Unafraid

Why do many religious folks

Tend to get their feathers ruffled

If people say they are atheists?

Why should atheists have to be muffled?

 

Atheists are often considered

The devil incarnate or evil unveiled.

They are attacked, their lives are threatened,

They're ostracized and even jailed--

 

Done in the "name of God," of course.

Oh, the reasons that people give

In countries all over the world where people

Refuse to practice "live and let live"!

 

Do we need a god to tell us

How to live or how to behave?

If I blindly follow dogma,

Don't I become religion's slave?

 

Constantly seeking, questioning,

Observing, expressing healthy doubt,

Exploring the many facets of life,

Discovering what life's about,

 

And learning how to sift through all

The knowledge that we humans have gained

Will help us put more focus on

Issues that can be explained.

 

Some things, yes, are inexplicable,

Mystifying, beyond our knowing.

A question we must ask ourselves

Should always be "Am I still growing?"

 

There ARE religious people who aren't

Threatened by what others believe.

Secure in their beliefs, they aren't

Fearful, brain-washed, and naïve.

 

They do not judge nonbelievers

And tell them they are going to hell.

Tempering their beliefs with love

Is what they do so very well.

 

And then there are the ones who feel

Compelled to express their condemnation.

They need to mind their OWN business

And worry about their OWN salvation.

 

If you as a nonbeliever are asked

Your position, a way to convey it

Is merely "I'm an atheist

And I am not afraid to say it."

-by Bob B (1-17-25)