The “Importance” of Being Atheist

When I sit down to write a blog post, I have to get into the mindset. I must to have an idea and consciously concentrate on the subject. In other words, the contents of this blog are not the things I usually focus on. Moreover, my blog is hardly about atheism so much as it is a reaction to religion. Atheism is just not that important to me.

Atheism is little more than a preference, not all that different from homosexuality, polyamory, or enjoying pork/beef. There are religions which preach against all of these, but the truth is they are harmless in and of themselves. More importantly, these kind of inclinations are largely outside of conscious choice (though their practice is not, I personally find it abominable to deny people a harmless joy).

In fact, these distinctions are hardly even important to most people who possess them. Instead, significance is projected from those who fervently oppose the activity. While homosexuality is openly criticized in a Christian culture, the consumption of pork is forbidden in Muslim or Jewish society (as well as homosexuality, and atheism for that matter).

The truth is, taboos are significant only to the those who avoid them. Vegans have created a whole new language of terms for people who wear animals products, eat or don’t eat eggs/milk, and even for honey consumption. Normal people don’t have any need for defining themselves based on what foods they eat, even if they don’t eat them. Most people don’t eat dogs, but we do not feel compelled to state it... though no one in America is ever going to let Koreans forget that they used to.

I think there are very few people who define themselves based on their religious standing, whether they are believers or not. They may self-identify, but how often does religion really come up? Unless you subscribe to fundamentalism, I would imagine not often. I hope this blog doesn’t turn me into a fundamentalist atheist.