Well, it&#039s midnight right now as I start this post, so it will be Monday by the time I&#039m done. Doesn&#039t matter, I&#039ve got the new comic ready but first, I think it needs explanation.

I have been enjoying the time drawing comics for the page and for the project I&#039ve been working on with Tony. I have been disappointed that I really didn&#039t have a theme, nothing to tie the comics together with, and while I was working on making one, nothing was coming to mind. I read a LOT of web comics (thirty on the page so far and that&#039s because I haven&#039t finished archiving a couple others) and can generally pick out their themes or gimicks, but none of their ideas really fit what I wanted to do. I was talking to Miller a while back about his own comic, and he said that he wanted to talk about existentialism in his. Being an existentialist, that made sense to me. After my recent relapse into depression and a few episodes with some irritating god-forwards and god-chatter at work, I began feeling my usual intellectual laziness creeping up on me. I threw myself into blogs dealing specifically with athiest issues, read articles by the American Atheists Association, grabbed one of my books on existentialism, and otherwise just thought a lot about the whole mess. After a while, I came to several conclusions.

First and foremost, I&#039ve decided that despite the fact that I hate politics and feel that most politicians are sociopathic, ego-centric nut jobs I must start advocating for my rights as an Atheist because no one else will. I had read about a court case where a woman was thrown into jail because she refused to vow on a bible with &#034so help me god&#034 in order to just be on the jury. I read about a marine who fought tooth and nail to keep from being forced to attend a religious service which was mandatory for all marines. I read about other abuses of civil rights at the hands of theists, and I decided that not only have I had enough abuse in real life because of my ideas, I&#039ve had enough of other Atheists being spit on as well. For once in my life, I&#039ve finally found an issue that boils my blood enough to move me to action, and I&#039m going to stick with it. I may not be able to change the world, but the world sure as hell isn&#039t going to change me either.

Which brings me around to all my musings and ponderings concerning my Atheism. After hanging out with Tony in his office for a couple hours discussing my depression and the fact that I&#039ve forgotten most of my old coping mechanisms, I got to thinking about how much I&#039ve changed and how little I remember how those changes came about. I decided to start making my comic about the way I came to be an Atheist as well as how I feel being one in a god-filled world. It&#039s my way of keeping the topic ever-present so that I won&#039t forget again what I&#039ve been through as well as a way to explain myself and my past to everyone else. If I enlighten someone as to my ideology or feelings, great. If I offend anyone, tough. I honestly believe that this needs addressing if for nothing else but my own sanity, and those offended by it really should ask themselves why and come to terms with it or they should just avoid the comics altogether. So, since it&#039s now well into Monday and I have to work at 8 as usual, I&#039ll just put the comic up and go to bed. Night, all.