A person in transition

[ug333]

Hey, I'm new here. I was raised as a Christian and never really doubted it for the first 25 years of my life. In looking back on the last 5+ years, I can clearly see my slow transition from a theist to an atheist. I have just recently started to ask the question if I really am a theist at all, and I am more and more certain every day that I am in fact an atheist who has been clinging to religion because it is comfortable to me.

I was just posting here because I would like to have a dialog about where I am and where I am going. This seems to be a relatively non-flame-based forum given the topic, so I was hoping to have a reasonable conversation.

Has anyone else experience a degree of uncertainty and fear when they initially lost their faith?

Thanks

[PoopShoot]

Has anyone else experience a degree of uncertainty and fear when they initially lost their faith?

Yep.  I've been known to have a hell nightmare from time to time.

[NearBr0ken]

I didn't lose religion until I was 18 and my brain had gotten into such a condition that I literally had to deprogram the feeling that god was watching me.  I was paranoid for about a month, but the feeling does go away.  I relapsed a few times but I'm over it now.

[Tank]

Hi ug

Never been a theist so I have never had to abandon my world view, but there are millions of people if not hundreds of millions who have been through what you are going through now, so they'll be plenty of understanding here. You're also quite right about this place it's very much a flame free forum.

Welcome aboard  

Regards
Chris

[elliebean]

Nope. It was  just like waking up from a nightmare for me. Once I even realized I could seriously question my beliefs, there were no more beliefs.

[ug333]

Thanks for the feedback!

Having this anxiety really sucks, because I just hear all of the people in my past telling me that it is the "Voice of God" trying to save me. I am well aware that it is all from the fear driven in to me by those same people, but it sure makes the initial exodus difficult.

Ellie, I'm happy to hear that you had a better experience!

[DropLogic]

Don't forget that you were born an Atheist, it was people who made you fear god.  If only it were that easy though.  Just know that there are dozens of people on this board alone who have gone through this, and you will have support.  Welcome to the board  

[Sophus]

I was raised a Christian but for me, losing my faith was wonderful. It felt like freedom. To quote, I believe it was Robert Green Ingersoll:

"When I became convinced that the Universe is natural; that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell, the dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts, and bars, and manacles became dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space. I was free. Free to think, to express my thoughts; free to live to my own ideal; free to live for myself and those I loved; free to use all my faculties, all my senses; free to spread imagination's wings; free to investigate, to guess and dream and hope; free to judge and determine for myself... For the first time I was free. There were no prohibited places in all the realms of my thought, no air, no space, where fancy could not spread her painted wings ... And I vowed to grasp the torch, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still."

[DropLogic]

Thanks for the feedback!

Having this anxiety really sucks, because I just hear all of the people in my past telling me that it is the "Voice of God" trying to save me. I am well aware that it is all from the fear driven in to me by those same people, but it sure makes the initial exodus difficult.

Ellie, I'm happy to hear that you had a better experience!

You should ask your friends what god is trying to save you from.

[ug333]

You should ask your friends what god is trying to save you from.

I already know the answer: Hell.

Honestly, just lurking around this forum and reading helps me. Feel free to post any other stories here, I really like to read them.

Thanks!
Chad

[DropLogic]

You should ask your friends what god is trying to save you from.

I already know the answer: Hell.

Honestly, just lurking around this forum and reading helps me. Feel free to post any other stories here, I really like to read them.

Thanks!
Chad

Consider this: Why would an all powerful god demand your love and devotion while knowing that you can't see him?  If he truly did create us, wouldn't we automatically love him without question?  See, religion is full of problems that are conveniently explained away as matters of faith.  Oh right, we don't automatically love him because we have free will, etc.  I can't imagine what ex-believers go through, never having been one myself.  I wish you the best of luck.  Keep reading! Knowledge is real power.

[ug333]

Consider this: Why would an all powerful god demand your love and devotion while knowing that you can't see him?  If he truly did create us, wouldn't we automatically love him without question?  See, religion is full of problems that are conveniently explained away as matters of faith.  Oh right, we don't automatically love him because we have free will, etc.  I can't imagine what ex-believers go through, never having been one myself.  I wish you the best of luck.  Keep reading! Knowledge is real power.

I hear ya, and you are absolutely right. If he setup the universe so logic led away from him, why? Why punish a person for being logical?

[DropLogic]

Consider this: Why would an all powerful god demand your love and devotion while knowing that you can't see him?  If he truly did create us, wouldn't we automatically love him without question?  See, religion is full of problems that are conveniently explained away as matters of faith.  Oh right, we don't automatically love him because we have free will, etc.  I can't imagine what ex-believers go through, never having been one myself.  I wish you the best of luck.  Keep reading! Knowledge is real power.

I hear ya, and you are absolutely right. If he setup the universe so logic led away from him, why? Why punish a person for being logical?

A revelation...in the right direction!
The more you dissect the rules and doctrines of religion, the more you see man's fears and assumptions.  No offense to our viking friend, but Thor was created in the minds of men, simply because we didn't know what thunder and lightning were.  He was born of fear, just like every other god and myth.

[lundberg500]

Hi Ug333,

I'm glad you are here and posting. I think many of us atheists went through what you are going through now. I was also raised as a Christian. For years I went to a Christian church and sat there wishing the service would be over. I was never a devout Christian. I have always been a skeptic over anything that is not logical or reasonable. But, I would listen to the preacher and not think too much about what was being preached at the time. Everyone went to church when I was young so I did too. I never liked it though. Sometime in my 30s things started to change for me. I started becoming more and more aware of life around me. I started reading and I developed a real desire for learning history. Not the history of America. I became interested in learning European history and that led me into the study of religion. I guess I got bitten by the knowledge bug. I couldn't believe all that was out there to learn, especially about what was being taught in church. Then, in the course of my reading, I read a book called Losing Faith in Faith by Dan Barker. You might have heard about it. Dan Barker was a preacher for many years and gave it up after he learned the truth about Christianity. This book really hit home with me because I was giving up Christianity too, although I was no preacher. Reading about a preacher who went through that really impressed me. Dan actually became PR Director of the Freedom From Religion Foundation for a while and was elected co-president of the Foundation. He is now a co-host of Freethought Radio and a contributing editor of Freethought Today.

That book led to more books and more books. Anyway, I'm in my 40s now and getting away from the church and becoming an atheist has been one of the best experiences of my life. It really is truly liberating. I can't even possibly entertain the thought of going back to church and being around all the lies. I look at Christians in a totally different way now. I feel sorry for them for what they don't know the same way they feel sorry for us that we are all going to burn in hell. I just look at them and can't believe that so many people still actually believe in holy spirits, gods, demons, angles, heaven, hell, etc. Educating myself about religion has been highly interesting and very rewarding. I would suggest that you read about religion as much as possible and learn the history. Learning the church history and the absurdities of the bible and also reading about evolution validates for me why I left Christianity for good.

[NothingSacred]

Hey, I'm new here. I was raised as a Christian and never really doubted it for the first 25 years of my life. In looking back on the last 5+ years, I can clearly see my slow transition from a theist to an atheist. I have just recently started to ask the question if I really am a theist at all, and I am more and more certain every day that I am in fact an atheist who has been clinging to religion because it is comfortable to me.

I was just posting here because I would like to have a dialog about where I am and where I am going. This seems to be a relatively non-flame-based forum given the topic, so I was hoping to have a reasonable conversation.

Has anyone else experience a degree of uncertainty and fear when they initially lost their faith?

Thanks

When i first lost mo faith at the start of this year i had hell nightmares every night and i was quite paranoid. In fact my dad is not well and i had a dream just last night where my dad told me he was going to die and it would be my fault because i am an atheist. This forum has really helped me as well as many google searches about recovering from religion. You get to the point where your worries ease and you can rationalize them when they come about. Im glad youre here ..as I said this place has helped me out quite a bit . Best of luck to ya!