It’s only in the last couple of years that it has occurred to me that I am an atheist. But thinking about it, I have always been an atheist without formally recognizing and labeling myself as such. As a child my Dad made me go to church with him even though Mum never went. I don’t have any specific memories of being in church back then, only a general sense that I hated being there, stuck in a dark, musty smelling old building, sitting on hard uncomfortable seats, squirming for an hour or so in uncomfortable clothes, listening to some old man in robes talking in religious mumbo-jumbo about something in which I wasn’t the least bit interested. (I’m sure that my lifelong dislike of wearing a suit has its roots in being forced to endure those Sunday mornings in church). I had difficulty accepting the idea of a God in heaven, so, in Grade seven, at the age of twelve, the inevitable happened: I told my dad that I didn’t want to go to church anymore. After some rather heated discussion, the details of which I can’t recall, my attendance at church was no longer enforced.

In the intervening forty or so years, I didn’t think much about church or religion. I never gave much thought to whether I believed in God or not. One thing is for certain though, I always shied away from anything to do with Christianity. I've always felt uncomfortable while at church weddings and funerals. I was always wary around Christians. Something made me uncomfortable when around them, something I couldn’t articulate beyond feeling that there was a certain shallowness within Christian belief. I’m sure that there are many people like me who have never bought into religion and haven’t given it much thought.

With my growing awareness of the resurgence of fundamental Christianity, I’ve felt the need to become more articulate and vocal in expressing my views on religion. Having spent the past couple of years educating myself on religion, particularly Christianity, its history and influence, I can better articulate those vague intuitions felt in previous years. Reading the works of Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchins, Russell, et al, has helped me solidify my position on the matter of my lack of belief in God. Delving into the absurdities of the Rapture, Creationism, Intelligent Design, Noah’s flood and other literal biblical interpretation has further consolidated my position. I now assert that I don’t believe that there is a God, I don’t believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and I don’t believe that the bible is the word of God. I do believe that religion has been the cause of war, strife and injustice throughout the ages and, unchecked, will continue to be. I do believe that the rise of fundamental Christianity threatens to undermine democracy, stifles scientific progress, and has the potential to drag the western world back to the days of the Inquisition. I do believe that religion should be relegated to churches and be kept out of government policy decision making and publicly funded schools. I strongly believe in the separation of church and state.

So, I guess all this makes me an atheist. I willingly adopt the label of atheist as it allows me to put my views on the matter of god and religion into a simple, concise framework: I embrace aworld view that does not incorporate the irrational belief in a supernatural deity. Not unlike Dan Dennett’s "belief in belief", I believe that the concept of god exists but not the existence of the god within the concept.

About five years ago, while in discussion with a distantly related fundamental Christian relative, it was suggested to me in the typical fundamental Christian, condescending, self-righteous fashion that, "sooner or later, I would accept Jesus Christ into my heart". I think this may have been the beginning of the need to actively examine my lack of belief in God. At family social events since, I’ve done my utmost to avoid this person but now look forward to another discussion. I’d like to let that person know that Jesus Christ still hasn’t found his way into my heart and that, short of the miraculous, the chance of it ever happening is next to non-existent.

Right then, I’m off to watch Monty Python’s Life of Brian.