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Saturday, Aug. 16, 2008

Modesto-area atheists speak up, seek tolerance

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It's difficult at times being a person of faith, but it can be even harder to be an atheist, someone who believes there is no God.

Some local atheists who replied to an invitation in The Bee were afraid of adverse reactions at their places of work. Others worried about being flooded "with unwanted attention from zealots," and two were protective of neighbors and spouses. One hesitated to talk on the record, but then said, "If I don't speak up, who will?"

According to a recent, large-scale Pew Forum report, 92 percent of U.S. residents believe in God or a universal spirit. The Pew report and 50 years of Gallup surveys found that atheism in the United States has remained stable over the years, coming in at about 4 percent of the population when lumped with agnostics, who believe it is impossible to know if God exists.

International studies, according to Gerald McDermott, professor of religion and philosophy at Roanoke College and author of "The Baker Pocket Guide to World Religions," show that atheists make up 2 percent of the world's population. He said that number is shrinking.

Whether stable or shrinking, it's clear that atheists are an overwhelming minority, and area atheists say there are several misconceptions about their beliefs. Several strongly make the point that they are not satanists, immoral or dumb. Those who spoke with The Bee range in age from 20s to 60s and from business owners to blue-collar workers. They'd like faith groups, especially Christians, to be more tolerant of their views.

Here are excerpts of what they had to say:

'Nuns frightened me'

Mary Brush, a Modesto resident and teacher, 53, traces her atheist roots to her childhood in a Catholic home. "I went to catechism classes, but I gave my mother so much grief, I didn't take confirmation in eighth grade. The nuns frightened me. They really made me afraid of dying. I thought I'd go to hell."

Biblical accounts added to her doubts. "The stories sounded a little too fantastical to me," she said. "It didn't seem to go with reality. Over the many years, I've had (religious) friends and have gone to church and tried to pray. It just didn't work for me. I'm more of a scientist at heart; science works for me."

She said, though, that she's "mellowed over the years. I used to be more militant. I believe if (religion) helps people get by in life, that's OK. I can see how prayer can be important in other people's lives. I think it's helped a lot of alcoholics and people on drugs, people in hard circumstances."

Brush wants people of faith to know: "I'm a good person. Just because you don't have a belief in God doesn't mean you're not a good person. I'd like a little more tolerance."

'I can't believe in a higher power'

Shawna Amaral, a 22-year-old Modesto caregiver, said her parents and grandparents were Christians who never went to church or read the Bible when she was growing up.

"They were too busy," she said. "Since nobody was there to teach me basic religion, I just came to believe that I can't believe in a god or a higher power or anything.

"When I was 16 or 17, I discovered paganism, an earth-based religion. You don't have to believe in in a god or goddess, so I still consider myself an atheist in that way."

Amaral said she lived in Alabama for a couple of years. When she told people she was an atheist, "they'd call me a devil worshipper and said I'd go to hell. I'd laugh at them and ask how I could go to hell if I didn't believe in it to begin with."

She'd like to tell religious folks, "Your religion is not the religion. I believe whatever someone believes will come true for them. If you're a Christian and you believe if you're good that you'll go to heaven, you will. If you believe you'll be reincarnated, you will. I believe willpower is extremely strong."