I don’t hate religion, as many believers seem to think is common among atheists. Or they think that some of us, like me, who were once Christians, were wounded or mistreated in some way, and becoming an atheist is our emotional reaction. This type of attitude reminds me of a guy who, upon meeting a lesbian, asks her why she hates men.
My atheism is not a reaction against religion, nor a childish rebellion, nor some attempt to wiggle out of divine judgement. It’s simply where the evidence has led me. One of my goals in life is to be rational, to think objectively, to follow the evidence and be fair no matter what it entails. This has led to hard truths about myself, about the type of person I used to be, and it provided the impetus to change, to get rid of the criminal mindset and transform my life.
My atheism arose from the same place. It’s not a philosophy in itself, but the result of a larger philosophy: the idea that the human mind is capable of determining what is true and false, right and wrong, by itself, without revealed knowledge, with the tool of reason.
Dan Turner
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Categories: Daniel Turner
Inmate Blogger 
You definitely have to come to your own conclusions. You can’t believe in something just because everyone else says you should. At one point in my life, I felt like you. I came to a different conclusion because of some life changing experiences that happened in my life. The only way to know for sure is to seek the answers for ourselves. I don’t think that we should ever fully eliminate the possibility of a supernatural deity. Nobody has all the answers and nobody ever will. Faith has been the key for me. Some call me crazy, foolish, hopeful, and naive for believing in God. Who knows, maybe I am… But then again, maybe I’m not… Anyway, I feel like I can relate to you even though we see things very differently. I hope that you will always feel assured in whatever conclusions you come to. Being uncertain is the worst place to be.
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