Recognized my self as a non believer at 13.
Never turned back.
Now 14, and hapilly an atheist.
I googled my way into atheism. In Google we trust. (On a serious note, you'd be surprised at the stuff you find, when you don't search for "echo chambers". The first step is always the hardest, to google non religious content when you were originally a " true Christian "!!)
Edit: Then again, I am sort of depressed, but I do find religiosity to be somewhat funny, although ultimately sad.
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Does your family know? How did they react?
Welcome to AR!
No they don't, at all and I still have to go to church Sundays.
I try not to rolll my eyes.
Thanks for the welcome!!
Hey Stare, I’ve got something entertaining for you to do while at church: Google and print out “Preacher Bingo”, and sneakily play it during the sermon. ;)
@Stare Re: Rohan's suggestion for Preacher Bingo
Yeah, that could certainly help pass the time. Just try to resist the urge to call out, "BINGO!", during the service whenever you get one. lol
Actually if I were playing Religion Bingo in church, I'd be the first to holler "BINGO!" as loud as I could. And do so just to see the looks everyone gives me as I sit there with a shit-eating grin on my face. Then if the service got back underway and I hit a second one, "BINGO!" again. And again. And until they called the cops to escort me out.
rmfr
And then in their next service, they'll concoct some elaborate story about how you were "mocking" and "persecuting" them for speaking up about their faith, and how you are an example of the hardships those poor, poor persecuted Christians are facing, and how many enemies they face; their Us-Versus-Them mentality at its finest.
I myself have experienced both my brother and mother exhibit such a mentality on a few occasions- my mother when she made the assumption that Pastafarianism came about as the result of atheists' alleged "superiority complex in which [we] make fun of everyone else", and my brother when he told me how horrible it was when an atheist student at his school complained to him about evangelists coming knocking on his family's door- and then resisted his attempts at proselytization (how fucking dare he! The humanity!)
Welcome Stare, to this little corner of the world. It gives me solace and happiness that young people are thinking for themselves.
I don't think it took much to throw away religion.
You can google anything nowadays, and fortunately googling this stuff leads to YouTube videos, which I found to be mostly atheistic fortunately.
The internet also played a big factor in my own deconversion; it allowed me to come across arguments like the Problem of Evil, which was what first sewed the seeds of doubt in my mind. But what really made me an atheist was when I read the Buybull from cover to cover. The more I read, the more it just seemed like some poorly-written work of fiction- and the parts that really destroyed my faith were the book of Genesis, all the stupid, arbitrary rules in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, the fact that there are 5 contradicting versions of Jesus’s life story instead of just one consistent story, and especially the prophecy in book of Revelation; I noticed that in this prophecy (which should have come true on thousands of occasions before the day I am writing this), the Arab pagan religions (“idolatries”) still exist, there’s no mention whatsoever of “Islam”, “mosques”, “Muslim” or even the old-school word for Muslim, “Mohammedan”; the Middle East is still ruled by pagans, Jews, and Christians.
A little part of the world that is growing very fast, and may one day end up freeing humanity from the evil and superstition of religion once and for all... someday... hopefully within your my lifetime, Stare...
Welcome Stare,
I am an outlier. Even before I was 4 years old, I found Christianity and the Bible to be nonsensical. Thus, I was never a believer. Fortunately for me, when I reached the Age of Minority (13), I was allowed to choose whether to go to church or not. Thus, I was only forced to attend church for only 7 years. However, it was a horrible seven years.
Peruse the boards. They abound with information and arguments to use in discussions.
And don't listen to anyone about my bark being ruff...
rmfr
@Arakish Wow. You're so lucky.
Oh, and btw you just gave me a brilliant idea for vaccinating my future children against religious indoctrination (I'm not gonna let them be victims of the same brainwashing I once was)... by exposing them to the very thing that set me free from religion- reading of religious scripture from start to end- and not just the Buybull, but also other scriptures as well, like the Cooran (for contrast and mode of comparison), and show these to them at age 4 or so, like you... while remembering to not ever make the vulgar mistake of lying and pretending that it's fact rather than the bronze-aged fairytale and work of fiction that it is in reality...
@ Rohan
Yeah, my biggest vaccination was reading novels by Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Frederick Pohl, Olaf Stapledon, Aldous Huxley, Edgar Allen Poe, HP Lovecraft, amongst many, many others. Also, Star Trek: The Original Series helped loads. Especially, since Mr. Spock has been my life long hero. Then 1½ years later, I watched Neil Armstrong do his Small Step Giant Leap. All while I was a child and forced to go to church and get my ass whooped by the Pastor for asking questions they could not answer.
Information and science is the cure for religion.
rmfr
Hey, Stare, welcome. I'm glad that you're a thinking person, and that your thoughts have led you to atheism. Atheism to me certainly seems to be the best way to be, in the light of absence of evidence for any gods, and the ridiculousness of the gods humans try to tell us exist.
I hope that I use my brain, and am an honest person, and that if I try to justify my atheism, I will use my brain and be honest, and base my position on the evidence I have, as well as logic and reasoning.
With that segue, I'd suggest that not all religious people are stupid, and not all atheists happen to wise or well informed, (don't you agree)?
Mutorc.
@Mutorc “not all atheists happen to be wise and well-informed” I agree... remember all those “ex-atheists” who became religious for terrible reasons?
Ho Ho Hooo!!!
Welcome my young friend, it is soooo nice to see a young person using critical thinking. Google away and use your "god given" brain to always filter what you're googling (is "googling" even a word?).
Internet is full of good information, for sure however, it is also full of shite (pardon my Shakespearean flowery metaphor) so, always use your own judgment and ALWAYS ask why.
Stopping believing in sky fairies will give you a tremendous advantage in life and at this tender age of 14 I'm afraid you also stopped believe in Santa, eh?
but...
You never know, maybe the "Bad Sand" will bring you something special this holidays season??
*..picking up the phone, calling Rudolf to give him a special order for a special gift...listening... What??? he went out again????...
Hey Stare... sorry dude, don't be disappointed if I don't drop by this season...
@BS Re: "What??? he went out again????..."
Really???... Again???... Hey, isn't it about time you sent Rudolph to Alcoholics Anonymous?
@Bad Santa Yes indeed Saint Nick, it does contain lots of webshites (spelled "webshits" here in 'Murica), like FFAF (Fools Fapping to Atheists Fuming) , Contardapedia The Trusworthy Un-encyclopedia, GoodQuestions.org, RedPissReligion.com, and JebusIsNotSavior.com.
And btw, these "webshit(e)s" are actually a thing: https://www.rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Webshites
Well, hello there, Miss Stare. Welcome to our humble abode. Always good to see a new face around here. Glad you joined us. Many good folks here, and we try to have fun as much as possible. Oh, and every now and then we learn a thing or two.... *chuckle*...
Wow, I hate to say it, but I have to admit I almost envy you. Fourteen, and you are already getting away. Dang, must be nice. It took me over forty years of my life to fully escape the clutches of religion. Ever since I finally pulled free, though, it has been like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. My mind has been more light and relaxed now than it has ever been in my life, and it is a wonderful feeling.... *smile*... Kudos to you for being able to figure it out this early in your life. Gives me hope for our future generations. "chuckle*
I totally have to agree with you about religion being funny to me now. Living in the Bible Belt, I am surrounded by religion every time I go out in public, and I simply cannot help shaking my head and laughing to myself at all the things I see people do and say in regards to their "loving" god. Message boards out in front of churches are of particular amusement to me nowadays. We have some real doozies out here sometimes... lol... And, yes, sometimes it can be a little sad, depending on the circumstances. There are definitely times when I have to hang my head and shake it in sadness at some of the absurdity of it all. Especially when people make such statements as, "I'm just gonna turn it over to the Lord and let Him deal with it." Almost feel bad for folks like that. Almost want to take them by the shoulders and shake them and yell, "WAKE UP!" But I know it would not do any good. Oh, well... *shrugging shoulders*...
Anyway, again, welcome. Kick back, relax, and make yourself at home. Kitchen is down the hall on the left. I suggest putting your name on anything you put in the fridge, by the way. Cog and Old Man have a nasty habit of taking unmarked food. Just sayin'.... *mischievous grin*...
Edit to add: Oh, and if you see leaves and bits of bark in your food, it's nothing to worry about. That just means Arakish has been snooping in the fridge. Just a little FYI.
Tin-Man: "Oh, and if you see leaves and bits of bark in your food, it's nothing to worry about. That just means Arakish has been snooping in the fridge. Just a little FYI."
Yeah, that Miracle Gro is excellent stuff, but change is good also.
rmfr
@Tin Oh man, when you said "in regards to", you just reminded me of this guy:
https://www.rationalwiki.com/wiki/Conservapedia:Conservative
He uses that ALL. THE. TIME.
To put it into better perspective, here is a simulated example of his email writing style that we composed over at RationalWiki over the years as a random text generator:
IMO The internet and the availability of information is killing religion.
Equation for atheism: Scientific literacy + Online information ^ reading of scripture from cover-to-cover; or A=S+I^Rscript
To Tinman and Arakish. One benefit of living in the Bible belt is grocery shopping on Sunday morning. The store is virtually a ghost town as all the good christians get their weekly fix.
@Dancing Fool
Damn good point, my man. However, don't make the mistake of trying to go to the store AFTER church hours. Good luck even getting through the doors at that point. Yikes! Oh, and trying to get a table at any local restaurant is even worse.... *chuckle* Which reminds me....
One of the many things that has always puzzled me (even when I was a little kid) is that it is supposedly breaking one of the Ten Commandments to work on Sunday. Yet all those faithful bible-thumpin', God-fearing Christians seem to have no problems with leaving church and zipping over to the grocery store and restaurant where countless people are hard at work providing the services sought by those Christians. Just one of those many things that always made me go, "Hmmmmm..."
Where I lived, church got out at 11:00 AM, everyone quickly get in the cars and leave, because they had to get ready for football.
God in the morning and football and beer for the rest of the day.
This is 100% fact.
That, and the traffic on Sundays also probably is very good.
I was always one of those workers. What was always interesting to me is that the car would pull into the parking lot. The cars would park. The congregations would come into the coffee shop and sit at the tables. And every single time at every table there would be people who would carry their bibles in from the cars and set them on the table where they could look at them as they ate. Never was a bible picked up or read during the Sunday after Church breakfast. And it was always the large beautiful white bibles with gold pages. or the larger black bibles with zippers all the way around that were brought in and set on the tables. I was always sure the people were just using breakfast as a means to show off their bibles.
Just like a cell phone Cognostic, got to have the bible ready at hand if god makes a call.
But .. and this is worth observing, do they place their cell phones on the table too?
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