happens, people. (Did I mention that I use wirty dords too?) But I was wary enough to stop and reevaluate the worldview the organization had offered me instead of jumping back into any old church. I wanted to deconstruct what had happened and why before making another mistake. How had I fallen in with them in the first place?
Funny thing is that the Witnesses in my life kept bugging me. Harassing me, if you want to know the truth of it. My phone started ringing off the hook as a congregation filled with more than 200 people took it upon themselves to bring me back into “The Truth” before I got away. I came home and found dozens of messages on my answering machine every day, many of them from people who never spoke to me before. Now, it was their mission to “straighten me out.” This lead to a heap of (seemingly) impromptu interventions and confrontations. Time passed, and while these encounters happened less and less, I found that I really wanted to stand up to them. Like most ex-Witnesses, I was too confused and intimidated to defend myself in the beginning. And how could I when I didn’t even know what I believed any more? All I knew was that I wanted them to stop shoving their opinions down my throat and making insanely pompous assumptions about me.
Years came and went. There were spells where I’d research the accuracy of the Society’s publications or issues with religion and philosophy in general. Then I’d lose interest for a time while it all had a chance to sink in. Finally, I began to see myself as an agnostic. Once that word settled into my mind, I began looking into agnosticism and even atheism. That’s when I learned that most atheists are actually agnostics and that I was already both of these things. (If you don’t understand what I’m talking about or want to see where I learned about these things, check out Austin Cline’s web site.) This was no snap decision. It took more than a decade to become an atheist, a few more years to realize that’s what I already was.
Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t the only evangelists I’ve had bad experiences with. But their efforts to “save me” actually pushed me to think about these issues. So, in a sense, my bad religious experiences did play a part in my becoming an atheist. But when people accuse atheists of this, what they usually mean is: “You’re just pretending to be a nonbeliever to get back at God because he allowed bad things to happen to you! Ya spoiled, dirty little…” Which is pretty offensive, by the way. Sorry folks, but that’s just not how it is.
Like a lot of assumptions people make about atheists, I really think this one just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
So Why The Web Site?
 Told you I don’t do “politically correct.” Still, I apologize to anyone I did not offend with this image. |
I was bored. What more do you want?
I’m not particularly interested in spreading atheism or leading people out of the Watchtower Society. This is not meant to be a “hate site” or a “evangelical atheist” site. It’s just me posting stuff, whether it be insightful or moderately entertaining.
Enjoy … or don’t. But the jokes and the commentaries aren’t meant to be personal. This isn’t a declaration of war or anything like that. At worst, it’s just me amusing myself.
On the other hand, if you’re interested in converting me to your religion/way of life/insurance/phone service/or whatever … please save us both the bandwidth. Really. I tend to take a rather harsh view of evangelism. I should know since I’ve done my share of door knocking and I’ve certainly had enough of all that. Just don’t go there, man.
Peace.
