Overall, I see the secular student movement moving in some very good directions. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of secular student groups that are engaging in collaborative events with other student groups, and I think that’s so important. To me, at the end of the day, the most important thing about a secular student group is that it provides a safe space and a community for like-minded people, especially in environments where their beliefs represent a minority and perhaps marginalized viewpoint. I think that when these secular groups work with other groups and are able to have positive and healthy relationships with them, it does a lot to dispel many of the myths that exist about atheists. It makes their campus climate a lot safer for nonreligious students. The trailblazing work that these students are doing is going to have a huge impact on the environment of these campuses in the future.
Looking back at my life, it’s impossible for me to say what my life would now be like if I hadn’t gone through what I did. Growing up, I was a gregarious, self-confident kid. I don’t remember this, but my mom likes to tell a story about a childhood birthday party that I attended with a bunch of my cousins. One of them came up to me and asked, “Oh, isn’t this ice cream so good?” I deadpanned and responded, “It’s not ice cream, it’s sherbet!” At that age, what mattered to me most was being correct. I didn’t have a lot of empathy for other people’s experiences. My hardships since then have made me the individual I am today. I like to think that I’ve become a more open-minded, caring, and compassionate person. I don’t know that I would go back and change my difficult moments. Oddly, in many ways, I’m grateful for them.
I do still think that my belief that there is no God is probably correct. I try to be humble about all of my convictions and am open to being proven wrong. I’m pretty confident in my atheism, though, and find that it actually gives me a lot of satisfaction at the end of the day. When I believed that there was an afterlife and that there was a God, I was scared of life and never really lived in the moment. I was always thinking about what was going to come later. Now that I don’t believe that there is an afterlife, it’s really important to me to try to remember to live right now, in the present moment, making the world around me the best that it can be for myself and for others.
About the Author
From 2008-2011, Dan Riley worked as a campus organizer in the outreach department at the non-profit think tank the Center for Inquiry. He got to know many secular student leaders during his time with CFI. Finding many of their personal journeys to atheism to be fascinating, compelling, and unique, he decided to create a book that tells their stories. The initial work that has resulted in Generation Atheist began at a student conference in 2009.
Dan is a 2006 graduate of Duke University.
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by Dan Riley
All Rights Reserved
For more information about either the book or special discounts for bulk purchases, visit www.GenerationAtheistBook.com or e-mail GenerationAtheistBook@gmail.com.