What made me blog

(This comes from a comment I made to Greta Christina on her blog)

I have a confession to make.

You are the reason I have an atheist blog.
(I do have another, older blog elsewhere that's just sort of a "chatting with friends" thing, about my hobbies and interests and family. It's not really an attempt to communicate with the wider world, but with some people that share some of my interests and in many cases, some common experiences.)

My atheism blog has many parents, but you're both parent and midwife.

Because of Wil Wheaton I found that a blog could be personal and the same time real, inspiring and fun. Because of Wil Wheaton, I started using a blog aggregator (Bloglines). Because of Wil Wheaton, I started to read more than a couple of blogs. I have been reading Wil's blog for years now. Wil also directed me to the Bad Astronomy blog.

Without Richard Dawkins, I'd never have thought to look for other atheists on the web, nor gotten "fired up" enough about it to try to read what other atheists had to say. I started to think about my own experiences in the broader context of what's going on in society. I've been reading his books at least since I read The Selfish Gene around 1985, but The God Delusion got me to really think hard about my atheism. Because of Richard Dawkins, I realized I had to find a way do more. The first thing I had to do was read more. And because of his website, I read Bad Astronomy some more, and I found Pharyngula. That would have been just after mid-year I guess.

Because of Pharyngula, I realized a good blog could be snarky, and entertaining and right, all at the same time. And because of Pharyngula, I found your blog. (It may have been the link back in August, unless there was one a little earlier.)

And I kept coming back. Soon, I put you in my feeds, then moved you up into my couple of "special blogs".

Because of you, I realized I had things to say, and I had to start saying them, not one day, not soon, but right away. I don't think it was any single post, but the cumulative effect over several weeks. However, I think your two posts on September 30 were the final straw, and a few days later, I had a blog ready to go. Because of you, I actually began to write.

I don't know if my writing will ever be inspiring and moving and funny the way yours is. I certainly don't have enough time to really polish my posts, and what I write often comes out pretty raw and unfocused. But there are things in me that I am finally saying, and that means a lot to me.

You gave me a voice. Thank you.