Probably the best reason why I am an Atheist now and why my time spent as a Christian was short-lived is due to the fact that I live with a very un religious family. My mother is Methodist and my father is Jewish, but they both very rarely bring up religion during a discussion except to criticize it, and I have never to this day attending a Sunday service or participated actively in any kind of religious meetings or discussions. Although I will admit that the preschool I attended for a couple of years during my early childhood was held at a local Methodist church. But then again, it is very rare to find a secular preschool in the Bible Belt.

I have never completely read the Bible (I'm planning on getting around to it eventually this year, but I'll be using the skeptic's Bible along the way), reading fictional stories has never really been my business, and just the thought of reading a book apparently derived from the word of God scared me as a kid to the point where I completely avoiding it at all costs. I pretty much lived in my own little world growing up as my limitless imagination and creativity always fulfilled my inner desire to understand certain aspects about life which we're a mystery to me (e.g. Why am I here? What is this world around me and why is it like this?). As I got older and wiser I began to delve into the world of Science and the endless wealth of knowledge about the world around me for which it could provide. Until I took my English composition courses in College, I had a strong dislike of the English courses for which I was forced to take during my K-12 education. I particularly disliked having to read fictional stories which I could care less about and writing fictional stories with topics I had absolutely no control over. This is also another reason why I so easily deconverted from Christianity. I looked at the Bible from the writer's point of view (i.e. The many versions and revisions of the Bible. King James anyone?).

Later on in my life, when I was fourteen, I was confronted on all sides by Christian dogma in the public school I attended, something which I had not encountered during my previous schooling years. I can even recall an incident in which someone in one of my classes (while the teacher was away getting something) asked each student, one-by-one, which church they attended. I slowly began to realize I was completely out numbered with regards to going to church and was I dreading the moment when this student would ask me the question. Thankfully, the teacher returned before he could ask. But that school year was a wake up call in regards to religion since it showed me how it felt to be a religious minority (I essentially was half Methodist, half Jewish, but I professed neither). As the years went by, religion became more and more prevalent in school as little tid-bits of the Christian dogma seeped through the cracks of my supposed secular school and began to tempt me to join. I resisted it for the most part, calling it just another fad, but it began to wear on me.

The crux came during a turbulent time in my life when I was sixteen and both my father's business went bankrupt and my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Needless to say, I was very distraught and dismayed at what was happening and the idea of God at some point crept into my head. I was also very concerned and scared of the situation at our house as appliance after appliance began to fail, and for several months during that summer we had to go without air conditioning (need I remind you that I live in the southern United States, which has a very humid climate). During all of this turmoil I began to question God and the state of our situation. I quickly adopted Christianity as my emotional support since it was so easy to do so and I began to pray nightly during that long hot summer. My prayers weren't out of this world or anything (e.g. Win the lottery or magically cure my mother's cancer), they were more along the lines of providing us with support, whatever it may be, during these very hard times.

Eventually I realized that something was wrong here. Instead of the current situation getting better when I prayed, it only got worse! Problem after never-ending problem seemed to show up daily and strain our resources, both physically and mentally, to the breaking point (never mind the terrible financial woes we had to endure). I then stumbled upon the atheist discussion group on google late one night out of curiosity and slowly, bit-by-bit, I began to loosen my ties to Christianity, which weren't very strong to begin with. I began to read all about the errors and contradictions found within the Bible and just how illogical and ignorant the fundies can be when they debate with atheists. I also realized that my justification for not reading the Bible as a youth was actually a very good decision since now I can critically analyze the Bible for what it really is and not what some preacher hand picks for me. I all I have to do now is study the Bible inside and out and develop a good debating strategy so when the time comes to debate with a Christian, I will be ready.

Details