Being goodly with godly
FFRF awarded Erica $200.
By Erica Broderhausen
Living in a small town in South Carolina in the heart of the bible belt USA, I’ve received my fair share of odd looks. I’m the girl who didn’t pray during my high school awards ceremonies, the girl who didn’t include a bible verse as my senior quote and the girl that wanders the ghost town that is Sunday while everyone else is at church.
In my hometown, it is something of an anomaly to not have faith in a higher being, or at least act like you do. Independence of thought is not a common trait here, and the number one characteristic that most aspire to be is “godly.”
When children are born here, their parents teach them lessons from bible verses. Children grow up having no idea what other religious people are like or even, god forbid, what nonreligious people are like, or that their beliefs and opinions hold any meaning whatsoever. We are taught that the bible is the ultimate moral code, our guide to life, the universe and everything. It only makes sense, then, that when those around me find out of my atheism, the overwhelming response is that I disbelieve in god for the simple reason that either I hate him or that I am only looking for an excuse to behave immorally.
But those are not the reasons I disbelieve in god. I disbelieve in god simply because I seek the truth in life. I am consistently wanting to know about the world and about science, and in my journeys so far I have seen a lack of evidence for the existence of a divine being. I disbelieve in god because I’ve read various holy books and none of them so far has convinced me that god is anything other than a rather vicious, human-made creation. I disbelieve in god because I would rather live according to my own will to be good.
While many others around me pursue goodness out of the idea that they will be rewarded in heaven, I pursue goodness simply for the sake of being good. While many around me pray for that homeless man on the street, I buy him a meal instead. Though most people use it with good intentions, religion is ultimately a block to our goodness.
Instead of being concerned about general good will toward others, people are often more concerned with promoting their idea of godliness. This divides us across nations and cultures as every individual strives to promote his or her religion’s idea of morality. The concept of being good just for good’s sake is lost in the cacophony of whose-religion-is-better banter.
It is up to me, and to all other freethinkers of the world, to speak up. We need not be afraid to identify ourselves as atheists, agnostics or the like, for if we refuse to be vocal about who we are, the negative stereotypes will only persist.
It is my hope for the future that all people, not just freethinkers like me, will be active in their wishes for a better world and be kind to one another, not under the banner of being godly, but simply goodly.
Perhaps one day, it will be a more important trait to simply be good, regardless of religion. And perhaps one day, we can all be good without god.
Erica Broderhausen, 18, was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Summerville High School in Summerville, S.C. She will be attending Boston University as a biology major specializing in ecology and conservation biology. “I am very interested in evolution, the history of the world, animal and human behavior, psychology and, perhaps ironically, religion. I plan on becoming an environmental lawyer and helping to put in place laws that better protect our beautiful Earth.”
