I just got a visit from my first door-to-door evangelist! How I went for so long without a visit, I can't figure out. Anyway, this nice young man in a suit (carrying a briefcase and a bible) came to the door and asked my opinion on a question: With all the bad things that happen to the world, many people blame god, what do you think about that?

I tell you this, I was nearly trembling with excitement. Here was my chance to represent the Atheist population!

I smiled and said "Well, I don't blame God. Actually, I am an Atheist and I don't believe in God."

He didn't seem prepared for my frank honesty, but he didn't seem repelled or upset either which made me very relieved. Coming out can be a very stressful experience, even if you're doing so to a stranger. Anyway, he was intrigued and asked me about my Atheist background. I told him I didn't grow up in a religious home, but I tried believing and read the Bible three times so far (he seemed quite surprised at this, though I am not sure if it was the number of times or the fact that an Atheist had read the bible at all). I simply could not believe in the idea of an intelligent being in the sky that knows all etc etc. I agreed with him that many people who believe have a hard time with those elements, and that what does cause belief is often inexpressible.

We shifted back towards the question at hand. He asked me if I ever wondered why bad things happened in the world, and I asked him to clarify. Did he mean both natural and man-made bad things (ex. hurricanes vs. murder)? He said yes. I said I don't spend time wondering about natural disasters because there really is no why, it is simply about bad place and time. As far as man-made bad things went, I said that it's important not to ignore the why, (as in, the cause) but the most important thing is what you do after (instead of obsessing over "why me" or "why them") and that it was my personal philosophy to try instead to help and work to fix problems when I can. He said that was very commendable, and thanked me for my time.

I never got to find out what denomination he was from, and that makes me somewhat sad.

At least I got to put a good face on Atheism, and show people that we aren't monsters, selfish, or amoral.

-Cailin