By Laura ~ I was adopted into a stable loving family in 1965. From the time I can remember (preschool), I was taught the Christian doctrine. Image by Casey David via Flickr Vacation Bible School was never a choice, I had to go. The only kids I knew were from my church. I thought everybody lived this way. By the time I was 8 I had learned every song that I was told would help me be a "good christian example" That same year I was enrolled in a private Christian school . The only thing I remember about that school was that they had my parents permission to spank me. I was hit by these teachers from this "christian" school in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. When I went back to public school for 6th grade,I was very naive. I can still remember my first traumatic experience . That day I was out playing during recess and I remember hearing these new kids screaming and cussing at the top of there lungs. I was terrified. I really thought that the heavens were goi...

By freeatlast ~ I 've read the testimonials every day on this site for the past 2 months. It's helped me to know I'm not the only one who no longer believes in the bible, jesus, or god. Someone wrote a comment on here that "to obsess about where one's soul goes after life on earth is narcissistic". That was the first time I really felt it's ok to not be a christian, to not believe in god, to not even believe humans have a need for a god. Whoever said that, thank you. Image by onkel_wart (offline, most of the time) via Flickr I, like most people on here, went through a range of events and discoveries that eventually lead to my complete deconversion. It took over 2 years. Since my earliest memory, I believed that jesus was my savior, god exists , and the goal of life on earth is to be good enough for god that we achieve everlasting life in heaven. That is, until I began reading the bilble, studying the history, looking at nature for any facts to...

By James ~ A quick intro. My name is James. I have been married for 24 years and loving it. I have three kids. 20,13,10. My oldest is in College. We have been with the Christian Church for more than 6 years. Image by Burns! via Flickr I always have gone out of my way for others when they needed help. It is part of my personality. We helped out a neighbor during a hurricane in Florida and the next day the Pastor of the neighbors Church came over. He talked to us about coming to a Bible Study at his home. At first this new faith was intimate and uplifting for us as we were strapped financially, while both working full time jobs, but never getting ahead. We attended this friend's home every Tuesday and it was the highlight of my week. Soon though, our landlord sold the house we were renting and we had to move. There was no where to go. We moved across the US to Arizona to live with my parents for a month or so. We prayed every night and my mom noticed. She became curious and s...

by juan marco ~ M y father was an extremist crackpot of a pastor, and I spent twelve years in christian schools (the last two years in a baptist school, the first ten in a church/school that regularly had Mr. Nutjob Lester Roloff come to preach for our chapel services). Image by Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha via Flickr The "fear of the Lord" was drummed into me nonstop. Like many other kids raised in this type of environment, I spent many nights lying awake in sheer terror, worried I would wake up and find that the rapture had taken place without me, or worried about the wrath of god coming down on me for some silly "sin" I had committed, etc... By the time I was eighteen, I was regularly suffering from depression and anxiety that bordered on full blown paranoia. These conditions went untreated until I was well into my thirties. During these years, I put on an act when I was around people. I fancied myself a comedian, but most people would probably tell you ...

By Carl S ~ "A lice, you stand accused, and yet you have brought an attorney. Why?” asked the Chief Magistrate. Image by **tWo pInK pOSsuMs** via Flickr “Why?" asked Alice. “To defend me, of course. What a silly question. Why would you ask?" "We will ask the questions, young lady. This is Wonderland, where we conduct the proceedings without questions." "And just how are you to find out the truth of the allegations against me without asking questions?" asked Alice. "Truth? We have the truth already. We don’t need a silly brat talking to US about truth. Why, our very witnesses and experts are the truth themselves. We need no others. Would that all government bodies functioned as ours." "But I don't understand," said Alice. "How can you ignore all the evidence?" "Evidence? What is evidence, when all of us know that you are guilty? That is authority enough. Why, we know in our hearts, beyond any doubt;...

By Kristin ~ I was not born into a Christian family, although I did attend Sunday school every now and then so that my father (who only saw me every other Sunday as my parents divorced when I was 6) could get a break from his visits with my younger brother and myself. Image by ...anna christina... via Flickr Throughout my teen years, I struggled with promiscuity and a serious eating disorder, as a result of the lack of affection and acceptance I received from my father.It was not until I entered therapy at the age of 20 that I realized where my problems originated.After ending a physically and mentally abusive relationship, as well as having suffered a miscarriage, I felt alone in the world. And I was still desperately seeking love and attention. When I was 21 I went to visit my brother at the bible school he was attending in the U.S.It was there on a Sunday night that I had my first religious experience.I received the holy ghost, as the pentecostal church calls it.I spok...

Girls, Girls, Girls     By ex-Pastor Dan -- Flights of Fancy    M y last chopper ride was better than anything that Disneyland or Six Flags could ever dream up! I was assigned to Charlie Company , 16th Air Cavalry , nick-named “Dark Horse”. The commanding officer was a Major by rank and a pilot by training. He was sick of sitting behind his desk and had been itching for a chance to “mount-up” as he put it, and get “back in the saddle” of his ‘black’, Huey gun-ship. He had his olive drab (OD) green, standard-issue helicopter, re-painted, with our company icon (the head of a black horse with firey eyes) stenciled to its tail. It was really, really cool albeit not very indiscrete. It was not the most camouflaged war machine – to put it mildly! Major “Insane” Montoya had earned quite a reputation in his three trips to Viet Nam. He could fly most anything that had wings or rotors and a power plant. He fit the description of the “crazy commander” m...

By dealdoctor ~ Note: This is long do not read it if you do not wish to take the time. It deals with finding meaning in life as an atheist, humanist and agnostic. “It is a commonplace that all religion expresses itself in mythological or metaphorical terms; it says one thing and means another; it uses imagery to convey truth. But the crucial fact about religion is not that it is metaphor , but that it is unconscious metaphor. No one can express any thought without using metaphors, but this does not reduce all philosophy and science to religion, because the scientist knows that his metaphors are merely metaphors and that the truth is something other than the imagery by which it is expressed, whereas in religion the truth and the imagery are identified. To repeat the Creed as a religious act it is necessary not to add "All this I believe in a symbolical or figurative sense": to make that addition is to convert religion into philosophy. R.G. Collingwoood (1889-1943), Bri...

By Dano ~ T his article is based on the assumption that there is an intelligent God, and that, he/she/it, made everything, has perfect knowledge of everything, past, present, and future, and can do anything. I personally find all religions, so lacking in critical thought , logic, reality, and just plain common sense, to be good for nothing more than a good laugh, therefore this piece of prose, wholly of my own opinion! Image via Wikipedia If you believe that God is something like an old man, up in the sky, watching everything we do, especially who we have sex with, and where and when, and how, you are absolutely correct. God's plan for us , and why he made the mating process so pleasurable is, God likes babies, lots of them. It's in his very own instruction book. (Go forth and multiply) Unless you are reproducing God could care less about you. He designed us to start falling apart as soon as we quit reproducing. He also likes it when we help our fellow man to reproduce...

By Mriana ~ T he other day I went to visit my younger son and met a woman who was visiting her husband. The visits in and of themselves are a story too, but as I was waiting to see my son, this woman starts talking bizarrely, as she rambled on about her superstitious mumbo-jumbo, which made no sense at all. Gravelings -- Image via Wikipedia In the course of small talk, she said, “I believe in God, but I don’t believe in science.” Where that came from, I do not know, but anyway… Cue “ Dead Like Me ”* mental thoughts, “Here we go again with some crazy fundie running her mouth off with superstitious stupidity. Not to mention, I didn’t know there was such a thing as “belief in science”.” She rattled on about how scared she was of tornadoes that her god created and dying, which made my head spin because the woman absolutely no sense. I actually did feel like I was suddenly in an episode of “Dead Like Me” and I was Georgia, wishing I could just put the poor woman out of her mise...

By Exminister ~ I 'm sure my story is not that much different than most people on this site. I never thought I would be on a site like this. I was not raised in a strict Christian family. My for the most part church was not mandatory. I was sort of the problem child growing up always into something never willing to let something rest. I was always asking questions. I remember my brothers and I catching a bus to go to church Sunday mornings. I can only remember to things from this time as I was only about 6-7 yrs of age. I remember being in a room with other little kids and being told how without Jesus we would all burn in hell. One Sunday two of the bus drivers got into a fight with tire irons. One of my older bros told my mom and we never went back. I was about 12 when I had my next encounter with religion. I met who told me basically that Jesus loved me and could save me from hell -- all that I had heard before. I guess I figured finally maybe I am a bad person and if Jesus...