Sent in by Weetie Chains of love at Seoul's Namsan Tower -- Image via Flicker After reading a lot of de-conversion accounts on this site, I've come to feel like I got off lucky - very little real trauma or abuse at the hands of the Christian community, no rejection from loved ones, & the scars I do have are healing nicely. However, I've reached a point in my recovery and life where I feel the need to tell my story and connect with the ex-Christian community to continue finding my way forward, so... Christianity had a pretty mild role in my upbringing. My mother belonged to that most bland of mainline denominations, the Presbyterians, whos motto seems to be "Just try to stay awake through the sermon. That's all we ask." Dad was a lapsed Catholic who was content to leave it all in my mother's hands. Mom herself is one of what I expect are the silent majority of Christians. She has a balanced perspective on things, is respectful of others' opinions ...

Sent in by Ray Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife I believe that the best testimonial is the shortest one, at least in my case. About twenty years ago I started studying religion seriously after having completed an M.A. in History. Of all the thoughts that started hitting my brain, the theme of how ridiculous religions are was (and remains) a recurring theme. Anyone studying history is reminded that most religions were invented with blind obedience or "faith" in mind, and with no rational explanations whatsoever required. This applies to all of the five major world religions , and not just Christianity. The other four are: Judaism , Islam , Hinduism , and Buddhism. My point here, is that if you are abandoning Christianity, don't fall into the trap of embracing another religion. Let's take Islam for example. The followers of that religion (called Muslims) believe in the Koran (the Muslim Bible) which is based on revelations given to a "prophet" in ...

Sent in by Jay Image by nijocamus via Flickr Let me start off by saying that I am new to this site. I randomly found it on Google by typing "ex Christians", and viola! It was like a gift from God. lol. Anyways I am 18, male and for a year now, I have been an atheist. So here is my story. Hope I don't bore you. I grew up in a Christian Baptist home. My parents had instilled many strong Christian values that today I still abide by. We attended church service every Sunday, and it was rare that we did not go. In fact today I still go, but not as often. When I was a child, me and my siblings grew up in a strict home. Our parents were over protective and would not allow us to invite people over, nor could we go to someone else's house. PERIOD. We were not allowed to play video games , watch T.V., use the computer, or even play board games during the weekdays. Weekends, however, were the exception. But there was a catch; it had to involve the whole family. I gu...

Sent in by John Image via Wikipedia This is in response to Philip Francis' request for stories of people who left Christianity and the role that the arts played in the de-conversion process . Hello, Philip, What you will probably discover is that people who leave religion do so for a wide variety of reasons. But one common thread that you will most likely observe is that most people do not leave their faith easily; in fact, deconversion can be a slow, arduous and emotionally taxing experience that can break friendships or destroy marriages. What follows is my own story as it relates to your dissertation. I was raised in a nondenominational Christian home, the son of a single mom. My parents divorced when I was three years old. As a kid, I always remember my mom being a very loving person to me and to the people that we associated with. She always had love for people who were down on their luck in one form or another. She had what I would now call a genuine compassion for humanity...

Sent in by John Image by jamelah via Flickr Unlike many ex-Christians, I was not born into a religious household. My parents have always been atheists and remain so to this day. When I was a child I was introduced to Christianity through friends and families of friends. I remember when I first encountered a picture of Jesus crucified, with nails on his hands and feet and blood dripping down, it gave me the creeps. I also remember when I was first introduced to the concept of hell: a place of eternal torment and sadness and suffering, where whoever sent there would burn in agony forever and ever. That also gave me the creeps. In elementary school, I remember one afternoon just praying for something very fervently and honestly. When looking back it was a minor and childish prayer; I wanted to play with a friend and I prayed to god that I would be able to play with that friend that day. The prayer was not answered. I was very disappointed. While I was growing into my teenage year...

Sent in by Ned Image via Wikipedia I have been reading posts on this site for a while, and I taught I might share my experience as well. As almost everybody, I was born in a Christian family. (I was born in Chile, South America, where I still live today so my English is far from perfect. Sorry about that.). When I was young I went with my parents to an Anglican (Episcopalian in the states) church. Then when I was a teenager, my parents encouraged my brothers and me to go to our church’s youth group, and we ended up going every Friday night to the church. At the beginning it wasn’t a big deal, it was fun and interesting and a great opportunity to meet other teenager. But as the time went by, I found myself in charge of the youth group. At first I only had to find older people to prepare a topic to reflect on for the meetings and I wasn’t even very involved with the faith. But when I was 18, I received a new bible and started to read it every night, I also began to go to a Christian gro...

Sent in by Ramos28 Image by Tomás Rotger via Flickr This was a long time coming... So I can finally say that at this point in life, my life is actually ruined, thanks to Christianity, thanks to the Bible, thanks to the church. And you can bet I am pissed.. To all the Christians who come to this web-site, I want you to all read this and think about what I have to say. Many of you are great human beings who happened to believe in Jesus and the Bible, and you preach because you think you're doing others a favour, but next time you are sharing your faith, I hope you'll remember me and my story. And I HOPE this will make you STOP and let the person live their own life, letting them belief whatever they want to belief... Also, I actually want you to respond to this letter and say what you think. So go ahead, post your opinions below... This is my story... What would you say if you were happy, socially popular, doing well in school, living life to the fullest, and having dreams for y...

Sent in by John Image by ~Asturnut~ via Flickr A little over a year ago, I was a serious Christian. In fact, I was a licensed pastor in the United Methodist Church. That's a not a flavor of Christianity normally associated with being a cult, but I discovered that any cause, if you get in deep enough, can become a cult. I was in seminary and on the long and very arduous journey to become a fully ordained pastor in my denomination. I had been appointed to a small country church. It is common for the denomination to send seminary students to small churches that can't afford a full-time pastor. I was doing fairly well, and I sure worked my ass off and led sincerely and passionately. But then a very charismatic woman joined the church. She began spreading stirring up dissent against me, spreading malicious lies, and having secret meetings with my District Superintendent (supervisor). It's a long story, but in the end, I was booted out of the church and she was appointe...

Sent in by Shankster I am 20 years old, male, and from Mumbai ( India ). By birth, I am a Hindu. My parents are (thankfully) not overly religious. They have a very modernist outlook towards life, believing in the power and benefits of education. Their liberal worldviews, I believe have greatly been shaped by living in the international, cosmopolitan environement of Mumbai and by the fact that both my paternal and maternal grandfathers were also essentially modernist in their outlook towards life. Unfortunately, they have not had a very happy marriage, choosing to continue living with each other only because they felt a divorce would be harmful for their children. I admire their love for us, but in the same breath I would not hesitate to call their relationship unfulfilling and to some extent even abusive (not physically, but emotionally). The unhappiness at home, my general social incapacity (I find it really difficult to make friends), the fact that the girl I really liked was going ...

By Mriana Image via Wikipedia Some generalizations were made concerning “Christian Girls in the Bible Belt” in a forum thread. I would like to address that from my own experience, which may or may not be typical or apply to all Bible Belt Fundie Girls. No, I will not be rude and crude like that “Su-tha-na fella” who was quoted. Truth is, I think some young women from the Bible Belt are trying to find something they never received, yet greatly needed, as a child and probably do not have a clue what it was either. I question whether one can ever retrieve it even. In addition, since those in the psychology field, at least according to my relatives, steal souls, they rarely get counseling much less even consider it. I left home at nineteen, still a virgin, and my mother’s last words to me, during a dispute, before I left were, “Young lady, I am your mother and don’t you forget it! You will do as I say even if you have left home.” “Honour thy father and mother” is taken way beyond wha...