Why Joined

I was at a Christian School, so partly peer pressure; being taught that "only God gives self control."

Story

At my conversion I became the typical zealot. Within a couple months I had read the Bible in its entirety; I could quote substantially on any subject. Early on, noticing how little so-called Bible believing Christians knew, I began preaching and teaching: school, church, Lions prayer breakfast, etc. Three colleges offered me scholarships for my acquired skills and enthusiasm (I am partly thankful I couldn't take them). I continued preaching until my late 20's. It was about this time I stopped attending church because of the view of the churches I was attending; plus I was very busy with college and several jobs to make ends meet.

During these studies I learned critical thinking skills and how to truly research something. After doing researh as an historian I took a course on American Myths. One of the books for this class covered Revelation; the book covered an extensive discourse on disproving this part of the Bible. Not taking its' argument at face value, I went to the library and looked up critiques on the book. I found several, BUT not one of these ("authorities" in the Christian church, none the less) argued it as a false premise; only ad hominem commentary.

This crushed me. This meant that I had wasted many, many years in a religion that was based on a complete fraud. I was so depressed that my wife had to, literally, drag me out of bed and dress me for work. Suicide was a serious risk. This was also very motivating; I looked deeper into the Bible. There was so much that was out of place that I quickly left the Church and its ideologies behind.

I have not become outspoken on the subject, but it is good to get it out in the open like this. Now I am working on a Masters in History with an emphasis on the Classics; with a Ph.D. to follow on ancient religion.

Thank you for your time,

Guy C. Marona

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