Happy Atheist Forum

Kia ora, I'm Holly, from Dunedin, New Zealand! I've been an atheist for quite a while, but I'm not really sure for how long, as I don't think I'd been very strong in my faith in my teen years, and hardly ever prayed and never went to church. A few months ago, I tried to get myself into StudentLife (Christian group at campus) and found myself like a fish out of water, and shocked when there was one guy who said all history was a hoax by God (he was serious). Yep, once I read the bible more closely, studied the evidence (or lack thereof) for a god, and so on, there was no turning back.

I think one of the more disturbing moments of my Christian life was that I once told someone after reading about Heaven that "I couldn't wait to die!" I was twelve years old. Twelve. Still makes me feel a little sick thinking about it--no twelve year old should look forward to dying. I'm 22 now, and I'm certainly not ready to die, and it's pretty much the last thing on my mind--I like to enjoy life while I can, as I only have one chance!

Quote from: "HollyM"Kia ora, I'm Holly, from Dunedin, New Zealand! I've been an atheist for quite a while, but I'm not really sure for how long, as I don't think I'd been very strong in my faith in my teen years, and hardly ever prayed and never went to church. A few months ago, I tried to get myself into StudentLife (Christian group at campus) and found myself like a fish out of water, and shocked when there was one guy who said all history was a hoax by God (he was serious). Yep, once I read the bible more closely, studied the evidence (or lack thereof) for a god, and so on, there was no turning back.

I think one of the more disturbing moments of my Christian life was that I once told someone after reading about Heaven that "I couldn't wait to die!" I was twelve years old. Twelve. Still makes me feel a little sick thinking about it--no twelve year old should look forward to dying. I'm 22 now, and I'm certainly not ready to die, and it's pretty much the last thing on my mind--I like to enjoy life while I can, as I only have one chance!

Welcome to the forums. When I was younger I couldn't understand why people would fear death if they believed in heaven and my parents spent a long time trying to convince me that dying is not good even if I'm going to heaven.

Hi Holly

Welcome aboard, it's good to see another mind free from the influences of institutionalised superstition (religion).

Welcome to the forum!  I think the position that all history is a hoax by god seems pretty insane, but my own sister who was raised in the exact same environment that I was (atheist dad/agnostic mom) got into a fight with me once where she claimed that all of evolution was a hoax that the scientific community had created to weaken people's belief in god.  It broke my heart to see my intelligent sister so obviously dedicated to a belief to the point where she would seriously suggest such a crazy idea to explain the existence of evolution and the problems it posed for anyone looking to regard the bible in a fundamentalist way.  I think the promises of religion can be so intoxicating to certain people that they are willing to reject logic and rationality in order to believe - after all, isn't that the main reason some religions contend that you must have faith?  It always makes me feel better about the human race in general when I meet a new person who has decided to accept reality rather than pretend for the sake of religion.    I hope you like it here!

Hello and welcome, Holly!  

Hiya Holly,

I've always said that if the shite really hits the fan here in the States, that I would move to Austrailia or New Zealand. NZ is my first choice. Beautiful country.

Welcome to HAF.