Sent in by S. P. This is going to be the short version of my story. I'll write a longer one once I've had more time to analyze exactly what being a former Christian means to me - it's still fairly new. I was "born and Bible-bred" as they say. I was taught that all people are inherently evil, and that without the ten commandments and God, I was destined to hell. I remember "accepting Jesus" in my grandmother's bedroom when I was three years old. I got a weirder mix of Christianity and anti-worldliness than many. My childhood was defined by having faith; we weren't allowed to lock our doors, see a doctor, or do anything to protect ourselves. We were supposed to just trust God to meet all of our needs. I now see what irresponsibility this trained in me as a child, and as a young adult I'm struggling to overcome this. On the outside, that sounds great - freedom from personal responsibility for your actions! But it was coupled with overwhe...

Sent in by Mike Schultheiss Gather around, everyone. I've a story to tell, one I've been burning to tell for the past few years. You see, like the lot of you I used to be a Christian: for fifteen and a half long years. I accepted-Jesus-Christ-as-my-personal-lord-and-savior when I was about four and a half (yes, I know, it was a VERY grown-up decision for little Mike Schultheiss--actually it was Michael in those days--to make after the presentation in his Sunday School class, complete with posters of a gentle, bearded Jesus with European features) until I was almost twenty. Yes, I've told this story before, to many people and sometimes online, but never have I laid it out like this. And now, I think it's time. You see, I've been an atheist for over three years now and I really need to get it off my chest. So that part of my motivation's personal, I'll admit. Christianity scarred and psychologically abused me in more ways than I can begin to convey and it'...

Sent in by Martha I was raised Christian in a moderate (actually, fairly liberal) church by two very loving parents. At no point was anything forced down my throat; I accepted the teachings willingly and with enthusiasm. I remained very strong in the faith all the way through high school until I joined the military, where I moved far away from my family and my church. I tried to remain faithful for several years, but it didn't take long for me to start having issues. I started feeling like God had left me, so I assumed that this was one of the tests of faith that he puts us through to make us stronger. So I prayed and prayed and prayed, but things didn't seem to get better. So I started to wonder if I had done something wrong that had made him withdraw his presence, so I carefully searched my life to find out what it was, and I prayed for forgiveness, but I still had no luck. Finally, I just gave up, because nothing I did made any difference. I didn't understand it at...

Sent in by Red Foot Okie I’ve been visiting this site for a few years now, mostly to read the de-conversions, make occasional comments, and be thankful that my own road to skepticism was not nearly as rocky a path as many of you had to walk. The short version is that religion was never a huge issue in my immediate family. In fact, it usually only crossed my mind when someone else brought it up first. Put bluntly, education, experience, and living life have led me to become a happy atheist. The longer version follows: My family is, technically, Methodist, when they are religious at all. When I was about 5 we moved to a small Texas town and the public school system there was really bad, so I was enrolled in a small Catholic private school. I was warned that Catholics were different from Methodists, and not to be taken in by their ornate churches and archaic rituals. To be honest, I have only good things to say about that school. They didn’t try to coerce me into going to confession,...

Sent in by John I grew up with two sisters and a single mother. My mother had very strong Christian beliefs. She wasn't evangelical, but did force them onto the family. We were quite fortunate in that in many respect we had a privileged upbringing, with money for a nice house, school fees, sports opportunities etc etc. In other respects the three of us had to endure the consequences of my mother's strong beliefs and desire that we should share those beliefs, and have our lives run as she thought God intended. We attended church and Sunday school bible classes regularly, and didn't go to the local church because it wasn't what Mum liked, but went to another much more traditional church. Most of her friends were from that Church and she was active in organising various church events. We were encouraged to have friends from the church, we were allowed school friends around, but Mum was very selective, and if they didn’t meet her standards they didn't come back. We w...

Sent in by Kristine I was raised as various forms of protestant Christian — mostly Methodist and Presbyterian — all evangelical. My parents weren't really into the church thing, but they always tried to promote Christian and traditional values — the typical Christian/conservative thing. I was taught that Jesus loved me and that I should pray. The family did drag me to church enough times and talk about Christianity enough that I did get the whole Christian experience and I did believe. But, there were always things that bothered me about it. I was taught that Christians were the only ones that could go to heaven. But, what about the good people who weren't Christian? It didn't seem right for them to be excluded. Also, I didn't like the concept that all sins were equal in the eyes of god. A white lie or thinking bad things about god was equal to murder and rape. Perhaps it was because of these things that I always had a problem fully embracing the faith. Or maybe it was...

Sent in by Arthur I was forced to go to a catholic grammar school where we attended mass every weekday morning and also attended as a class on Sundays. Teachers were all nuns who weren’t very well educated and it was obvious that most didn’t choose the job because they liked children. We spent lots of time learning about all the sins we shouldn’t commit and the penalties we would face for committing them if we died before we were able to confess them to a priest. As I remember, we could go to hell for purposely missing mass on Sunday or a holy day. And eating meat on Friday was also a sin that could send you to hell. In the ‘60s the pope decided it was OK to eat meat on Friday after hundreds of years of prohibition. I’ll bet that really pissed off all those people who went to hell for doing it. Of course, it was also possible to murder someone and go to heaven if you were sorry for your sin and made a ‘good’ confession. I particularly remember a couple things the nuns told us kids. O...

Sent in by Roland 'Never wishing to throw the baby out with the bathwater', I have yet to do so and won't -ever. I am part iconoclast and part theist, ExChristian to be sure, -not that it was my original intention nor have I chosen to be, -but the 'icon of Christianity' that I came to know should not have been created in the first place. I am not particularly sorry for breaking that which should never have been made in the first place (hence 'iconoclast'). I did not start 'the lie', -I only learned of it and am more than willing to post what I have learned as a result... both about the lie and, more importantly the truth (as I know and/or understand it). My 'theism' stems from (my) love... being loved and loving... (extremely difficult and private to articulate and/or explain...) of life, nature, learning, etc., etc., etc... the list is practically endless... suffice it to say that without 'love' one can not live rightly, nor under...

Sent in by Brian Back in 2004 I left the Christian Faith after I found out that in reality there is no such thing as a personal and loving God who guides and directs our paths. However, according to these Right Winged Extremist Nuts, it's my fault that my faith did not work. I have grown to hate Christianity with a purple passion, and here is an example of why I have grown to hate Christianity here in the past four years. This is a constant reminder of why I have no desire to return to the cult known as the Christian faith. Just today when I went out to eat breakfast with my parents (Who are ultra conservative Christians) my father asked my mom and I to bow our heads, and say the blessing before we eat. I had stopped this practice four years ago after I left Christianity, of course. Now days when I am around my family I usually just sit there real quietly and let them pray over their food like they always do. Apparently my father did not realize that I had stopped praying over...

From Annastasia Hello everyone! I'm Annastasia, 32, and I'm having a really hard time right now. I have been raised a Christian my whole life. I never knew anything else. I've been taught that all other people who did not accept Christ were going to hell regardless of belief in a higher power or a God of a different name. I never thought I was going to have a future because every year was the "Last Days" and the "end times" were here. The fact that I went to church like a good Christian girl did not make all of my questions go away. I was and still am the problem child in my family. I am the one who has continuously questioned the validity of Christianity and the one that Satan is controlling. I am now, according to them, corrupting my own children. I have been searching and studying every aspect and opinion for the truth in religion and I cannot find it. Faith aside, it's just simply not there. Just recently it occurred to me that I really DO NOT be...

Sent in by Andrew The story of my faith starts out like every story here. Born and Raised in the Roman Catholic Church From Birth. Dragged To church, but eventually "became a believer". Was "Confirmed" in the church and currently a senior in a Catholic High School. You get the picture. In elementary school, I was what you would call "a retard". This was before I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. I stabbed myself with pencils and safety scissors. I cried nearly everyday for some stupid reason. Most of all, I wanted to die because I was tired of being made fun of. The thing was that was when my belief in Christianity was at my strongest at that time. I always participated in church, had strong beliefs in the Bible and Ten Commandments. I also had strong respect for anyone who was a priest. Once I entered high school, though, that was all about to change. During my early high school years (freshman/sophomore), my views of the Roman Catholic Church c...