It seems ironic that on Day 6 both Jean Meslier and Kate Cohen show up to inspire me.
Jean Meslier, a Catholic priest, hid his atheism for his whole life. His writings were only discovered after he was dead. Kate Cohen, a former columnist with the Washington Post, wrote a book encouraging people to embrace the label of "Atheist" if it was safe for them to do so. I have both voices in my head at this juncture of my life.
This is what I wrote in 2023 on Day 6...
"I have to admit, it is easier to call myself an agnostic than an atheist, even through I may literally be both. When it comes to labels, The agnostic label is a lot softer than atheist and requires less explaining. It's why I don't like labels because they rarely define me or my journey. I don't know what lies beyond my senses, and I often don't know what lies within them. I also can't navigate my life without believing in something beyond myself... I just don't call it "God" and definitely don't call it the "God" I embraced for most of my life ... thus applying the atheist label, I guess." ( RN - Day 6 - 2023)
I am still there on the label idea. I think labels work for puzzles. I was at a senior's facility recently and I saw a puzzle that I might want to get one day. I took a photo of the front picture, but realized, I needed to get the name of the puzzle as it would be easier for me to find it to order it.
Labels don't work so well for people, even though Kate Cohen thinks they might be helpful in some circumstances. A puzzle is what it is... a human is more complex and when looking deeper in to a person's story, it really can't be labeled to match such a mass defined term as "atheist". I'm Ruby... I'm not Richard Dawkins, or Matt Dillahunty or Kate Cohen. I think the biggest problem of labels for me isn't how Webster's defines them, it's how other people define them... because those definitions are much more varied than the ones you find in a dictionary.
I am thankful for perspectives like that of Neil Degrasse Tyson. He doesn't need a label either to describe himself. He just tells you how he sees life. He doesn't need to be confined to a label that can lead to so much misunderstanding.
"I think I am scared of people. What other explanation do I have that keeps me from being honest? I must be scared of them. The other option is low self-esteem. Maybe I still don't feel like my perspective matters as a whole. Maybe in my own world it does, but when I step out of my space into someone else's space, I am a lot more cautious. It's not because I think peoples opinions are more valid than mine. I can see through a lot of bullshit now, but that doesn't mean I am good at calling it out. Kate thinks if I can... I "should". Now I just have to figure out if I can... then doing it might actually be possible." (RN: Day 6 - 2024)
