So, I find that being in the closet sucks. Too much energy and shame gets devoted to pretending I am someone I'm not. 

I want out of the lie.

Problem is...I have insanely religious extended family. And I don't care to argue with them about hell-fire, nurture vs. nature, scripture, or praying away the gay.

They're visiting this week. I'm not going to make an announcement or take people aside to talk about it. I've decided not to hide all my queer stuff (books, pictures,…

So I'm not really sure why I suddenly want to write this, but I do, so... here it goes...

First, some background.

I was fortunate enough to be raised by two of the most tolerant and considerate parents I've ever met. My mom was raised Catholic in French Canada, and my dad became Jewish during college, when he met his first wife. When he met my mom, he already had two kids, 7 and 3, who had been raised so…

Today I ran a half marathon.  When I crossed the finish line, I saw my dad running to me.  His arms were wide open and he had the biggest smile on his face.  These are the memories of my dad that I love.  I've run races before and in less time, but he couldn't be there.  I think, for him, having the time to see his kids meeting goals in life is precious and thrilling.  He, of course, calls these moments, "gifts from god," but I don't care what he calls it, so long as he is there and…

I am 21 years old, and I was not raised in a church, or told to say my prayers before I wen to bed at night. To be honest, you wouldn't have known god had a presence in my childhood home at all except for a small wooden cross on the wall. My father and step mother are by self declaration Catholic, though they have never attended Mass once in my life that I know of..now on the other side of the family my mother and step father are very religious; church every sunday, prayer, etc.

  I…

There once was a time when I was the most faithful and religious of them all... But through the process of higher education, and the use of logic and critical thinking, I could no longer deny the fact that I had grown into a full-blown atheist, leaving my parents and my brothers and sister behind in Never-never Land. I did not intend to tell them about it...not for a while at least (I planned on moving out first). I was reading Christopher Hitchens' "God Is Not Great" and left it on the…

I got on a plane Friday morning from Missouri to San Antonio, Texas, to spend Christmas with my daughter Syan, and her boyfriend, both of whom are in the Air Force. This is what Christmas is all about. I'm so enjoying the time with them and getting away from the day to day grind back at home.

I am an atheist who always saw Christmas as a time to spend with family and/or friends and truly enjoying the day. I'm so glad I don't have the baggage of religion to make this time anything more…

I’ve done possibly the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life: come out to my mother about not believing in God.

We were speeding down the highway northbound to the town where the bulk of my family lives. That morning, the preacher asked me to read a couple of bible scriptures, one from first Thessalonians, and another from first Peter. I agreed, stood up before the congregation, took a deep breath, read the scriptures, sat down, and…

I'm getting ready to "come out" to my family and church. I've written a letter to send to the church or any family member in the event that I cannot personally talk with them for fear of my own safety. I intend to go about this in the least dramatic way possible, and only use this letter if I have to. If there is any drama, it will be caused by the church or by my family- not by me. I played a very active role in the church (I'm their best worship leader, they keep saying), so I expect some…

A few of my posts on this site have revolved around my mother's nonacceptance of my Atheism. Suffice it to say, she and I have a complicated relationship. Mental illness runs in the family, specifically Bi-polar Disorder, which my mother is medicated and in therapy for. Since I've rejected religion and pursued a more logical way of thinking, I've noticed a role reversal. I feel like more of an adult, whereas my mother seems to be more childish.

Anyway, I'm getting…

The American Family Association [AFA] has called for all the good Christians to boycott Home Depot for their "financial and corporate support to open displays of homosexual activism on main streets." This radical Christian group is 'asking' the company to remain neutral in the "culture war" between homosexuals and the religious. First of all, culture war? Why does everything that comes out of a right-wingers mouth…

I find it quite difficult to find a reliable news source that doesn't interject too much of their own biases into stories. As a result I tend to gravitate towards BBC news, as I find their coverage usually to be somewhat more middle of the road.

I was reading this article this morning:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13068133

For those who are of the TL;DR crowd…

"What series of events made you reexamine your faith, and how did you decide that your religion was wanting?"

Because the asker is a good friend of mine, I honestly didn't mind answering, but I asked for a few days to write it all down. I didn't want to just tell the bones of the story and miss any details that I thought were important to me, as part of my own journey into applying rationalism to religion.

Then, not an hour after my first friend asked me, a…

   A few weeks ago my father passed away. Like me he was an Atheist. Like me he had been one since he was a young man. I was six when I “became” one, or rather realized, like with Santa, the Easter Bunny,

ghosts and all, it was all made up.

  So in keeping with my father’s wishes we had a non-religious funeral.  I gave the eulogy. I spoke about his life.  What he had…

Toda

y, my kid started in a new class room. He is nearing 3 years old in February and already he is ready to move to another class. Now if he can learn to dress and undress himself (besides fully achieving “pottiness”) like the other children he will be on his way. I was so worried about how to teach him to do certain things mainly the basics such as manners, dressing, socializing, but I'm discovering he is learning from the herd. Ah, yes, learning from the herd. The herd comes by any…