I am unconvinced by religion and unimpressed with its effect on human rights –which is more likely to be bad than good. “Spirituality” too often involves separating ethics from human consequences. “Sure, torturing and killing all those unarmed men, women and children seems bad to the unenlightened, but God/Jehovah/Allah/etc. will understand when I stand before the glorious throne and explain it. At worst, He’ll shake his head and chuckle at my naughty shenanigans.”
On the other hand, the supernatural — that part of the universe we don’t fully comprehend — does exist, though at this point it’s hidden from us. I just don’t believe prayers or rituals make much of a dent in it, beyond allowing many of us to cope.
One beautiful night many decades ago, when I was lying in the grass under the stars with a lover, he pointed up and said, “Do you know what we are seeing?”
He told me all those stars were the big bang, the creation of the universe. We are, he explained, in the middle of an explosion that happened so long ago we can barely understand it, and every point of light we see in the night sky is all that glorious debris, still flying away from us.
I suppose that’s about as spiritual as I can get.
Pam Troy 
One response to “On the one hand, I’m an atheist.”
Distorted religion doesn’t equal distorted faith. If ethics are purely subjective, based only on consensus or preference, then what’s to stop another Hitler from rising up and justifying his regime as “necessary for the greater good”? Belief in a higher, unchanging moral authority can anchor ethics to something above personal or political gain. Not always, but it can and has, often. More time than not religion sparked many human rights revolutions. Religion can be misused, yes because humans are often hot garbage when handed authority. But a faith that actually follows its own sacred text (especially in Christianity) doesn’t excuse violence; it condemns it. The true version of spirituality isn’t detached from ethics it demands a reckoning with them. And if you ever find someone thinking God will laugh off their war crimes, they didn’t meet God. They met their ego wearing a robe. Some food for thought today. Blessings on your chosen journey!
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