This person has pushed through great odds to be where he is today. I congratulate him on all his hard work and hope his future continues to look bright. This interview is conducted anonymously, which will be explained under the first question I ask him. Please enjoy this personal Atheist’s story.

Anonymous Interview

Sarah: Can you briefly explain why you are keeping this interview anonymous?

Anon: In the industry I work in, it is very important to build a reputation and keep that reputation clean. In business today, people do not spend time with you to personally get to know you. All the information they need to know about you is found as easily as typing your name in Google. This could lead to disastrous losses in business opportunities for me. People who know me know my religious thoughts and ideologies. However, online business ‘stalkers’ do not need to know this information.

Sarah: What do you do for fun? Do you have any hobbies or passions?

Anon: At home, I do not do much other then work, surf the web, go to the local swimming pool, and go out to the occasional promenade. As boring as my day-to-day life sounds, I still try to go on big trips abroad at least once a year. I usually go to new places for specific reasons, such as trying a new food or participating in a local event.

Sarah: Can you tell me a little about your background? Where did you grow up and were you raised religious?

Anon: I grew up in Brazil when it was mainly a Catholic country. Now, the country is pretty much flooded with protestant Christians. However, within my family, we were free to think as we wanted and make our own choices. For instance, I have two brothers who are agnostic and a third brother who died several years ago as an atheist. My mother and father practiced spiritualism (espiritas in Portuguese). In contrast, I became a protestant Christian due to the strong influence of the evangelical missionary work in my community. I must emphasize that even though we were free to think the way we wanted, I still believe my atheist brother was seen as the black sheep in the family. He was comfortable in his own skin and absolutely sure that the rest of the family was losing their time searching for a god. We all did the quick math and thought “if he does not play on God’s side, he must then be a Satanist.” That is what we all thought he was.

Sarah: How did you get to where you are today in terms of being an atheist? Was there a turning point or moment in your life that changed your views?

Anon: It happened in stages. I have always felt guilty for having homosexual thoughts while living my Christian life. But during my university’s freshmen year, I started embracing the real me. I stopped speaking to ‘god’ like I used to every night, and I noticed that little by little the guilt was gone. I still missed the community in the church, but that went away as well. When they discovered I was gay, within seconds I was no longer a part of the community. After that, I decided to try new things in life. I went to a Buddhist temple to meditate, but as soon as the spiritual teachings would start, I would always just leave. That part did not matter to me anymore. Yes, there was a moment in my life between being a Christian and being an Atheist that I was in search of a spiritual replacement until I eventually learned that religion did not fit me any longer.

Sarah: Did you have any qualms with calling yourself an atheist? If so, why, and how did you resolve the issue?

Anon: Growing up in a Catholic country had somehow brainwashed me into being prejudice towards what I originally thought being an atheist was. It took me further education and a critical mind to figure out that the mentality of “if you are not on God’s side, then you are on the Devil’s” was totally wrong. I realized the church puts false reasoning and fear in peoples’ heads to exert control over them. I am now able to say that I do not believe in a god guilty free.

Sarah: I understand you are homosexual. Are you married or have any children?

Anon: Yes, I have a civil union with a wonderful man, and we live in New Zealand with our cute cat. We have sporadically discussed adopting, especially now that New Zealand recognizes gay marriage. This would allow us to adopt a child together as parents, but that will not happen until we are one hundred percent ready.

Sarah: Do you think that being homosexual had anything to do with you becoming an atheist?

Anon: I do believe so. If I was not homosexual, I would probably still be a Christian. Coming out as a gay man has allowed me to see things through another perspective. I realized how narrow minded I was, how the whole ranking system within the church works, and so many other issues that could not have been brought to light if I were not who I am today. I am thankful for being gay which has allowed me to live outside the box.

Sarah: Can you tell me a little more about your search for spiritual replacement?

Anon: I have been to a gay church, which could have been perceived as my attempt to go back to religion. It was a very strange as well as an amazing thing to see. I saw lesbians playing, same sex couples worshiping, etc. I made loads of nice friends which engaged me back into the same community I once was accepted in. This time, however, something was different. I could read the entire Bible and end up disagreeing with too much. The gay, Christian members distorted the Bible’s words in order to prove that God was not against homosexuality. For me, the Bible had written too clearly about homosexuality and other social issues that I could not agree with them. So, no thanks!

Sarah: What would you say to people who disagree with you on atheism?

Anon: I just cannot bother debating. It is part of my personality, not to mention that I hated debate sessions back in sociology class in university. I just believe that I cannot change people’s minds and they cannot change mine. I simply cannot bother taking the conversation further if the other person has other views and/or wants to evangelize to me.

Sarah: What would you say to other atheists?

Anon: Keep up looking at the world with critical eyes. Do not let yourself live within a box.