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Defining Moments

Why, How & When I Became an Atheist

Seems I’ve been asked to write something about the why, how, & when I became an atheist.  I’ve mulled these questions in my mind repeatedly over the years.  The why is the easiest and I’ll cover it first. 

Jynx

I never bought the tall-tales of the major monotheistic faiths. Even before I could accurately call myself an atheist, I eschewed organized religion of all forms. I recognized blind obedience in others when I saw it...I just didn't recognize it in myself until I was much older.

Still, I held a number of absurd supernatural beliefs cobbled together from various and sundry sources. My quest for the timeless truths of life and the universe led me to mythology and ancient religious philosophy, sprinkled with just a touch of New Age pseudoscience for good measure. A sickening concoction barely resembling reality at all.

Rodney

I spent the first 15 years of my life attending church everyday the doors were open.  Over the next several years, attendance was sporadic and then I was drafted by the United States Army in the fall of 1972.  I remember well the exciting aura of the Holy Roller, Pentecostal, evangelical, speaking in tongues worship services.  There were several revival crusades each year that helped to boost attendance and keep the congregation from wandering too far from the flock.  I gave my life to Jesus Christ more times than I can remember but I do remember one thing quite well – there was NEVER a moment of any spiritual revelation.  I got nothing from any of the praying, forgiving, promising, kneeling, confessing, testifying - nada, nil, zero, zip!

Recipe for Atheism

OK I’m an atheist.  I didn’t start out that way, but life has a way of shaping us in unexpected ways.  As the oldest of three children, I pretty much got to pioneer childhood for all three of us.  I was fortunate in that respect, because the rules weren’t anywhere near entrenched in my household.  This also meant that I was punished for actions that my folks didn’t have the foresight to tell me not to do.  More likely they just didn’t want to add more fuel for my imagination.  Either way, my environment encouraged me to think about what I was doing and what my reasons were for each action.  I guess you could say that my folks had unwittingly sowed the seeds of atheism in me.

Chris

I always have been skeptical.  From the time when I was a small boy when we would bow our heads in prayer I knew the voice in my head was not god, it was the voice of the preacher. To this day I remember the only prayer I ever prayed for from the bottom of my heart, was for a Nintendo entertainment system, and I got it. But, I knew it was because I had got my first job at the public library, for two summers.

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