Why I'm an Atheist

It's so interesting where the recommended videos can lead you on Youtube. I don't remember how I ended up finding this one, but I did. It was five questions from a Christian to atheists. I did leave a comment there, but the comment section doesn't leave you much room, so I'm bringing the questions here so I can talk even more. Because I'm good at talking a lot. I'm not going to answer the fifth question, because it's not applicable to me; I wasn't even aware of the issue the asker addressed.

1. Why is there something rather than nothing?
I don't think this question is fair. The existence of a god does not automatically answer the question of why we exist. There could just as easily be nothing rather than something regardless of whether or not you believe a god exists.

2. What evidence (if any) do you find most persuasive regarding Theism?
I believe there is a spiritual connection between all people, both human and non-human. I know that when my son comes to me to be held, and purrs when I rub his belly, or when I can understand him even though we don't speak the same language, there is a connection beyond that of what I have with most cats. To me this tells me that there must be something. Maybe it's a god, maybe it's nature, I don't know. But just because I don't believe in a deity, doesn't mean I don't believe in anything. It's just closer to pantheism than deism for me.

3. How do you reconcile your atheism with any ultimate meaning in life?
I'm not convinced that this life is it. When I look into Jaspar's eyes, I see such depth. I firmly believe that he was not always a cat, that this is only one incarnation of a very old soul. Even if I'm wrong, what gives me meaning in life is not what happens to me after I die, but what happens to those I leave behind. Did I make a difference? Will someone one day, fifty years after my death, look back and say "She helped me when I needed it"? That is the ultimate meaning. That even if I'm forgotten in a few hundred years, I make the world different just by existing.

4. Were you raised in a religious environment?
Yes.

As for the title, why I'm an atheist, the simple answer is because I was raised to believe in a sadistic god who sits in heaven just waiting for me to do something wrong so that he can punish me. The people who taught me of that god were no different; they were for the most part selfish and cruel who tried to force me into a mold that I could never fit. And I just don't want to believe in a god like that, whose followers are like that. I think I could be convinced that there is such a thing as a kind, loving god who really cares about his or her followers, but it would take a lot.

And that was just the simple answer.