A place for all the Atheist bloggers out there.
My official deconversion story
My Deconversion story
I am an Atheist. Yep, that’s right…..I don’t believe in anything supernatural….which includes any and all religions. No angels, demons, ghosts, spirits, heaven, hell….none of it. It has taken me a few years to come to this realization and to accept it. I was scared to death for a long time that I would go to hell for thinking this way. That deep-seated fear stems from childhood.
I was not raised in a religious household. My dad was raised Methodist and mom a Baptist, but neither went to church as an adult…..they said it was because they were forced to go every Sunday as a child. My mom took me a few times when I was realllllllly young, but that was basically just play time while the adults went to the actual service. I use to tag along every now and then with my aunt, uncle and little cousin, but Dad hated that. He balked at the thought of my aunt being in charge of my “religious education.” My dad and my aunt, (Mom’s sister), NEVER got along.
I can remember the first time I went to Sunday school and was told to look up verse such-and-such in the Bible. I remember staring blankly at the book as the other kids snickered. I was 11 years old and had NO CLUE how to look up a Bible verse. Someone eventually came to my aid.
As I grew older, I prayed so hard to know God. I’ve been “saved” too many times to count. There was a little voice in my head, (some would call it Satan, but I think it was my logical side), that kept telling me, “This is just not real!” For a while I was convinced it was Satan and prayed harder for God to reveal himself to me. Never happened. I thought maybe I was just not good enough…..but as I grew older, I realized that I would just have to pretend.
I can remember my first flash of real doubt; When Mom finally broke it to me that there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny….I thought, Well, there must not be a God either. I kept that thought to myself, since I didn’t think it would garner a positive response.
When I took my first philosophy class in college, my eyes were suddenly opened to a whole new realm of possibilities. I realized that there were soooooo many religions in the world, current and ancient, and each adherent was absolutely sure that THEIR’S was the true religion. How egotistical it seemed, to think that YOUR religion is the only valid one. Then I thought, well, what if they are ALL wrong?
There is not one single shred of proof of the supernatural…..or, I should say, one that would stand up to the scrutiny of the scientific community. I also could not accept the evil that is in the world…..and didn’t belive all the “God’s will” crap. It seemed to be a certain intellectual laziness to that argument. If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent….then evil could NOT exist in the world. I also could not get around the idea that God, who was his own son, sent himself on a “suicide mission” in order to “save” the world. If he really loved the world so much, why not save us all anyway?
I also took issue with the idea that the Bible was the inerrant work of God. It did not fall from the sky written by God himself….it was written by men. 1st century, uneducated, and mostly mysoginist men. (Well, of course the Old Testament was written approximately 3400 B.C.E., but that doesn’t make it any more believable.) If you read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, it will make your hair stand on end with the violence contained in its scripture.
So, after much reading, “soul-searching”, and research, I had to come to the conclusion that there is no God. Even if he/she existed, they would probably not concern themselves with human matters. If he/she exists, then it would be as a prime mover for the universe’s creation, approximately 15-20 billion years ago.
Okay, so here’s where the “pissed off” part begins. Since the rise of the religious reich in this country, nonbelievers are demonized. “This is a Christian nation!!” they insist. They are absolutely hell-bent on injecting religion into politics. They are more concerned with banning potentially life-saving stem cell research and taking away a woman’s right to do whatever the hell she thinks is best for her own body. This pisses me off. Keep your beliefs….but DO NOT try to force everyone else to share those beliefs.
It is almost exclusively republicans that feel this way. They say that we are special because “God blessed America.” How egotistical is that?!?? That is basically telling the rest of the world, “hahaha, we’re better than you are, cuz God loves us more.” Horse shit! No wonder I am a liberal, (and damn proud of it!)
For people who like to squawk about how this nation was founded on Christianity, take a look at these quotes from the “Founding Fathers” and great minds that came before us.
Thomas Jefferson:
"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."
"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity." –Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782.
"And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors." –Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823
"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies."
"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."
"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."
"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
Benjamin Franklin:
"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."
"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches."
Albert Einstein:
"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religion than it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."
"I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."
(The best one, IMHO) "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."
John Adams:
"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?"
"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
Thomas Paine:
"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall."
"Revelation is a communication of something which the person to whom the thing id revealed did not know before. For if I have done, a thing, or seen it done, it needs no Revelation to tell me, I have done or seen it done nor enable me to tell it or write it. Revelation therefore cannot be applied to anything done upon earth, of which man is himself actor or witness and consequently all the historical part of the Bible which is almost the whole of it, is not within the meaning and compass of the word Revelation and therefore is not the Word of God."-- Thomas Paine The Age of Reason
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind." From - The Age of Reason
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. "
James Madison:
“What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not.”
I am an Atheist. Yep, that’s right…..I don’t believe in anything supernatural….which includes any and all religions. No angels, demons, ghosts, spirits, heaven, hell….none of it. It has taken me a few years to come to this realization and to accept it. I was scared to death for a long time that I would go to hell for thinking this way. That deep-seated fear stems from childhood.
I was not raised in a religious household. My dad was raised Methodist and mom a Baptist, but neither went to church as an adult…..they said it was because they were forced to go every Sunday as a child. My mom took me a few times when I was realllllllly young, but that was basically just play time while the adults went to the actual service. I use to tag along every now and then with my aunt, uncle and little cousin, but Dad hated that. He balked at the thought of my aunt being in charge of my “religious education.” My dad and my aunt, (Mom’s sister), NEVER got along.
I can remember the first time I went to Sunday school and was told to look up verse such-and-such in the Bible. I remember staring blankly at the book as the other kids snickered. I was 11 years old and had NO CLUE how to look up a Bible verse. Someone eventually came to my aid.
As I grew older, I prayed so hard to know God. I’ve been “saved” too many times to count. There was a little voice in my head, (some would call it Satan, but I think it was my logical side), that kept telling me, “This is just not real!” For a while I was convinced it was Satan and prayed harder for God to reveal himself to me. Never happened. I thought maybe I was just not good enough…..but as I grew older, I realized that I would just have to pretend.
I can remember my first flash of real doubt; When Mom finally broke it to me that there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny….I thought, Well, there must not be a God either. I kept that thought to myself, since I didn’t think it would garner a positive response.
When I took my first philosophy class in college, my eyes were suddenly opened to a whole new realm of possibilities. I realized that there were soooooo many religions in the world, current and ancient, and each adherent was absolutely sure that THEIR’S was the true religion. How egotistical it seemed, to think that YOUR religion is the only valid one. Then I thought, well, what if they are ALL wrong?
There is not one single shred of proof of the supernatural…..or, I should say, one that would stand up to the scrutiny of the scientific community. I also could not accept the evil that is in the world…..and didn’t belive all the “God’s will” crap. It seemed to be a certain intellectual laziness to that argument. If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent….then evil could NOT exist in the world. I also could not get around the idea that God, who was his own son, sent himself on a “suicide mission” in order to “save” the world. If he really loved the world so much, why not save us all anyway?
I also took issue with the idea that the Bible was the inerrant work of God. It did not fall from the sky written by God himself….it was written by men. 1st century, uneducated, and mostly mysoginist men. (Well, of course the Old Testament was written approximately 3400 B.C.E., but that doesn’t make it any more believable.) If you read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, it will make your hair stand on end with the violence contained in its scripture.
So, after much reading, “soul-searching”, and research, I had to come to the conclusion that there is no God. Even if he/she existed, they would probably not concern themselves with human matters. If he/she exists, then it would be as a prime mover for the universe’s creation, approximately 15-20 billion years ago.
Okay, so here’s where the “pissed off” part begins. Since the rise of the religious reich in this country, nonbelievers are demonized. “This is a Christian nation!!” they insist. They are absolutely hell-bent on injecting religion into politics. They are more concerned with banning potentially life-saving stem cell research and taking away a woman’s right to do whatever the hell she thinks is best for her own body. This pisses me off. Keep your beliefs….but DO NOT try to force everyone else to share those beliefs.
It is almost exclusively republicans that feel this way. They say that we are special because “God blessed America.” How egotistical is that?!?? That is basically telling the rest of the world, “hahaha, we’re better than you are, cuz God loves us more.” Horse shit! No wonder I am a liberal, (and damn proud of it!)
For people who like to squawk about how this nation was founded on Christianity, take a look at these quotes from the “Founding Fathers” and great minds that came before us.
Thomas Jefferson:
"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."
"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity." –Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782.
"And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors." –Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823
"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies."
"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."
"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."
"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
Benjamin Franklin:
"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."
"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches."
Albert Einstein:
"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religion than it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."
"I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."
(The best one, IMHO) "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."
John Adams:
"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?"
"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
Thomas Paine:
"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall."
"Revelation is a communication of something which the person to whom the thing id revealed did not know before. For if I have done, a thing, or seen it done, it needs no Revelation to tell me, I have done or seen it done nor enable me to tell it or write it. Revelation therefore cannot be applied to anything done upon earth, of which man is himself actor or witness and consequently all the historical part of the Bible which is almost the whole of it, is not within the meaning and compass of the word Revelation and therefore is not the Word of God."-- Thomas Paine The Age of Reason
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind." From - The Age of Reason
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. "
James Madison:
“What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not.”
Add a Comment
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Comment by btchakir on October 29, 2009 at 1:29am
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If i may add to your quotations:
"All religion is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry." - Edgar Allen Poe.
“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”
– Bertrand Russell (from Why I Am Not A Christian)
"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." - Robert A. Heinlein
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