Welcome Welcome! ^_^

Totally agree with the bible being an insult to intelligence. A work of fiction such as the bible is like throwing s@@@t at a wall and hoping a bit will stick. How many times do believers regurgitate lines from the bible to back up an argument. Then when questioned about the line, they choose another line.

I’ve actually written a maths book that has a different total for every sum. So you can never be wrong. But I do ask that you contribute all you can to help others. But I'll keep a bit formyself!!!

Enough of me ranting. It’s good that your happy with your non belief. It’s always nice to read about how people came about being a non-believer. It makes me feel normal.

@Francesco

The "night" is dark. Unless you're being mooned.

@night Welcome here!

@Justice: actually shouldn't it be called they "grey undefinied side"? (dark & white side being god & satan for christians)

Yeah, the music was what made me feel good about Christianity. But I felt the same singing any emotional song in choir, too. I also took comfort in praying at times, but it does just feel good to ask or hope for things, no matter what it's directed at.

If it comes down to feelings, you'll never get through to them. And, for that matter, they'll never get through to you.

Sorry for the typos, I failed to read it over before posting. :P

Good morning, night. Welcome.

@julie42:
No. I don't actually remember "feeling" anything that I can call a "spiritual" moment. I think the difference for the last time I got into Christianity was that I was a lot more interested in the subject (why are we here?, what happens when we die?, etc.). I have felt some emotions at times, but it wasn't anything special. I mean I get a good feeling if I listen to a song I like, but it's just a release of endorphins (I think, don't quote me on it). I agree with you and I think that the argument from personal experience is more of a cop-out than an argument.

Thank you all for welcoming me!

Welcome to the "dark" side. :-)

Welcome!

I'm curious; you said that the first few times you got into Christianity, you didn't really feel anything. What about the last time?
I know I definitely felt "spiritual" moments, but it still doesn't prove anything for me. People always said that if you feel the love of God, you can never really turn away. That's their "proof." If only atheists just understood how it felt!
But emotions aren't facts or proof. People can feel happy after doing something wrong, after all.

Welcome Night.

Welcome to UF, night! I mostly lurk as well, in fact I think it was about a year before I posted as well. :)

As the title suggests, I have been visiting unreasonable faith for the better part of a year now and had even replied to a few threads a while back. Now I've finally created an account and hope to contribute to discussion here and there.

About me:

My grandmother (I was raised mostly by my grandparents) was trying to find a church to attend and I was brought along and dropped off in Sunday school (which I never really liked except for maybe a few arts and crafts). I had been in the Choir at some church and went to a Christian summer camp one year (which I must admit was pretty exciting as it was filled with all sorts of fun activities). I vaguely remember having gone to quite a few different churches for a while, all protestant. My grandmother finally settled with a Presbyterian church which was close to home and to which she is still a part of today. I don't think that I ever really got the concepts of Christianity. None of the stories had ever really clicked with me and I was much more intrigued by science.

Luckily my grandfather watched shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, the X-Files and The Outer Limits which definitely interested me and in my opinion really stimulated my innate curiosity.

Fast forward to sometime after elementary school and I could say that I was not very Christian and began explored various aspects of the occult. That was short-lived once I began living with my dad in America's South. He was pretty successful with converting me to Christianity and we attended a Southern Baptist church. I cannot say for sure that I had ever actually believed even then. I remember wanting to believe.

There was a separate service intended for new and newer members of the church who had not been baptized by the church. I remember during one of those services where the person next to me had their hands raised and was really getting into the music and looked to me like they really felt something. I remember not feeling a damned thing, but being convinced that there must be something going on if so many others were feeling something.

I never felt anything, but I wanted it so I ended up being baptized (which has to be a personal decision in the Southern Baptist denomination, I think I was about 13 or 14 at the time, which I think is the youngest at which Baptists will perform baptisms). So I went through the motions never really being fully convinced but wanting it so badly that I put forth every effort, so I am pretty sure that I had some sort of faith.

Some years later after going back to live with my grandparents I once again went to the Presbyterian church with my grandmother. I enjoyed the youth programs they had and I went on a very enjoyable ski trip to Pinetop, AZ where I tried snowboarding for the first and only time (I want to do it again).

I still had not ever had any confirmation that what I had faith in had any real substance at all. I had never heard a voice, had a vision or dream or any experience which I could only attribute to a god, any holy spirit or Jesus.
I can't remember when I decided that I did not believe in any god, but while visiting my dad one summer I remember the subject of "God" coming up one way or another and I remember telling my dad that I did not believe in "God". He got violently angry and eventually I just said that I will believe in "God", but I had just said it to placate him.

Some years later during High School I had a friend who could be considered a "Jesus Freak" and I looked up to him. I had gotten into a bit of trouble and so I was glad to have a "positive" influence in my life. I had began attending a church with a different friend, but we mostly just went because the youth services were hosted in what had previously been a supermarket. And skating on that tile was awesome. I listened to the sermon at this Calvary Chapel and I started to grow more and more faithful. I hung out with my religious friend often and I still went to church often to skate. In the past I had always enjoyed the "extra-curricular" activities at church, but now I started to build my faith.

The short of it is that I was a faithful non-denominational Christian who was always eager to defend my views and "witness" to others. I never went door-knocking or anything, but I was pretty adamant in my religious opinions. I wasn't exactly the best at keeping with Christian "moral" standards, but I was doing a lot better at staying out of trouble. I met my future wife and she did not believe whatsoever. I remember her saying something to the effect of "You're one of those Jesus people aren't you?"

I joined the Navy and I ended up stationed on a ship. Some of the guys I worked with were atheists, although they weren't that outspoken. I remember getting almost hostile in my arguments against one of them. The other one had simply not ever been to church and didn't know much about religion although he had married a Christian and attended her church. He thought it was pretty boring except for communion, which he was surprised that you get snacks! lmao.

I remember arguing with quite a few atheists over the years and it wasn't until about two and a half years ago that I started to think about things more and more. I remember slowly becoming more and more agnostic (and Donnie Darko had been one of my favorite movies).

I had began to read more and more of the Bible and I found that the more I read, the less I believed. That book is full of so much nonsense. I found that believing any of it was an insult to my intelligence. I couldn't cherry pick because it seemed so dishonest. For me it boiled down to all or nothing. Either the Bible was all true, or it was a bunch of nonsense. I had pretty much rejected the idea that the Bible had any actual information about any real god. I was strictly agnostic.

I can't remember exactly when it was, but it was while reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem that I finally came to the realization that I was an atheist. I was pretty moved by that book. Within that book I had finally found out why I could never truly believe no matter how hard I tried. It was one of the most liberating feelings I had ever had. It literally felt as though an intense amount of weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I felt as though I had been struggling under the weight heavy mental shackles. I was finally free to think for myself.

I have since read Dawkins' The God Delusion and am currently reading The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer and Anarchy Evolution by Greg Graffin and Steve Olson.

I look forward to conversing with you all.

This is the roughest draft of my conversion process and experiences with religion.

Cheers!