A Virtual Hug

A little more than two years ago, I wrote a celebration of the feeling of “coming home” that has so frequently characterized people’s responses as they join the Atheopagan community.

Since then, the Atheopaganism Facebook group has doubled in size. We have had amazing, informative, stimulating and heartfelt conversations, which have generally remained civil even on fraught subjects. We have supported each other in difficult times.

It’s been awhile, so I just want to say how appreciative I am—and how proud—of the community of folks who have gathered around these ideas, this blog and the Facebook group. It helps me stay motivated to continue writing and creating, to continue strategizing ways we can get together in “real life”.

In every time, even the worst of them, there has been a cohort of good-hearted, thoughtful and brave people who have stood for humane values and a healthy society. I believe that in combining reason and science with reverence for the good Earth and love for one another, we are a part of that cohort for this time, and we are establishing a path that can serve humanity as we steadily abandon ideas of gods and the supernatural.

I believe that to my core.

So here’s to you, Atheopagans. A toast and a warm hug from Mark, here poised on the edge of the North American tectonic plate on a temperate autumn day. My very best wishes to each of you individually, and to the community we are building across the globe.