Thanks to Lee for the link.

Reposted from:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/ah-the-fervour-in-returning-to-my-flock/2007/07/06/1183351452264.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Like a holy ghost, parental religion returns to haunt. As age wearies, the solemn vow to resist everything your parents ever stood for crumbles.

The first sign of a return to religion usually appears upon marriage. All of a sudden the spiritually indifferent announce they will marry in a church, synagogue or temple. When the day comes, they promise the priest that they will raise their children according to the laws of God.

Typically, these choices are laughed off at first. It is only a joke. Nothing serious. The religious venue is only chosen because it was cheaper than hiring a marquee and all the stained glass and sandstone would look really classy in photos. As for the priest, well, he came as a package deal.

Don't believe it. Behind the nervous laughter, there may be more to these choices. You know the parties are not pretending when they start making comments along the lines of "well, not everything in the scriptures is perfect but the overall values are positive and life-affirming and should be encouraged". Christening gowns are extracted from mothballs for the first child. The transformation is complete.

Something not so different happened to me. As I have grown older, I have come full circle, returning to the religious beliefs of my family.

Like a prodigal daughter I strayed from the path of righteousness. After years of questioning the belief system of my parents, I have made the predictable return to their way of thinking. I have returned to atheism.

Atheism was the religion of my childhood. I suffered for my beliefs. When my parents finally enrolled me in Sunday School because all the other children were doing it, I was sent to the remedial group and faced the humiliation of colouring in pictures of Jesus with children younger than me because I didn't know enough about the Bible.

Later on as a primary schooler, I suffered persecution when attending Friday night activities at the local church. I was willing to sit through religious instruction if it meant I got to play Ship Wreck with the other children. I hid my atheism well until my best friend's little sister dobbed us in as non-believers.

We were taken aside and counselled. We tried to explain our lack of belief away. Something like "We, um, believe in Jesus as an historical figure but … No, wait a minute. We believe in God but not in Jesus. Or we believe in Jesus but not in the Holy Spirit." Atheists are expected to account for their beliefs in a way that religious people are not.

Atheism is having a moment now. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens are bestsellers. In Australia, the number of non-believers is growing. In the latest census, 3.7 million Australians claimed no religion, up from 2.9 million in 1996. Now 19 per cent of Australians are faithless heathens. Curiously, the most heathen state is home to the city of churches. In South Australia, 24 per cent of the population are godless. Make of that what you will.

As the number of heathens grows, there will be more people like me. People who have not chosen atheism as a conscious, rational choice. Second-generation atheists who "choose" atheism in the same way most people "choose" religion - because it is what they were taught by their families and the indoctrination has left them with a gut feeling that is not easy to escape.

Not everything about atheism is perfect but the overall values are positive and life-affirming and should be encouraged. Children raised as atheists know their minds are their own. They do not believe that every private thought is monitored by a higher being ready to punish wrong thinking. They fear not smiting.

When the time comes, I will raise my children as atheists because I want them to have all the advantages and values I enjoyed as a child. At heart I am a conservative who believes in family values and I think it would be nice for my parents to see our tradition of heathenism carried on. Atheism is a wonderful gift to give a child.