Sent in by Robert Like all of you on this website, I am an ex-Christian. I was raised Roman Catholic my entire life and even was confirmed into the church a few years back. During that time though, I was beginning to question my faith. Since I was born I was always told different things that contradict religion itself. Some priests would say "God is in everything, if you do good things God is with you and if you do bad things you have allied yourself with the devil" or "God makes a path that you follow and there is no such thing as free-will, there is only good and evil. Really? So me renouncing my faith was the devil talking? ‘Cause it sounds like I am making the decision, not the devil. What I am trying to get at is that religion assumes too much and that there are many fellow ex-Christian brothers and sisters out there who have assumed too much as well. I am of course talking about the assumption of atheism. I was once an atheist myself right after I told my church to

Sent in by Michael It's weird to have this down in writing but I've been working through Christianity for quite a while now and share most if not all the feelings that many of you have already expressed. Oddly enough it's the values as taught to me by my faith that is leading me to abandon it, or at least rethink it. The truth must come first, and the more I lived as "per se," the more I was confronted with the lies within Christianity as a religion. Nothing outright of course, but extremely subtle. It's just amazing how easy it is for those in this religion to alter their perceptions as to see things irrationally. Some of the most intelligent people I know are Christians. But, it's a forest for the trees situation. I won't express everything I'm feeling because it's all been done before but at the moment things are changing as follows: A) Christianity, as I have been taught, is not absolute truth. B) The character of God as described in Christ

By azsuperman01 The story of how I became an atheist... my most requested video to date.

Sent in by Deborah I first want to say that I never imagined myself writing on some secular website a story about me not not believing in God anymore. This past year has been hard, but it has also been the most crucial year for shaping the person that I am going to be and am becoming. I started out the good little Christian girl in a big loving family of seven. I grew up safe and secure in the thought of my family always being there for me and God always at the head of our home. I was also very sheltered and always tried to abide by the rules of my parents who were always in line with "God's rules". I basically rode along taking what my parents and the church we were attending told me about truth. I was home schooled from 3rd grade to 7th and then I was sent to a private Christian school. Bible class was requirement and praise and worship times were held every week.I had times when I felt like I was "backsliding" (a term used to describe someone who was saved a

Sent in by Jeffery "You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?" -- Morpheus I grew up as an extreme-core fundamentalist, and have been slowing drifting secular since then. In sixth grade, my parents got rid of Aladdin due to Jasmine's inappropriate garb. My church started playing contemporary music in the evening services, and as this form of music is displeasing to God, we changed churches over the issue. Together with being home schooled and highly gifted mathematically, I was not what you would call a normal child. Although this may be barely believable to many of you unless you also have been brainwashed at an old enough age to know better,

Sent in by Sonnie I have been battling this Christianity thing for several years. I am 21 and a married navy wife with a six-month-old daughter. I always thought being a Christian was the "right" thing to do. I have tried so hard to that good Christian person. I even got married to my husband under the belief I was truly a Christian. Something inside of me really didn't work. My husband is the best in the world and I love him; his family is close knit and all go to the same little country church. A lot of things appeal to me with Christianity. The morals and values; not the whole hell thing. Baptism, I was never baptized. I been contemplating it because I have really tried over the past several years to " be the Christian" But I didn't, because I was lying to myself. I believe in a higher power. My husband is very good man who is a Christian; I do not know how to tell him that I am not a Christian anymore. I go to church every Sunday for my husband, even th

Sent in by Melvin I started taking Christianity serous at the age of six or seven. My father was very involved in the Pentecostal church . My mother was Baptist, but went to my dad's church because that is where my dad's family went. So mom, being very submissive early in the marriage, went along with whatever my dad said. Don't get me wrong; my dad is the coolest guy to hang out with; he just should never ever marry again. The day I plunged headfirst into Christianity was when my next door neighbor Johnny told me that I was going to hell because I didn't belong to the Church of Christ . Being a little kid, I went home crying because I thought I was going to burn in hell for all eternity. MY mom told me that as long as I accepted Jesus into my heart I would go to heaven. So there in our family room we knelt down and prayed. I attended church regularly for several years, but never really read the Bible until I was in my teens. As a teenager with red curly hair, a w

From Valerie Hello, I am writing from France where I live - nothing like this site exists in Europe, where fundamental Christianity is little know, and unfortunately there is not much help for former evangelicals. My husband and I became "converts" way back in 1980, and spent 17 years in a very austere community in Geneva Switzerland, where we were literally cut off from our family and friends for years - brainwashed and psychologically abused by a "Christian" woman who was the leader of the community and her family. The usual thing - prayer meetings every day - prophesies that were more and more threatening and menacing towards anyone with the slightest "rebellious" thought - exploiting our fears and fragilities, making us live in abject poverty both materially and culturally... I finally left the cult, after the most terrible time having been harassed in ways I would rather not say by the son of the Leader. Of course I was blamed as a "sinful"

Sent in by Stefan Hi everyone. My name is Stefan and I'm an atheist. (HI Stefan: lol ) Sorry, had to break the ice there. My story isn't that unique to be brutally honest. I'm posting it none the less, because I truly believe there are people out there in that very ugly but necessary phase, where you start to raise serious doubts about your religious convictions, but are simply too afraid to jump off the cliff into the abyss of unbelief. So, I am posting my testimony for them. We all know it's damn (Is swearing permissible here?) hard to finally let go. And it's just that little bit easier if you can relate to others who went through the same situation. OK, enough rambling. I was born into a Protestant family in South Africa . For those of you not familiar with white, South African culture, let me say this: You'd be hard pressed to find a non- Protestant Christian in my community, never mind a non-believer and ironically a white person who is not a racist. My

Sent in by Anton The last year has seen me slowly de-convert from Christianity until, like others, I one day realized I just don't believe it all any more. I grew up in a loving Christian home, both my parents were active in church. It was to be expected that at the age of 12 I had a "jelly-in-my-legs" experience at a sermon one morning, went forward and gave my heart to Jesus. What followed was a life that has been both happy and sad at the same time.Happy because I wasn't raised fundamentalist enough to be ostracized from the world completely, but sad because I was just Christian enough to never quite feel at home in the world. It's hard to explain, but if you met me today you would think me a confident individual, and in some ways I am. I just feel, however, that Christianity kept me from developing a kinship with my fellow man. By being Christian by definition I was different, and any common ground was ruined because "they" weren't Christian and