My name is Chris Bloom. I'm a father, atheist, vegetarian and web developer, living in rural Massachusetts. I've been a vegetarian since about 1996, a web developer (professionally) since about 2000, and a father since 2004. I've been "out" as an atheist for a relatively short period of time, but I've been agnostic for as long as I can remember.
In the beginning...
Growing up, I was raised as a Methodist and attended church regularly with my mother. I was an active member of the congregation's youth group, attended Methodist summer camps, and did LOTS of volunteer work with the church. But through all of that, I was secretly skeptical of what I was hearing every Sunday, and as I got older I became increasingly disenfranchised with religion in general. There was a lot that didn't make sense to me in the face of science and I found that I really had to take great leaps of faith (or acts of ignorance) to reconcile what was being taught as scripture with my own observations of the world around me.
Unlike other atheists that came from a religious background, my experience was not one of evangelical brainwashing that ended in a sudden revolt against my upbringing. In fact, I would say that my experiences with the church community were by-and-large a positive influence that shaped who I am today. I would even go so far as to praise the Methodist church for its history of valuable and tangible contributions to society and a tradition of inclusion rather than exclusion.
Some might say that endorsement is hypocritical considering my frequent posts (on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere on the web) in opposition of organized religion. It's true that I am opposed to the institution of religion in general, mostly because some very bad things are done in the name of something that is supposedly for the betterment of humankind, but I am not naive enough to think that all religious believers are bad. Still, one can't say that only religious people do good things, nor can one say that religious believers only do good things. To be fair, the same goes for non-believers, but it can then be argued that religion has nothing to do with being bad or good; a strong sense of morality and humanity do.
Which leads us to the point of this blog...
What this blog is about
This blog will tackle such issues as
- Is it possible to raise a child without religion and still impress a strong sense of morals?
- How do I handle questions from my child about death and mortality?
- How can I stress the importance of being a good person without falling back on a religious interpretation involving heaven and an afterlife?
- How do I deal with Christmas, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?
- How do I prepare my child to handle criticism from peers and adults about being non-religious?
- How do I tell my family my child won't be baptized?
- What if my child goes to church? What if they like it?!?!
We will touch upon all of those questions and then some. I also plan on posting reviews and recommendations for products, such as books (for kids or for parents), that go along with this theme. Along with my own thoughts on these topics, I will be providing links to other applicable media on the web. And of course I invite comments from both sides of the aisle.
What this blog is not about
And just to provide some context, I do not plan on using this as a forum strictly for criticism of religion. There are plenty of websites out there that serve that information niche. I will do my best to direct my content towards dealing with issues directly applicable to rational/secular parenting, however I may occasionally find a topic specific to atheism/secularism that I just can't help but post.
Thanks for visiting. I look forward to all future conversation.
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