Irish Catholics tend to be both gregarious and feisty, like Ed Beck. Ed’s journey to atheism and secular activism was a gradual one. An Iraq war veteran, he was never particularly religious -- Ed identifies himself as a former cultural Catholic. His life experience changed him from viewing religion first as harmless, then as an intellectual and cultural barrier to progress, and finally as downright dangerous and destructive.
After returning from Iraq and enrolling in college, Ed became impressed by the accomplishments of the historical Greeks. Their flourishing society, he found, had progressed philosophically and scientifically, only to be undermined and destroyed by dogma and superstition. The transformation that began to take place within him was, above all, invigorating: he found freedom of thought and commitment to objectivity both more fun and more honest. Everything in his life became a bit brighter.