Kevin (Germany)

I have always been an Atheist and didn't have to rebel - at least from that perspective - against my parents. My entire family and most of the families of my friends were/are Atheists. My parents however left the choice to me in what I want to believe. They didn't even bother when a couple of religious friends invited me to join them for Church classes. At that time I was about 8 or 9 years old and easy to influence. Everything was pretty cosy. We listened to music, got to draw pictures, ate cookies, lived out our endless creativity through handcrafts (yup, they tried hard to keep the excitement going) while that old spinster read her funky stories to us. Did I mention that she even asked my parents to come for Christmas and Easter celebrations? And they did come! But it never occurred to any of us to get baptized all of the sudden or join the fellas. Does it mean I never even considered the concept of an old almighty IT in the sky who watches over all of us? Hmm, I'd be lying if I say no. When my grandpa and my beloved pets died I took comfort in the idea that they might sit on cloud 7 now and watch over me. Later on I kinda started to ask myself how a dead cat and a dead dog would have any influence on my life. Especially if their influence wasn't THAT extensive while being alive. Well, they did have an impact on my life but not in a superstitious kind of way.

One thing I must mention - almost 50% in Germany are without a denomination. Of course we have churches. Plenty of them. And they aren't empty either. But the church in Germany has been struggling for quite some time, particularly in the Protestant north. In southern Germany - Catholic - religion is still part of many people's lives. Except in big cities. And I want to keep it that way. Cities have a long tradition as epicentres for new ideas and modernization. Here people could get together and question old institutions.

I agree with Richard Dawkins that Religion has had carte blanche for way too long. The vast majority of people on this planet are still theists and follow some sort of cult. Do I have a problem with that? Oh yes I do! Why? Because I come from a country where Atheism has a long informal tradition. - I guess it started with that Martin Luther dude who decided it would be a cool thing to do to translate the fairytale book from Latin into German. Another out-of-the-box-thinking Teutonic ancestor of mine, Jo Gutenberg, thought it might also be a super idea if we'd all have our own version of that fairytale book at home. Probably to make sure that everyone of us can finally look up the scripts those weird preachers love to cite.

So why does Religion piss me off? Shouldn't I simply be more respectful? No! As George Carlin puts it "the biggest bullshit story of all" has secretly declared war on my life and I am allergic to bullshit.