My transition to atheism

I grew up in a very religious and Catholic environment. Mass, Sunday school... I used to genuinely believe these things. Even to the point of being afraid of thinking the wrong things (for example, distancing myself from belief).

Then, you learn that things, the universe, evolution and life, work even without the intervention of a supernatural entity.

However, I never dismissed the idea. I thought that when in doubt, it's better to believe. Who knows, maybe something is actually true. The actual breakage from religion happened later.

Labels

Let me first say that when this happened I was already identifying as non-believer. One day I randomly found out that a friend of mine (that I thought I knew pretty well) had "Catholic Christian" as religion on his Facebook profile. This sounded unexpected to me, based on what I knew about him.

We reciprocally asked each other some detailed questions on what we believe or not believe (as percentages). In the end, I found out that, despite the different labels (Catholic/atheist), our opinions were basically the same.

Actually, at least in Italy, the bar for calling ourselves Catholics is very low. It's enough to believe that Jesus was a nice guy who said lots of nice things, that our families/grandparents/ancestors have traditionally been Catholic, and we are Catholic too.

It is as if the majority of millennials could fit into one of these categories:

God is some force of the universe , or what is good in each one of us

, or what is good in each one of us Being Catholic is part of our culture/customs/traditions , but I don't think God actually exists

, but I don't think God actually exists I'm not very religious, but I refrain from talking about that in order not to hurt my family's/relatives' feelings...

Anyways, it's as if every verse of the Bible can be put into three different categories:

For illustrative purposes only

It's not hard to see that some people identify themselves as Christians, despite having a purple (and sometimes gray) view of scriptures, or do a lot of mental gymnastics in order to reconcile every inconsistency with reality and well-known and established scientific facts.

But you can't be 100% sure

Exactly, just like I can't be completely sure about the non-existence of fairies, or Thor. The difference is that I didn't spend my childhood hearing from family and society how important it is to believe in them, with sense of guilt as an alternative. Technically, we are all fairy-agnostic, but for practical purposes, we call ourselves fairy-atheists. The first option would suggest we are more at 50-50.

We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further - Richard Dawkins

You are hurting other people's deeply-held beliefs, doesn't it sound unjust?

If the only thing that prevents someone from becoming atheist is to refrain from discussing about this topic, or to avoid reading The God Delusion, maybe his faith is not that strong in the first place.

In other contexts, we would never believe something without a shred of evidence (or would we?). In a religious context, the less evidence is there, the more faith is something noble and noteworthy.

Religion is almost a sacred topic, something we should not freely discuss, criticize, or why not, even ridicule. Total immunity.

I found it hard to believe it when, from many Catholic environments (pope included), a wave of "victim blamings" arrived after Charlie Hebdo attacks. It's a bit like when someone comments with the disgusting "he has to pay for what he has done, but she was dressed in a provocative way."

It's curious to see how many double standards, how many exceptions we put in place for religion. Astrology/homeopathy/chemtrails/Scientology? Lol let's laugh about that. Millenary religion? Utmost respect.

We are so used about that, that we take it for granted. What would happen if we took a section of the Catholic catechism and made a sentence-by-sentence transposition to another argument, maybe religion itself?

I believe in God but not in the Catholic Church

I thought this was completely reasonable, even when I used to believe. The answer of priests/catechists was that these are two indivisible things, the Church is our whole community.

I remember that when The Da Vinci Code was published, a lot of criticism was raised by the Catholic world, for the way it represents falsehoods and made up facts. It's comprehensible to see a similar reaction, it is as if someone who is not J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter fanfiction without holding the appropriate rights.

But this pope is so progressive

Sure, he's progressive for being a pope. But we know the bar of expectations is set low when we applaud him for accepting the big bang and evolution or for having talked with some LGBT people.

With respect to the well-known "Who am I to judge?", it's nice that many people, believers and non-believers, TVs and newspapers like to see him as a defender of LGBT rights.

The catechism has not changed. Not even before him being a non-practicing gay or lesbian person was a sin. Even when you "sin", the condescending mercy of the Church towards those poor sinners is always there to reassure them about the fact that they can always return to Christ.

He's also the same person that uses the same argument for comparing transgender/non-gender-conforming people to nuclear weapons, that refuses France's proposal of an ambassador to the Vatican because he's gay, that defends corporal punishment by parents (which are even illegal in half of Europe), that does victim blaming when religion is attacked, and that maintains, just like his predecessors, a sweetened/edulcorated sexism and misogyny.

But morality...

Different denominations are differently sexophobic. What is curious to see is that actual behaviors don't change, what changes are the guilt feelings.

Source: Sex and Secularism (Darrel Ray, Ed.D., Amanda Brown)

If we talk instead about racism / mysogyny / homophobia, its correlation is certainly not in favor of religion. Many people see religion as a way to do good things towards other people, which is nice. I personally tend to trust secular nonprofit associations more. At least they don't tell blatantly false information about condoms and AIDS, and they don't sell salvation of people and salvation of souls as a single package.

Why do you care that much?

Because it leads people to take illogical decisions that then impact everyone. From women rights and artificial insemination to living will and restrictions to freedom of expression.

"It's against my religious beliefs" becomes a valid argument.

It gets people used to feel satisfied with non-explanations derived from ancient traditions or from religious authorities, instead of insisting on evidence.

It ostracized with sweetness and condescension those who don't believe [anymore] in supernatural entities. From "he was such a good boy, always going to mass", to the almost impossibility for an openly non-believing person to be voted in US politics.

The various shades

There are many ways and labels to define yourself, even if there can be many overlappings among them.

Atheist : this one can sound a bit strong for some people, presenting yourself as an atheist is to them like presenting yourself as Mr Stalin.

: this one can sound a bit strong for some people, presenting yourself as an atheist is to them like presenting yourself as Mr Stalin. Agnostic : it's difficult to be a 100% sure atheist, we are all on a certain scale of agnosticism. But this leads more to think of a 50/50.

: it's difficult to be a 100% sure atheist, we are all on a certain scale of agnosticism. But this leads more to think of a 50/50. Non-religious / non-believer : a way of saying the same thing without unresting believers too much.

: a way of saying the same thing without unresting believers too much. Humanist : adds an accent on rationality and science, and refusal of dogmas and pseudoscience

: adds an accent on rationality and science, and refusal of dogmas and pseudoscience Pastafarian : a parodistic religion whose god is a flying spaghetti monster. Just like any self-respecting religion, their adepts feel offended if you call it a " parodistic religion". This religion is also useful to highlight some of the exceptions we put in place for religious reasons: there are people who managed to get a driving license in which they wear "religious headgear " (a colander).

: a parodistic religion whose god is a flying spaghetti monster. Just like any self-respecting religion, their adepts feel if you call it a " religion". This religion is also useful to highlight some of the exceptions we put in place for religious reasons: there are people who managed to get a driving license in which they wear "religious " (a colander). Satanist: this must be the most polemical way of calling yourself a non-believer. I don't want to sound like a magician that explains the trick, but most satanists are atheist and don't believe in either God or the devil. People feel outraged and realize that freedom of religion includes freedom of parodying/reversing your own cults/rituals. When I read The Satanic Bible I realized that it contains a lot of good points: being open to put under scrutiny any statements or authority (whether it is religious or not), living your sexuality openly, and no, it doesn't talk about animal/human sacrifices :).

A note on Scientology

Although I see it's an half scam, Scientology has always fascinated me for the way, despite its small number of adepts, is a religion that has nothing to envy to other larger religions.

Their leaders (except maybe those at the top like David Miscavige) genuinely believe in what their religion says, and that they are doing something good.

They feel persecuted by Big Pharma and psychiatrists, who see Scientology's innovative methods as a threat to antidepressants sales (like the gay lobby/christianophobia/no to crucifix in classrooms)

It proposes some methods of teaching/self-improvement/psychology without any scientific basis (like the "no" of Catholicism to condoms in Africa, or their "cures" of homosexuality)

Lots of real estate around the world

It convinces you by means of a misleading questionnaire (Oxford Capacity Analysis) that you are a person with poor concentration/interpersonal/life-success skills, and that Scientology can help you (like our original sin)

Its marketing department produces introductory videos that are really emotional e touching (even better than those produced by the Catholic Church)

Auditing sessions in which you tell your darkest secrets to a Scientologist (like a confession, except that you might be blackmailed)

Improbable statements (alien spaceships planting thermonuclear bombs in the volcanos of primordial Earth) (talking snakes, pregnant virgins, walks on water)

A charismatic and idealized founder, L. Ron Hubbard

When I visited a Scientology Church, it positively impressed me to see how they explain everything well and how gentle they are when answering your questions/doubts

They arrive after natural disasters and disgraces to offer support (not because they want to find new adepts, right?)

Donations for charity (schools, fight against drug abuse, everything with a strong encouragement to join Scientology)

A notable difference is that it is very good at tapping a lot of money from you, with "courses" costing thousands of dollars.

Some people call it a cult instead of a religion. In a cult, there is a person at the top who knows it's a scam. In a religion, that person is dead.

Political correctness

There are religions that cannot be apparently criticized without raising too many polemics (reminder: religions are ideas passed down through generations, not races).

Christianity has been a violent and dangerous religion too (crusades, witch hunts, burned heretics/free thinkers). However it has now transformed into a docile religion. The worst it can do is usually opposing to marriage equality, or preventing people from dying in the way they want. Of course there are exceptions.

In other cases, things have not changed yet:

Data: Pew Research

But as we say in these cases, No true Scotsman [...].

Anyways, it's sad that people who instead believe in freedom of expression, women rights, and don't take their religion too seriously have to feel this way when someone of their same faith expresses himself in a... not too peaceful way:

Coming out

It is as if many people, despite being de-facto atheist, prefer not to talk about this topic or to stay vague when they are asked if they believe in God.

Just like in the case of LGBT people coming out, a virtuous cycle can form even here: the more people declare themselves to be non-believers, the more people can find the courage to do the same.

For some people, coming out can be very difficult, especially if you have invested your life around religion. There is a community, The Clergy Project, for religious people/priests/pastors that have realized they no longer believe in anything supernatural, but they can't publically admit it in order not to lose the support and friendship of all those religious people they know and that have always seen them as great examples of people to follow. And they would also find themselves with no job.

Anyways, unlike the other kind of transition, I think a larger number of people can recognize themselves in this one.

Appendix 1: How much do you believe in...?

Simply wondering "do I believe in God?" might seem like oversimplification. Here are a few more points, to which one could answer with a percentage from 0 to 100.

Transubstantiation* (bread + O 2 + magic → body of Christ)?

+ magic → body of Christ)? Creation** (Adam and Eve...)?

Intelligent design (evolution, but God influenced changes)?

changes)? Virginity of Mary?

Resurrection of Jesus after clinical death ?

? The pope/Church has a preferential communication channel with God

with God Ascension of Mary (instead of dying, she physically ascended into Heaven)

Jesus was the son of God (literally, not in a broad sense in the same way we are children of the universe)

of God (literally, not in a broad sense in the same way we are children of the universe) Jesus was married

Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene

Folk traditions with miracles

Medjugorie and its apparitions mon-fri 8:00 - ...?

mon-fri 8:00 - ...? Prayer works when put under scientific/statistical tests

God purposely does not reply when prayer is put under scientific/statistical tests

God created the fundamental laws of physics

of physics God created the fundamental laws of physics knowing that everything else would have resulted as a consequence (stars, planets, biology, people that think and realize that a god might exist)

that everything else would have resulted as a consequence (stars, planets, biology, people that think and realize that a god might exist) God cares about what some evolved primates do on a small planet somewhere in the cosmos

do on a small planet somewhere in the cosmos God will survive when the universe will reach its heat death of maximum entropy

God can communicate/interact on any part of the universe without being subject to the limits of the speed of light

on any part of the universe without being subject to the limits of the speed of light God is a scientist/team of scientists that simulates our universe from the outside

God is a magic bearded man in the sky taking notes when people masturbate

God is affiliated with The Catholic Church, Inc.

with The Catholic Church, Inc. God has always existed

God knows literally everything

God is sorry when someone does not believe in him

in him God is pis**d off when someone does not believe in him

God looks at people who don't believe in him with condescendence

God says No to the gender ideology ***

*** When a person dies, their soul/consciousness/thetan moves to Heaven or Hell

Reincarnation?

God already knows the past, the present, and the future of the universe, and all of reality is already imprinted in his sliced bread of spacetime

* For Catholics, this is not metaphorical, it is a real change, although the original taste and texture of bread is preserved

** Even for the Catholic Church it is symbolic. Of course I also added non-strictly-Catholic or non-Christian statements that some people believe in.

*** For those external to Catholicism, this "ideology" is a strawman argument in which we try to erase any difference between men and women and deny God's plan. Calling it with its real name (LGBT rights + fight for gender equality/against misogyny + non-gender-conforming people and gender dysphoria exist) and without made up facts would have made it harder to fight it.

Appendix 2: Additional resources