Although I don't believe in Christianity anymore, it's still hard for me to rebuke it entirely. As much as it may have screwed me up in some ways, there were a large number of things I enjoyed about being a Christian. I understand and can appreciate the feeling of peace you can get when you feel like there is someone out there who is taking care of you. That you have a purpose and a plan. I often enjoyed many youth group meetings and events, and meeting some of my best friends through church. I don't party or drink or misbehave, and the people I found at church were much like me in behavior. I think I learned a lot of my compassion and sense of right and wrong from church. It made me who I am today - both the good AND the bad.
Kevin, I know, has declared himself an atheist. He reminds me a lot of Nick when he first started being interested in atheism. Kevin is pretty biased against Christianity and has a hard time understanding it at all. He ultimately believes in the support of science and logical thinking, which I can respect and agree with. I don't feel the same need as him, however, to talk down religion and what other people believe. Where Kevin might like to rant about how religion is terrible, I prefer to just not talk or think about religion at all, basically.
So the conclusion I've arrived at is this:
I want to live my life with the goal of being a respectful human being. To make other people happy when it's within my power. I believe it's everyone's right to do as they please as long as they aren't hurting anyone else in the present or future. That doing anything on purpose to deny the rights of someone else, or to hurt someone, is wrong. That for every negative action, there should be an equal punishment. To respect nature and recognize our place in the universe as insignificant creatures. To treat others as I want to be treated. To be productive and cooperative instead of lazy or standoff-ish. To love and understand. To spread knowledge and education. To relax and know that nothing is forever.
That is what means something to me. That's what I think people, as a whole, should do. Whatever your beliefs, I think it is important to respect the rights of other people.