Were you converted?

[f68rjft]

I was raised in a Hispanic family with strictly conservative Catholic beliefs. I was always the smartest kid in my religious classes and wanted to grow up to be a priest--maybe I'd be pope one day! I taught a few Sunday classes to young Catholic not enrolled in private school for about three and a half years.

Then, well, I went through puberty. I pushed back everything in my head as best as I could but denial can't last forever. I realized I was bisexual. It all went "downhill" (as Mom would say) from there. Bit by bit I grew away from the Catholic church, then I grew away from Christianity, then religion as a whole and eventually I embraced my own senses. I love skeptism and pity the gullible.  

[LB-chan]

I was raised catholic, with no stong religious infulences. My mother, a couple years back, moved away from the church and started pursuing other teachings, though still believing in God. Me on the other hand, started to question whether God was real, or was just something created by humans.

I am Agnostic. 3nodding  

[UUdanman142]

I was raised a Unitarian Universalist, so I was never told that god did or did not exist. I figured that if god really did exist, he wouldn''t let wars happen unless he was sadistic. And therefore, I''m atheist.  

[Sanguvixen]

I never beleive in "god".

I remember when I was younger my dad sent me and my brother to this Sunday School thing.

I never gained faith because to me it was wrong to lure children onto a bus that takes them to a church with candy.

That was the reward for getting on the bus. A piece of candy. You answer a question right, you get a peice of candy.

Why must they bribe children into following a faith? It must be because their faith isn't really true.

I remember having a facination with darker things. I never understood why some "Evil characters" in the movies and such were Evil.

When Star Wars came out, I was fascinated by the Dark Side, and Darth Vader. I didn't see what made him so bad. I couldn't understand what the real conflict was. To me the real conflict was being made by the Jedi...but that was my personal opinion and still is.

I also loved snakes. I never understood why people didn't love them as I did.

Because these multi-colored serpents come in every color of the rainbow. They eat the things that humans cannot stand. They are unique, and beautiful.

My love of snakes was a cause for trouble in that church. Every nun looked at me as some "Devil's Child", and tried to get me to hate the little beauties. One told me that "Snakes are the Devil, and the reason why we don't live in a perfect world."

I started to really despise every member of that church. A friend and I used to sneak out of class and crawl into the air ducts in the ceiling. We would crawl around and find other ways to entertain ourselves then listen to them teach the concept of "God".

I think the most vivid experiece that fueled my distaste of the Bible and that Church happened during the summer.

A large Kingsnake had found its way into the storage room, I guess it was hunting for mice. A church member found it. They were planning to cut the head of the snake off. To kill it. I felt so sorry for that creature.

I snuck out of class and got my hands on the container they had the snake inside. I took it outside and let it loose in a nearby field. When I got back they were frantically searching for the snake.

They saw me with the container, and I got in trouble. One of the church dudes pulled me into an unused class-room, pulled my pants and underwear down and spanked me with a paddle.

I think that whole spanking lasted at least 15 minutes. My rear end was sore and bruised.

It was then that I decided that the church was really evil. That they were all living an illusion and that none of what they are teaching is real.

I have always been an atheist. I will always be one.

There is something wrong with a religion that wants to cut the heads off of innocent animals, bribe children with candy, and spank those who disobey the religion.

I also got spanked for telling a nun that "God isn't real, and you all just make this s**t up".

I was spanked one day for telling the priest that "I think snakes are pretty creatures, and that humans are ugly ones that want to destroy our world." I also said that "All humans should die so that Earth can thrive with out them."

I was beaten with a belt when I refused to sing along to a hyme, and told the adult that "You're songs are stupid, and useless. That you all can keep dreaming lies, because I'm going to stick to real stuff"

I guess I did make myself out to be a budding athiest from the start.

What that church did to children....I'll never get over it.

There is no real god. The idea of a higher being was created to help mankind understand their own world and have something to guide them.

When we started out we understood nothing. In our quest to make sense and obtain all knowledge we created various stories of creation and destruction, made several different religions, created different cultures, and fought many wars over our Artificial Beliefs.

As long as there is religion in our world there will never be peace.

I feel sorry for those who are forced into being a part of a religion. I was eventually kicked out of that church because my behavior "Was disrupting the teachings of the Bible"

I actually had gained many admirers for being able to withstand the horrible spankings they gave. I kept on defying them, because I refused to give in.

More children were going against those teachings of the Bible, more were braving the belt and paddle, and more children were beginning to understand what was really going on.

It is very sad when children understand reality better than the adults around them.

A friend told me that the church leaders were weeding out those who had joined my "Anti-Christ" movement. Those who were found were removed from the regular classes and put in highly controlled environments.

The entire thing reminds me strongly of the storyline of Final Fantasy X. You don't follow a faith blindly. You must ask questions, unfortunately those who question the bible suffer just as the Al-Bed did at the hands of Yevon.

I think Atheists are to Religious Zealots what the Al-Bed are to Yevon.

 

[Superior Jazz]

I was baptized, but that was when I was about three, so I didn''t have a choice in the matter. I never believed, though, and I have been forced to go more times than I would have liked.  

[Dathu]

hellpike

I was baptized, but that was when I was about three, so I didn''t have a choice in the matter. I never believed, though, and I have been forced to go more times than I would have liked.

Catholic right? I swear they're so eager they'll birth you in a pool of baptismal water.  

[Bowmore]

I count myself lucky to have been raised atheist. My father's an atheist and while my mom was raised christian (not sure which denomination, there are too damn many of them) she's now agnostic.

I was raised to choose my own path, so I'm one of the lucky few with parents who know the things that are REALLY important in life.  

[Cloud777]

I was "converted" after I read the Bible.  

[Sanguvixen]

Cloud777

I was "converted" after I read the Bible.

;laughs softly;....so you read the Bible and then became an Athiest? Is that what you mean?

 

[Zambimaru]

I was raised in an atheist household. My mom believes in a "higher power", but doesn't worship it and she doesn't like organized religion. My dad was raised in a catholic family and went to catholic schools most of his life. But he never really believed what he was told. When I became curious about religion my parents explained to me what it was and told me to find out the rest for myself. For a while I was agnostic, but after receiving no help from god, seeing all the violence in the world, and learning how complicated the universe and life is, I came to the conclusion that their is no god.  

[Redem]

I was raised catholic, not exactly a strict upbringing, but we had mass every sunday...and some weekdays. And I simply accepted that God exists, even if I didn't like all the church said.

I went to a Catholic Grammar school at 12, (regular mass there too) and over the next few years gradually began to question...and eventually decided that there was no good reason to believe in God.

Been an atheist ever since.  

[Superior Jazz]

Dathu

hellpike

I was baptized, but that was when I was about three, so I didn''t have a choice in the matter. I never believed, though, and I have been forced to go more times than I would have liked.

Catholic right? I swear they're so eager they'll birth you in a pool of baptismal water.

Yeah. I was forced to go to a church service lazst month, and someone got baptized. I have a wiccan friend that had to go along with me. When the poor kid was baptized, she leaned over to me and whispered, "He's a witch!" I almost burst out laughing. She was seriously considering standing up and shouting, "What did the poor kid ever do to you?"  

[Merciless Darkness]

I was a Christian for a while. I was only a Christian, because that's what I was brought up as. Anyway... Then, when I was in the 7th grade I decided to become a Satanist. From there I was an atheist and now I am agnostic.  

[E_Night]

Yami no Moonlight

I was a Christian for a while. I was only a Christian, because that's what I was brought up as. Anyway... Then, when I was in the 7th grade I decided to become a Satanist. From there I was an atheist and now I am agnostic.

Religion roller coster? why did you become an atheist then a agnostic... sounds like you like changing your beliefs like you change underwear.  

[Orichalcon]

I was lucky enough that my parents taught me no religion as I grew up. I think that my father believes in god, but he never forced these beliefs on me as a child. I "believed" in god for excatly a month, because I was young and impressionable and a kid at school talked about god in my presance. as I grew older I began to look at the various religions; I found that I couldn't bring myself to believe in any god. This realization came slowly, and became more solid as things in my life progressed. Oddly enough, my beliefs solidified shortly before I lost my mother. This only helped to strengthen my resolve.

And that is how I became an atheist