By W. Scott Parker III, RfR Volunteer — Carnival’s coming to town! In a small town, in the 1960s, this was big news. Where the most exciting thing was an occasional fire, this was really big news. Lights! Music! Rides! And the odd folks who would appear from the surrounding area. The hucksters, with their practiced smiles, would encourage you to come on down, just as you are, and play their “games of skill,” where one was never quite skillful… Read more
October 3, 2019
My Pastor Made Me an Atheist
October 3, 2019 By RFR
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By James Fielding — Alright, so maybe I am exaggerating slightly. I can’t completely give my pastor ALL the credit for my eventual departure from religion. Let’s just say he planted a very important seed in fertile soil. While it took several years, a few hundred miles, and some life changes to finally blossom, my “fall from grace” can be traced back to a single point in time on a fateful Sunday. This part of my story is just about… Read more
September 26, 2019
Twirling, Twirling, Twirling Towards Freedom
September 26, 2019 By RFR
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By Tina — I’m 60 years old, and am embarrassed to say I’ve “deconverted” and “reconverted” not one, not two, but THREE times in my life (including the current deconversion). The primary reason, as far as I can see from my perspective today, is that I’ve also struggled with mild depression throughout my life (specifically a diagnosis of “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” or S.A.D.). It is a form of depression that happens to people when winter comes, the days get shorter, and… Read more
September 19, 2019
Religion Holds the Mind Ransom to Irrational Beliefs
September 19, 2019 By RFR
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By Julio Chang — What causes great minds to be held ransom by irrational beliefs? Or small minds, for that matter? As I continue to research my doctoral dissertation on “Interpersonal Conflict of Pastors Who Have Lost Their Faith”, I realize that many religious people have not overcome their childhood indoctrination because they (1) find comfort in those beliefs, (2) fear the truth will expose the fallacy of their beliefs, or (3) their ego prevents them from admitting they have… Read more
September 5, 2019
I Told God I Didn’t Believe and He Spoke to Me
September 5, 2019 By RFR
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By Gordon Ward With tears streaming down my face, I walked to the front to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I was 11 years old and I had just watched a film of a rally led by the wonderful evangelist, Billy Graham. He was a superb preacher and it had been easy to convince me that Jesus had died for my sins, that God loved me and that I should accept Jesus as my saviour. When the minister of… Read more
August 3, 2019
Dear Sister: I am an Atheist
August 3, 2019 By RFR
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By Ted Tucker Dear Sister, I may not have been clear in my last email so let me be clear now. I am an atheist. I know of no evidence to believe that there is anything supernatural. I believe that humans created all of the gods of the past, and that humans have created the thousands of deities that are currently worshiped today, including the God of Abraham. I have struggled my entire life with faith; faith defined as belief… Read more
June 21, 2019
What I Believe Now: 8 Agnostic Perspectives
June 21, 2019 By RFR
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In the course of writing about my deconversion and the problems in religion, I’ve often been asked: “I understand what you don’t believe, but what do you believe?” The short answer is that I don’t have any single ideology that I can point to and say “that’s what I believe.” My worldview is a combination of many ideas that make sense to me. Let’s use this definition of belief: To believe is to have confidence in something which is not absolutely proven…. Read more
May 13, 2019
Whose Pain is it? The Fallacy of Owning Others’ Pain
May 13, 2019 By RFR
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by Darrel Ray, Ed.D, President, RfR Board As I read religious recovery comments from time to time, I see a pattern of thinking that might contribute to the problems people are facing. Many people say that they caused pain in others when they left religion; pain for their families, friends, and former church community. It may not seem to be a problem when saying this, but believing the idea that you caused pain in others actually feeds into the overall… Read more
April 20, 2019
The Sky without God: Ditching the Baggage of Belief
April 20, 2019 By RFR
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My belief in God, and my introduction to religion, began when I was four or five years old. Instilled in me was a sort of non-denominational conservatism. I knew that I was supposed to honor my mother and father. I knew, even then, that I was supposed to be sweet, chaste, and innocently compliant. There was a heaviness to these responsibilities that fell in step with my genetic predisposition toward anxiety. God was to be my champion against all the… Read more
April 3, 2019
My Pilgrimage to Mecca made me an Agnostic Ex-Muslim
April 3, 2019 By RFR
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I am a 27 year old Pakistani woman. Just over two years ago I was a strict conservative Muslim who did not even think about questioning my religion — in fact, 25-year-old me would have been appalled at who I am now. This is the story of how I realised Islam was another man-made religion. The “Perfect Musalimah” Phase I started wearing the hijab, praying, and fasting regularly when I was around 14-15. Nobody forced me into it, but my… Read more
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