A couple of days ago I was lucky enough to StumbleUpon this site. After poking around a bit and reading some of the discussions, I was hooked. It's great to find a community that so closely aligns with what amounts to a large part of my identity, a part that I can't share with many people in my day to day life.

I have been an atheist for about 7 years now, though I generally don't care for that label. As many authors have pointed out, there is no name for folks that no longer believe in santa. I call myself normal, or as Daniel Dennett would say, bright.

I grew up in Madison, WI within a stout Christian family, the church a staple in our weekend activities. I attended a private Christian school until my Jr year (really wanted to play football at the public school) where I had daily Bible study clases and weekly chapel. In school I was always the annoying kid with my hand up, asking a million questions about what they were teaching me. I've always been quite inquisitive, as I suspect most of us here are. It is this trait that invariably led me to question everything. 

In college, free on my own for the first time, I began to really search for answers. I still considered myself Christian, but had many doubts. It has never been my nature to blindly accept something by faith. I remember my freshman year I took an Astronomy course, I remember looking through a telescope and seeing Saturn in all her ringed glory. This lit an insatiable curiosity inside of me, I began reading all about the universe and physics in general. This of course led me to discovering the late, great Carl Segan.

Carl's books had a profound effect on my life. His words touched me more than anything I had ever read in the Bible, and made infinitely more sense. From there I discovered all the other great authors and I powered through book after book, each one opening my eyes more and more. I always wanted to keep an un-biased view however, so when I would buy a Dawkins or Harris book, I'd also buy a C.S. Lewis or Lee Strobel book, I'd read them side by side. 

Of course, I came out of college a free thinking atheist (much to the chagrin of my parents and siblings). Today I am 28, still reading anything I can get my hands on (currently reading Dr. Shermer's Believing Brain). My parents have learned not to discuss religion with me, and have simply accepted me for who I am, we have a great relationship I am happy to say. My fiance is agnostic, still somewhat on the fence as to who/what set our universe in motion. 

I work as a freelance journalist in the watch industry, as well as a digital/social media consultant. 

I recently returned from a volunteer trip to Haiti, I wrote about the experience in the blog section.

There you have the condensed story of my journey to atheism.