Our sixth Secular Assembly of the year featured a heartfelt talk by HSS member Jose, who recounted his journey from priest to atheist.
Jose discussed his past – first as a Roman Catholic, and then as a missionary and a priest within a Christian sect. He recounted how his relationship to religion began to shift due to two main events.
The first was moving to multi-religious Singapore, where leadership was detached from religion, he met non-religious people for the first time and realised that “non-Christians are also good people”. The second event was his church’s criticisms of the popular novel The Da Vinci Code, which prompted him to learn more about the history of Catholicism. This led to questions he could not satisfactorily resolve, and a period of emotional turmoil.
Today, having navigated that tumultuous period, Jose is an atheist who accepts that beliefs in the supernatural will always be a part of human culture. He raises his children to compare religious tenets across faiths, ask questions and think independently.
By sharing his personal account, Jose shed light on the complexities of leaving religion, and showed one way an atheist could peacefully participate in a multi-faith society.
In addition to hearing Jose’s story, participant took part in Assembly traditions, featuring a singalong to ‘Home’ in honour of National Day.
Join us at the next HSS event where we will continue to build the humanist community!
