Greetings to AF! I have actually been a member for about a week now, but I wanted to get a feel for the site before I posted my introduction. This may end up being a long post, as I rarely get a chance to vent in any meaningful way.
I grew up in the American Northwest as a Catholic. I attended Sunday School and all of the other events necessary to be a "good" Catholic. The region itself is very liberal (Washington, my home state, recently legalized both gay marriage and recreational marijuana) and a number of my friends were Catholic. I now realize that I never really went to the church events for the religion, more so for the fact that my friends went.
My family moved to California in time for my Freshman year of high school, and things seemed to move smoothly along the same path from there. In my Sophomore year I took AP World History, and things went south in a handbasket after that. I learned about Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and a host of other world religions.
That experience broke me out of a rut, in a sense. After seeing the ebb and flow of religion through history I began to apply the same thinking to my own faith. There were other factors that contributed to this change in thinking, but my experience from history remains the clearest in my mind.
I did not become an atheist overnight, it was a process. I began to look up reasoning both for and against god and religion in general. I had some rudimentary experience with logic from school debates and good-natured debates with friends (yes, we do on occasion debate for fun) and applied them to what I was reading online. The arguments for atheism were the only ones that didn't make me want to scoop my eyes out with a spork for sheer stupidity.
And so, somewhere between three and four months ago, I deconverted in my Junior year of high school. I came out to my parents. They want me to talk to a priest, but I am not opposed to the idea, as a debate experience could be fun (though advice from more experienced debators on this forum would be welcome). I haven't talked to my friends yet, but if they ask I'll tell them what I do and don't believe in. That may prove to be a disastrous decision, as there are well over half a dozen churches and temples within walking distance of my school, but I have always believed that honesty is the best policy.
Anyways, thanks for reading. I look forward to open discussion and debate with both atheists and theists. I apologise for spelling errors in both this and future posts, as the majority of my posting will be done from a device with no spellcheck.
Cheers.
I grew up in the American Northwest as a Catholic. I attended Sunday School and all of the other events necessary to be a "good" Catholic. The region itself is very liberal (Washington, my home state, recently legalized both gay marriage and recreational marijuana) and a number of my friends were Catholic. I now realize that I never really went to the church events for the religion, more so for the fact that my friends went.
My family moved to California in time for my Freshman year of high school, and things seemed to move smoothly along the same path from there. In my Sophomore year I took AP World History, and things went south in a handbasket after that. I learned about Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and a host of other world religions.
That experience broke me out of a rut, in a sense. After seeing the ebb and flow of religion through history I began to apply the same thinking to my own faith. There were other factors that contributed to this change in thinking, but my experience from history remains the clearest in my mind.
I did not become an atheist overnight, it was a process. I began to look up reasoning both for and against god and religion in general. I had some rudimentary experience with logic from school debates and good-natured debates with friends (yes, we do on occasion debate for fun) and applied them to what I was reading online. The arguments for atheism were the only ones that didn't make me want to scoop my eyes out with a spork for sheer stupidity.
And so, somewhere between three and four months ago, I deconverted in my Junior year of high school. I came out to my parents. They want me to talk to a priest, but I am not opposed to the idea, as a debate experience could be fun (though advice from more experienced debators on this forum would be welcome). I haven't talked to my friends yet, but if they ask I'll tell them what I do and don't believe in. That may prove to be a disastrous decision, as there are well over half a dozen churches and temples within walking distance of my school, but I have always believed that honesty is the best policy.
Anyways, thanks for reading. I look forward to open discussion and debate with both atheists and theists. I apologise for spelling errors in both this and future posts, as the majority of my posting will be done from a device with no spellcheck.
Cheers.
