I lost my religion 21 years ago and have never missed it.

The lovely thing about atheism is it doesn’t fall apart when you look at it too closely. Nothing makes better sense than reality. When I face a tragedy, I’m comforted knowing it was a random event in an indifferent universe. God isn’t punishing me, meting out horrid lessons, or testing me.

Some people like to argue that atheists “Think they know there is no god but can’t prove it.” It’s a specious argument. There’s no need to prove it because I “know” there’s no god like I “know” there aren’t invisible magic unicorns prancing about in my backyard. For all intents and purposes I can safely assume they don’t exist and carry on without concern for them. It’s the same for deities.

I never apologize for being an atheist and I never let anyone cow me into using labels like “agnostic” or “non-theist.” Those who feel threatened by other people’s atheism are worshiping a Tinkerbell version of God. Like Tinkerbell, this effete little god disintegrates without constant, enthusiastic clapping all around them. People with solid religious beliefs don’t get worked up about atheists.