Sent in by Yak Image by Bobasonic via Flickr I grew up in fundamentalist Christianity, and moved between a few flavors of it over the years before leaving because of the confusion, pain and the encouraged abuse of self and others. It still triggers painful feelings and thoughts for me when I see and hear others who are still involved in it acting out. All the time that I was involved in it I knew intuitively and felt viscerally that things were not right: the conflicted messages of "God's love" and simultaneous condemnation of others, the imposed strictures on how one dresses, grooms, believes, treats others and even thinks, based on an interpretation of a book, a personage, and rigid adherence to a set of rules about living, thinking and behaving. Besides the compulsion to control and to be condescending to all non-Christians, they were and continue to be in an escalating conflict with each other: all of those groups follow the same book and personages, but condemn al...

Sent in by Agnosticator When I was 17 and naive, the Christians came knocking upon the door of my mind, persuading me to join the ship of fools for Christ. I thought we were embarking upon an upward journey to the city where the streets are paved with gold. Reality dictated otherwise. My journey did an about face when I realized the streets are paved with pyrite , or fool's gold! I sacrificed my personal goals and aspirations to serve Christ, but the bait-and-switch tactics of conservative-evangelical Christianity and the New Testament showed they were primarily concerned with mind control and self-sacrifice for the church. I set out to be a good Christian. But wait. All the talk about Christians being morally superior because they are forgiven, and becoming better people, was obviously untrue. It took years for my Bible-pickled mind to learn this lesson. Christian morality is but a smokescreen covering faith. Faith is believing in spite of what is real. Faith displaces reality ...

Sent in by Ryan P Image by ::: Billie / PartsnPieces ::: via Flickr I was born in New Orleans Louisiana as a Catholic. I attended Catholic School until I was in the third grade when my parents decided to move to a rural area 1.5 hours north of the city. Though not that far away, the difference in religious belief was staggering. I had entered the Bible Belt . There were no Catholic churches near my new home and all the friends i had met were southern baptist who's families were heavy into church. I was nine years old and wanted to do what my friends did, so I asked my mom if I could start going to church with my friends. I suppose my mom thought that some church was better than no church, so she was fine with it. Again, I was a kid. I had no idea what the differences between Catholics and Baptists were. I assumed we all just believed in God and Jesus... the basics, so I never claimed to not be a Catholic. Well, this did not sit well with the adults in the churc...

Sent in by Mitchy Image via Wikipedia I’ve not been a Christian now for over 20 years, since 1988. Church was not a very important part of my childhood, as my parents stopped going to church (they were Methodist) when I was about 4 years old. My mother in particular was rather cynical about organized religions, believing they were only in it for the money. Still, I was somewhat fascinated with Christianity as I grew up and kept reading the bible . I became enthralled with the stories of heaven, eternity, and biblical prophecies, and truly wanted to do what was right and good. By the time I was a teenager, I had accepted Jesus and Christianity and started going to different Protestant churches with friends. However, the seeds of doubt and skepticism started growing when I was in high school. The more I read the bible, the more I began to question what it said. One sticking point for me involved passages from Romans 13, stating we must submit ourselves to the governing authoritie...

Sent in by Jason Image by eylon via Flickr I was born into a strict Christian family that followed a cult-like version of Christianity that was similar to the Seventh-day Adventists , called the Worldwide Church of God . There was a heavy emphasis on the Old Testament and so my brother and I grew up in a pretty sheltered life, attending the church-ran elementary school . We didn't know better, as it was all we knew. Sure the occasional childhood 'why?' popped up, but there was always a bullshit answer that, coupled with the reassurance of our parents and our whole social bubble, there never was a reason to truly question the teachings. Besides, the bible said we were right and everyone else was going to burn in the lake of fire while we enjoyed eternal life . Man, what a sham. Eventually, in my rebellious teens I finally waved the bullshit flag when the church began to question a few of its prior teachings. I saw a crack in the facade of Christianity and began to feel rea...

Sent in by Kate W Image by ericarhiannon via Flickr My family was never really very religious when I was growing up. My father would randomly take me and my two siblings to church, but he beat my mother so it's not like he was instilled with values. When my mom left him, we moved far away and she never made us go to church at all. My father's side of the family is very Christian and whenever we visited him in the summer we were made to go to Sunday school and church service. When I started making friends after moving to a new state, some were church-going. I would tag along with them. Eventually, I started going to one Methodist church in particular. Mostly because my friends did too. I then became baptized as a Methodist. When you're younger, they never really talk about all the very important issues in the Bible that we encounter now in our everyday modern world. They just tell you Jesus loves you and that Ggod loves everyone and yada, yada. When I started getting olde...

By European House Sparrow Image by Ennor (unwell-resting) via Flickr I've always been a rational person. Educated in math and science, you wouldn't find the likes of me writhing around in a church and speaking in tongues . But yet I believed. I believed because that is what I, and most all of us here in the Bible Belt, were told from the minute we are born. I believed because all my family, friends, and relatives believed. I believed because all you hear in this culture is that the great deceptive power of evil plants seeds of doubt in your mind, and to not have faith is to deny the source of all love. Church is community, friendship, charity.... Yes the Bible has some bronze age brutality - but those immoral atheists are just cherry picking the bad and ignoring the good, aren't they. Aren't they? Perhaps I should read that book - that would make me feel better and inspire me. OK old testament maybe not the best place to start - I'll focus on the new, which a...

By Chucky Jesus How I became an atheist and early years of atheism

Sent in by Marcus Image by mattlemmon via Flickr I wasn't just a Christian. I was a hardcore, Bible-thumping, tongue-speaking, over the top extreme Christian that other Christians wish they were like. I believed God literally talked to me. I believed God had a "mission" for my life. And I was ready to do anything, no matter what the consequences. Well fast forward several years and traveling several countries to do God's endless work, and I burn out spectacularly. Christian ministries and organizations used me up until I had nothing left to give and then some. Finally like Icarus I burnt my wings and hit the ground hard. I found that not only was God clearly uncaring to all my work and efforts for Him but chances are He wasn't even watching, or was and didn't care. There were no rewards for my work as I was promised. God wasn't there for me when I had nothing left. There were no answers, and the answers I'd give others when others were in pain just ...

Sent in by Anon (hiding from lynchers) Image by Funky64 via Flickr My struggle with Christianity began in the third grade when I attended a Christian private school in the city (my parents were working class , and I would ultimately move to public school with the birth of my second sibling, when funding private school was not longer an option). The curriculum novels (i.e. propaganda) described glorious close relationships with God, and I tried hard to develop such a relationship. However, when I prayed most devotedly, nothing happened. It didn't help that I found services sleep-inducing and boring; it also annoyed me that I felt required to donate portions of my meager allowance to the offering plate, which they passed around Sunday school, which I felt I could use on toys. "Jesus will touch your heart in his own time," the preacher would scream over the pews. I worried that he must not have touched my heart; if he didn't soon, I would go to hell! Hell! Hell! Fast ...

Sent in by Wendy Image by Lin Pernille ♥ Photography via Flickr I can't say I am completely free. I can't bring myself to tell my family that I don't believe in God, although my husband knows and completely supports me. And I do believe in something, just not the God of the Christians. It's hard because my mother is so devout and it would tear her apart to know that I am doomed to hell because she really, truly believes that crap. I figure, it's just better to let her be in peace than break her heart. I live about 45 min away anyway so I don't see her all the time. But to go to the beginning, I grew up hardcore pentecostal. I think it was even worse because we went to a Hispanic church and most people were immigrants, and most of them were superstitious anyway. We weren't allowed to cut our hair, women couldn't wear pants or makeup, the man controlled the family and women had their place in the home. When I was really little it was fine, but as I got o...