How I, a former Christian, became an Atheist.
Over the past two years or so, I have found myself slowly drifting away from my lifelong beliefs and more towards something that I have discovered completely for myself. I grew up in an extremely Christian home with a mother who has the kind of beliefs that would make the standard “loving and accepting” Christians cringe. To summarize, she firmly believes that anyone from the LGBT community will be going to hell, that Allah is Satan, and that Feminism is an act of the Devil. Out of all the influences in my life, hers is the #1 that turned me off of Christianity and I’ll tell you why.
Think about how vast and amazing the Universe is, with its billions of galaxies and seemingly infinite number of stars. Now to me, it doesn’t make any sense to say that there is a giant man in the sky sending people to eternal damnation for loving someone of the same sex. How petty and small is that? And yet many Christians (or at least the ones I come into contact with) use this argument as a method to judge and condemn people. I don’t get it nor will I ever. To me it has always been okay to be gay, bi, and transexual because that’s the way you’re born. The point is to love each other, not condemn people for not loving others the specific way you say it should be done.
The Bible justifies rape ( Exodus 21:7-11, Deuteronomy 22:28-29, Deuteronomy 22:23-24, Deuteronomy 21:10-14, Zechariah 14:1-2), the killing of innocent men, women and children (Judges 21:10-24, Exodus 21:15, Deuteronomy 17:12, Leviticus 21:9, Deuteronomy 13:7-12), and slavery (Leviticus 25:44-46, Exodus 21:20-21, Luke 12:47-48). Now I understand that the argument here is that “It was the time period” or “It was the Old Testament”, but to me, you shouldn’t be able to pick and choose things from the Bible that you decide to live by. Either it’s all true or none of it is. Also, why would a God (who apparently intricately designed us and loves each and every one of us immensely) decide to kill off thousands of the innocent people, including children. I can’t seem to understand it.
Science has never told me to “pray about something” when I’ve been seeking answers. Science backs up its data and hypotheses with numerous experiments and numerical data. Anytime I went to my mother with a concern, the only answer she had was pray about it, and I did. I spent 18 years of my life praying about things, only to never receive answers. Not once did I experience a full on “encounter” with God. Sure I felt happy, emotional, and had a sense of camaraderie when attending worship sessions, but I noticed that the same feelings were felt when I attended my University’s football games. Maybe it’s just me?
Now I’m not trying to force my beliefs on anyone (I promise because at this point I’m not too positive in what I believe) I just think it helps me to articulate all these feelings and jumbled thoughts that are continuously building up. If you have any opinions or whatevs please feel free to share. I’m all ears.
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