by Susan Mattern | | Atheist, Death, Life
I read a letter from a mom in a column in the newspaper the other day. Her five-year-old daughter was very worried about death and was staying awake nights worrying about it. Her mom didn’t know what to tell the girl. As an atheist, I probably worry about death more...
by Susan Mattern | | Atheist, Life, Religion, Values
I know, I know, I’m an atheist, and I don’t believe Jesus was the Son of God because I don’t believe in a God. But having been a Catholic for 38 years, and a nun for 6 of them, I do know something about Jesus. Or at least the values that Jesus...
by Susan Mattern | Sep 8, 2018 | Atheist, Hell, Hell for an Atheist, Travel
I, a confirmed atheist, have found the definitive definition of hell. Now, hear me out, please. If there really were a hell, and who knows, maybe there is, I discovered what it would be. We had to cancel our five-week vacation in Europe after one week because of my...
by Susan Mattern | Aug 2, 2018 | Atheist, Catholic, Convent, Lack of faith, Religion, Virgins and Martyrs
When I was in the convent a long time ago, we had a lot of instruction periods about virgins and martyrs. I don’t know why the women who were martyred were mostly virgins – I guess mothers didn’t have much time to defend their faith. They were busy...
by Susan Mattern | Jun 11, 2018 | Atheist, Finding Purpose in Life, Surviving Trauma
I had been a Catholic my whole life, and a nun for six of those years. It wasn’t until a mountain lion attacked my 5-year-old daughter, standing next to me in a stream, and almost killed her, that I wondered for the first time whether there was really a God....
