Begining an “Atheism Portfolio”

I’m beginning to wrestle with finding ways to express an atheist point of view in my work. At least now and then.

I’m a life-long atheist — since childhood, and not because of any trauma, and not because I grew up in an atheist community. Atheism just makes sense to me. I’m not without religion:  it’s my cultural background, my community, and in part my ethical framework.

Most of my life, I’ve  kept my atheism to myself. But lately, it seems prudent to put it out there — to make it part of a world where atheism is a reasonable and acceptable choice rather than something to be hidden. In the past, I’ve said I would never want to convince anyone to join me in my atheism. I live on a cold and windy promontory, facing the void each day. Why ask anyone to give up the warmth  and comfort of a world where God and heaven   provide a final justice, right all wrongs and rescind oblivion?

But more and more, I feel that humanity will be better off without God. Time is short. We’ll solve more of the problems that face us, if we work from a platform of rational understanding. Less rationalization of suffering, more concentration on preventing it.