Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nathan Wolf on September 22, 2010 at 5:22pm

My My! Wow I was shocked when I saw 32 replies, never realized that there were so many people that cared. And such great and great advice. I seem to find a great deal of solace in writing songs or poems about how i feel about religion, science, the world, etc. etc. etc. Kinda wish i still had my guitar.

Anyways so I'll definitely check out the that book the funny thing is that I also have a book "Top 10 Reasons why People Question God" never got around to reading it. I might read it and post a synopsis or something of it just for discussion.

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Permalink Reply by Bill on September 22, 2010 at 5:38pm

Hi Nathan. Thanks for embracing reason. It's not the easy path of believing what you are told. But it is most rewarding!

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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on September 22, 2010 at 8:53pm

Hi Nathan! We're here to support you, that's what we do. And welcome toThink Atheist. Explore the site and come here often, that has certainly helped make my own deconversion less painful. ^_^

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Permalink Reply by 0uvz0ojrhcpag on September 22, 2010 at 9:37pm

Hi Nathan,

Once I made the decision to discard Christianity, I felt one of the most wonderful feelings I have ever had (and that was many years ago) and I have never regreted that deicision.

Welcome.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on September 23, 2010 at 1:33am

Christopher Hitchens recently said."you don't become atheist, you realize you are one". This is the same that happened to me. I followed the Christian crowd, never really buying into it a hundred percent. The hypocrisy distanced me and allowed me the ability to open my eyes. First I left religion, later I stopped believing in god altogether. It was a natural process. And it took time. Just go with the flow, the loose ends will take care of themselves. Welcome to the real world, Neo.

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Wolf on September 23, 2010 at 4:14am

Hahah thanks Trinity lol. That's funny because these other day I told a new friend I met on campus about my beliefs...well I told her that I didn't believe religion, science, economics, etc. etc. worked. It wasn't going to help promote peace...bla bla bla. But then she replied "Oohhhh so you believe you're living in the Matrix"

But yeah I kind of think the same thing, about realizing it's just been like that all along. It's just hard because I know I'm going to have to tell some people who have really helped me (or harmed me?) out over the years by leading me through the Christian way. And I know I'm going to hurt some truly decent people, but I guess if they still loved me they'd accept me the way I am. Cuz I would. I found out one of my bosses was gay the other day. I didn't like him less...once upon a time I probably would be saying hurtful things behind his back, but he's still a great boss and a nice guy.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on September 23, 2010 at 7:36am

Christopher Hitchens recently said."you don't become atheist, you realize you are one".

Oh, nice, Lisa! Thanks for sharing that. That was definitely the case with me.

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Permalink Reply by Celebration of Reason on September 23, 2010 at 6:03am

Nathan,

You're fortunate. It took me 42 years to realize the whole religion thing was non-evidence based, human-invented nonsense. Although we can't say there's no god, we can easily see that christianity (my myth, too) is utter poppycock, with numerous contradictions and, above all, falsifiable claims.

How much did you pray and NOT get answered as promised? For me that went on and on, even through numerous years playing for a christian band. So many questions that religious people simply have no useful answer to.

Religion poisons the search for, and rational application of, knowledge.

Welcome to one of many voices of Reason.

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Permalink Reply by Tera on October 12, 2010 at 5:48am

Hi Nathan!

I'm Tera, and I'm relatively new to TA myself. I've found the people here to be intelligent, inviting, and always eager to offer support to newcomers. Hopefully you'll find the same!

Like you, I grew up surrounded by Christianity. As a child and young teenager, I was very involved with the church. But as I got older, I began to notice things that bothered me. Hypocrisy from "good Christians," the inconsistencies in the Bible, and most of all the Christian ideas of good, evil, sin and punishment just didn't sit right. By the time I left high school, I was very much questioning my faith. Not a good thing to do when you live in the Bible Belt (I'm from Mississippi. Go go southern atheists!) It was a very slow transition, until one day I realized that no matter how much I wanted to say I believed, it just wasn't there.

It's not easy to "come out" to friends and family that are still practicing the faith you've left. My family mostly acted angry or sad, but after a while, things cooled off. I still have many good friends who are Christians, and we seem to get along fairly well regardless of our differences. I don't go around yelling that there's no God on movie night, and they try not to send too many Bible-themed chain letters to my email. :-)

Welcome to the site! I look forward to discussing all sorts of topics with you in the future. Hope to see ya around!

-Tera

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