John L. Coppejans came to the U.S. in the early 1950s and now resides in California with his wife. He has been retired for twenty years.
I was born and grew up in the Netherlands, where during World War II I lived under the heel of the Nazi occupation. I had my share of danger and narrow escapes.
For reasons I don’t want to go into, I had to attend Catholic schools until my twelfth birthday. My mother was Catholic, but my father was a freethinker and a valuable counterbalance to the dogmatic teachings of school and church. From an early age, he taught me to use the brain I have, think for myself, and question the things we were told to believe. He had me read books by great philosophers and scientists, and for that I’ll be forever grateful to him. Now, I am an atheist. I love life and hope to live as long as I can enjoy it.
Dying does not scare me. I have made arrangements to be cremated after my demise and have my ashes strewn over the Pacific Ocean near my home. I do not want an expensive casket or a mournful ceremony. I hope my friends and relatives will drink a toast in my memory and talk about the good times we shared. No pious phrases like “ashes to ashes” or other mumbo jumbo.
Pity people who go through life under the yoke of religious dogmas, their view of life limited by the blinders they wear.
CFI SUMMIT
OCTOBER 24-27 2013
TACOMA, WASHINGTON
Joint Conference of the Council for Secular Humanism, Center for Inquiry, and Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
The transnational secular humanist magazine
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