@Isobel Re: Answers from my first PM interview questions ("how did u become an atheist, and were u ever a Christian?")

Hey there, Isobel. Happy to be of assistance. Allow me to start with your second question, if I may.

As you might have seen others post, I was born an atheist, as were we all. However, having been born in the U.S. and raised in a Christian family (Baptist, primarily. I also had an Uncle who was a Methodist preacher), I naturally adopted the Christian faith. Was even baptized (Baptist) when I was about 9 or 10 years old. Attended church services and vacation bible school fairly regularly throughout my childhood. That being said, even as a kid, the whole God/Jesus/Heaven/Hell concepts, along with most of the bible stories we were taught in Sunday school, never really made sense to me. Even at a young age, I was very perceptive and always noticed so many contradictions and inconsistencies with the whole thing. And whenever I questioned some of these things, the answers were always less than satisfactory. (Not bragging, but I was pretty smart as a kid.) However, I was still just a kid, and as such I trusted in my elders. Besides, we got cookies and Kool-Aid in Sunday school class, and I really had more important things to worry about such as, "Will I be able to get my new bicycle seat today?" and "Do I need more BB's for my BB gun?" and "What position will the coach put me in during the baseball game tomorrow?" You know, important kid stuff like that. Basically, I just played along until the day came when I was told it was my choice if I wanted to go to church or not. And I gradually stopped going. Hard to remember, but it may have been somewhere around my junior high years.

Fast forward a bit. Early twenties. Been out on my own awhile. Already been married/divorced once. Going through a rough emotional period in my life. Started going back to church with a buddy of mine who was having a few problems of his own. Got baptized again. And that whole "return-to-the-flock" stint may have lasted a little over a year or so. Again, too many things simply never felt right or made sense to me. And it never gave me the comfort or peace of mind for which I was looking. Ended up solving my problems on my own, and the church attendance gradually faded out again, helped along by my changing work schedule at the time.

Now to get along with your first question; How did I become an atheist? To that, I am afraid I cannot give you a very definitive answer. Also, the question is somewhat misleading to a degree. In a very small way, it does not settle very well with me. (Not your fault, by the way.) And, quite honestly, I doubt I could even fully explain why. Nevertheless, it might surprise you to know that up until less than two years ago I actually viewed atheism as an almost horrid thing. To have been even remotely associated with an atheist or atheism in general was enough to make me quite uncomfortable and a little nervous. Funny how things change, though. Despite the fact that I had known for many years I had my doubts about God and Jesus and so forth, I always wrestled with myself as to WHY I did not believe or have faith. And then one day toward the end of summer last year I found a show on YouTube called Atheist Experience and started watching it. At that point, my questions started getting answered. (It is a great program, by the way. I highly recommend you watch it. Could help you with your assignment tremendously.) And it was just this past December that I joined this site, and all my confusion and doubts have since disappeared. So, you see, there really is no specific "Ah-ha!" moment when I woke up and stated, "Hey! I'm an atheist!" If I had to sum it up, I suppose I could say I have always been an atheist since birth, but I just happened to go through an extended period of doubting belief until finally returning to the default position. *chuckle* Hope this helps.

isobel,

At last a question! My childhood saw me raised as a Lutheran. But, as the years rolled by, I slowly came to realize that Christianity has intractable scientific and common sense problems. Reading the whole Bible without the usual rose-colored tint in my glasses was what put me over the top. It became abundantly clear to me that the Bible was not even up to a college level of sophistication, let alone a work by a god. By the time I was 22 I was completely done with religion.