Reader Alyssa wrote a fine piece at Feministing about her journey from Jew to feminist to atheist.
I am a feminist atheist, but for most of my adult life I was a practicing Jew. Ironically, if it wasn’t for my Jewish upbringing, I probably wouldn’t be such an ardent feminist, but if it wasn’t for my feminism, there’s little chance I would be identifying as an atheist today.
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As I got older and more well-read, however, I started to see that all Judeo-Christian religions preach a form of patriarchy, some of an extreme variety. Such realizations opened my eyes to some of the other negative aspects of religion: violence, sectarianism, authoritarianism, xenophobia and homophobia. It took me awhile until I had the intellectual open-mindedness to fairly and critically analyze Judaism, but when I did, I took a hard look at the evidence and came to the conclusion that, in all likelihood, there is no god.
Now, I am proud to call myself a feminist atheist. For me, bearing such a label means I have an obligation to promote equality, freedom, human rights, rational and independent thinking, and evidence-based policies and programs. It’s a pretty daunting agenda for the future, but I couldn’t ask for a better way to spend my time.
Check out the full piece and let Alyssa know what you think!
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