Two weeks ago, I was invited to be a participant for Center for Inquiry-Michigan in downtown Grand Rapids on their “Living without Religion” discussion panel as coverage of our new billboard. My first thought was, “hell no!” since I’ve been a lifetime introvert and I have pretty extreme social anxiety, especially speaking in front of crowds. But as I thought about it, I realized that I really wanted to speak on this panel and have my story heard on what it’s like to live without religion as a person happy and content with being an atheist. I finally responded with a ‘yes.’
So last Wednesday night, I showed up and sat on a panel with four other active area CFI members and we shared with a room of 100+ people what it’s like to live without religion. The crowd was mostly other CFI members so it was a friendly room, but we have been heard in the community as MLive.com had an article covering the event.
via MLive.com - T.J. Hamilton | The Grand Rapids Press
The comments on the article still baffle me as all of the ones I’ve read have been arguing over the comment about sending their kid to a Christian preschool. Many commenters seemed to miss the point that even though they were atheists, they were willing to pay to send their second child to a private Christian school. They knew that their daughter would be taught about the Christian belief system and they were okay with that. They only thing these parents were “guilty” of was telling the truth by not lying and signing a statement of faith in God. Not mentioned in the article was how Cathy said they were okay with their daughter learning Christian values at the school but when their enrollment was rejected, they said their daughter still learned a different perspective on “Christian values” that day.
No mention of my comment…
…religious history, when looked at from an academic perspective, appears more akin to mythology. [I believe] science offers a better basis for understating the natural world.
Alas, my voice was still heard and I’m happy I did this. Dealing with anxiety has been a long journey for me and I’ve just recently been gaining a better understanding and a better handle on tackling it. I’ve also recently learned that Sam Harris also had a debilitating fear of public speaking and his article here sums up what I have also learned quite well. I am not a great public speaker yet, and I don’t think things would go well if I were the only one on at a podium in front of more than 50 people. But I’m getting better, and I’ve especially become adept at steps 1-4 that he has outlined.
Coming out as an atheist as well as being more public about the stress of anxiety has helped me tremendously in both areas of my life. I’m proud to be an atheist, and I’m happy that my passion for this movement is helping me to deal with my anxiety.
