I was raised a Christian. As I child, I was instructed to confess my sins and ask God for forgiveness; taught that the Bible was divine; and was expected to preach the gospel to my peers. Although my parents took the appropriate steps to indoctrinate me, they failed to do so.

When I was fourteen I heard on Fox News that Christians were being persecuted because of their faith. Naturally, I wanted to defend my religion against any hellbound atheists. However, reading, annotating, and researching the Bible led me to a very different conclusion that I expected it to. I determined it was rife with absurdities, bigotry, contradictions, cruelty, and historical as well as scientific inaccuracies. I realized my pastor was unwilling to address certain topics, such as genocide, sexism, and slavery, which are sanctioned in the Bible . Several weeks passed and after further researching history, philosophy, religion, and science I concluded that our universe had no need for a god.

I remember reading books about the supernatural claims in Christianity at a relatively young age. It was always blatantly obvious to me that those accounts shouldn't be taken literally. I was distraught when learning a significant number Christians thought genesis was a literal account of the origins of the cosmos. By that age I had already been introduced to evolution. The evidence was and remains to be undeniable.

As much as I wanted to reveal the truth to my parents, I understood the seriousness of the situation. I intended to keep my atheism a secret from the age of fourteen until I was at least eighteen and financially stable.

However, my mom began noticing the books I was reading and the scientists I began idolizing. I'm sixteen and three days ago I when was driving home from dance my mom began lecturing me about the alterior motives of scientists. She argued that scientists create evidence then present it as fact in order to further their political agenda. I'm working to become an astrophysicist, so I took immediate offense to her outrageous claims. By the time we arrived home she said, "Belle, you don't understand. There are people in this country that would love to demolish religion. I feel like the books you're reading are taking you down that path." I didn't say anything. She then asked, "well, are you an atheist?" Knowing she'd find out sooner than later, I confessed. I've never seen her cry so much.

After a long discussion we decided not tell any other family members, including my dad. She, ironically, criticizes my beliefs, whereas I'm not allowed to criticize her's. Hopefully, she'll become more accepting of me in the future.