I’m the type of person who believes no belief system is wrong. Everyone isn’t Christian and I’m okay with that. Whatever you believe is just fine, as long as you respectful about whatever it is that I believe. That said, to hear Arian Foster speak on atheism, especially as a black male athlete in Texas of all places, was something I wasn’t exactly accustomed to. Not only is Foster speaking out about being an atheist, he always wants to become a spokesperson for the nonreligious, a group that takes up 23% of the population.
Arian tells ESPN Magazine that he tried finding religion in college but that it didn’t feel right. He said that he would come to God when he needed something, and that he felt he was living a lie every time he knelt to pray. He read the Bible and the Quran in search of evidence that would override his skepticism but he couldn’t escape the questions that haunted him. Why is this relationship so one-sided? Why would a loving God create evil? Why would he allow eternal damnation?
“Everybody always says the same thing: You have to have faith,” he tells ESPN. “That’s my whole thing: Faith isn’t enough for me. For people who are struggling with that, they’re nervous about telling their families or afraid of the backlash … man, don’t be afraid to be you. I was, for years.”
As far as people’s thoughts on his non-religion, Foster wants to make it clear that atheism does NOT equal devil worshipping.
“I get the devil-worship thing a lot. They’ll ask me, ‘You worship the devil?'” he says. “‘No, bro, I don’t believe there’s a God, why would I believe there’s a devil?’ There’s a lot of ignorance about nonbelief. I don’t mean a negative connotation of ignorance. I just mean a lack of understanding, a lack of knowledge, lack of exposure to people like me.”
You can read more from Adrian Foster’s story HERE. What are your thoughts?
