I am an Atheist.
But, being Atheist does not mean that I'm smart or that i am a smart-ass that goes around saying:
"oh i believe in science! religion is stupid"(ok, sometimes we do....among ourselves...)
I'm Atheist because my parents did not enforce religion on me when i was young. I was given the freewill to choose what i want to believe in.
My Parents had their own religion and beliefs and they practiced in rituals commonly practiced by the local Chinese community. My Dad always made a clear distinction between Tradition and religion. He talked to me about the Mayan calendar, origin of the human race, evolution and even the possibility of ancient aliens ( haha i know right...) , when i was very young; even as a very pious buddhist himself.
Because I was not forced to believe in any religion or any belief systems, I made rational thoughts and Choose to see a godless world.
That was when i was 7.
Every few years in my childhood, I would think about it and review by non-belief in god, until when i was about 15. During my teenage years, from 15 - 17, i turned to religion. Incidently, it was the worst point of my life. I was perpetually broke, doing badly in school, had low self esteem and really needed to blame someone for all my failures. I blamed god. I asked god to help me. I prayed. nothing happened. A few years later,at 18 years old, I reviewed my faith once more. I decided that I can't blame anyone for my mediocre life. I cannot depend on anyone else. The only person that is responsible for me , is me. not my friends, not my relatives, not my teacher, bosses, government and especially not god. If i wanted something, I'll have go get it myslef. If that is not possible, I create chances and opportunities that would somehow allow me to get what I want someday.
I don't Pray for something to happen.
I made them happen.
Of course, I was Agnostic for awhile, fueled by all the nice books i read and cool movies i watched, I was hoping for something magical to happen, and really wanted to believe that the supernatural exist. I wanted to find reasons; reasons to WHY I exist, a meaning to my life. And soon enough , I realized that i was searching for the wrong answer. There need not be a reason to why we exist. Human Beings just feel too High and Mighty to accept the fact that our existence can happen for no reason at all. Things can happen for no reason, you do not need a reason for everything. But in our desire for self-worth, we choose a creator in our image, much necessary a big strong male image, to create value to our very much meaningless and insipid lives. Many said that Atheism is the religion of the youth,a time when you feel invincible; death is not near therefore you are not scared of what the afterlife is about. But, when you become old, the fear of leaving this planet sets in and you find religion to comfort you, reassure you that everything is going to be alright. If you dig that, good for you. But I don't see the point in wasting time, instead of worrying so much about the afterlife and the supernatural, why not spend more time paying attention to the world around you?
Live in the NOW.
I am Christopher Ang ( strangely enough, my name means "Christ bearer")
I am Atheist.
I am not Vegan, Not a Scientist nor a Philosopher, not a hero, not a philanthropist, not a human rights/ animal rights fighter. I'm not a smart "know-it-all", not a Genius and most definitely not a saint.
I am just a normal Human Being that's responsible for my own actions and morals
