This I Used to Believe

That was the prompt this morning at the Mesa Writers Group – it was my first time attending as the guest of Hap Ziegler.

After introductions where everyone commented on media, TV, books, and movies they’d consumed recently it was time to get writing. The choice of prompts were 1) beauty and 2) this I used to believe. I knew I could spin a tale on either.

I was a new parent after 18+ years of marriage, now how to raise the child with good values, morality. Friends steered us to a few churches thinking a traditional route would suffice, but I bristled at the doctrines. I had attended Catholic High School in Lowell, MA with Religion classes 5 days a week for 4 years. So we soon ruled out the church.

Meanwhile Apple had invented the iPod  and with it podcasting is born. I became a podcaster, I had my own show, theFrankPetersShow I called it. I enjoyed some success, more than I might have expected with audiences over 50,000 per month tuning in. Public speaking opportunities would soon follow and a common audience question would be, “What podcasts do you listen to?” That was my opening to describe the excellent atheist podcasts I’d discovered. Morals, values, philosophy – all without religion baked in.

In those days vacations would often involve long car rides across New England, visiting friend  and family. I’d get the boys in the back seat and once everyone settled down I’d play an episode that I’d pre-screened with my wife. They’d listen, unlike today when everyone has their own devices to listen to, and we could discuss the particular topic over dinner that night.

Did it work? Well, it worked for me. I was able to impart the kinds of values I felt were most important and deliver them in the format of a great story. I wouldn’t proselytize, the material would sink in to their impressionable minds. Today, I feel I’ve succeeded very well.

Postscript: Want to learn more? Check out the Freedom From Religion Foundation and it’s podcast show.