Amid faith of holidays, Down East man willing to be skeptic

MACHIAS – Faith is front-page news in December.

Ramadan, Hanukkah and Christmas – celebrations by three of the world’s great faiths – collide as the year ends.

One 22-year-old Machias man, however, believes that he and millions like him are ignored and sometimes scorned, particularly during holiday seasons.

Matthew Bauman says he is part of one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population – the nonbeliever.

“I have always been a skeptic,” said Bauman of his own reaction to religion. “I know I don’t have all the answers. I seek the truth. I see what’s out there and come to the conclusion that I don’t believe in God or religion as it exists now.”

Earlier this year, he founded the Maine Atheists Union, a loosely organized group of Mainers who share his skepticism about the existence of God or a higher power.

Even though “atheist” is usually defined as one who does not believe in God, Bauman welcomes agnostics, who believe that anything beyond the material world is unknowable, but stop short of denying God’s existence.

Bauman, who works as an educational technician in special education at a local elementary school, was born and raised in Detroit, Mich. While his parents did not attend church regularly, Bauman did attend a Catholic elementary school for five years. He said his parents are supportive of his right to be an atheist.

He moved to Machias seeking “a change of pace” two years ago.

The Maine Atheists Union says on its Web site that it “represents equality, fairness and free thought through education, awareness and action. Our job is to 1) promote thought for our rights as Americans by challenging any and all limitations that infringe on our rights; 2) to take any necessary action to protect those rights; 3) to project a positive image in our communities.”

While there is no legislation that would impinge on the rights of nonbelievers at the state level, he said, at the federal level members of the Maine Atheists Union will monitor carefully progress on President Bush’s faith-based initiative, which would allow houses of worship to administer human services programs.

Without being precise, Bauman said his group has fewer than 50 members statewide, from Washington County to Portland. He has taken out ads in weekly newspapers and distributed fliers in the Machias area.

Many have contacted him out of curiosity, he said, asking questions ranging from “what is an atheist?” to “what are the group’s intentions in the community?”

But atheists should not feel isolated, Bauman said. Citing a recent survey by the Graduate Center of City University of New York, he pointed out that the number of adults who do not subscribe to any religious identification doubled from 1990 to 2001. The survey concluded that the number of nonbelievers more than doubled, from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001. Their percentage of the total population grew from 8 percent to 14 percent.

The atheists union is not affiliated with the American Atheists Union, according to Bauman. That organization was founded by the late Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who successfully challenged prayer in public schools in the early 1960s.

Bauman emphasized that while he heads a statewide organization, he wants to change the image of atheists by getting involved in community projects in Machias.

He said he had discussed working on a project with members of a “local prayer group,” but declined to name it.

“I would like for us – people of faith and nonbelievers – to come together despite our differences, work together and find a common thread,” he said. “Personally, I’d like to see us work on a program for youth, so they could see people of different beliefs working together.”

The Maine Atheists Union did borrow a small nugget from believers when it posted its creed – “the Freedom and Liberty 10” – on its Web site. No. 3 states: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” That is a variation of the Golden Rule, found in the Christian Book of Matthew but also, in variations, in the tenets of nearly all faiths, from Islam to Buddhism to Jainism.

For information on the union, contact Bauman by e-mail at mattbau43@hotmail.com or visit the Web site at www.communities

.msn.com/MaineAtheistsUnion.