Conversion

[ragzy02]

Hey everyone. Just a quick intro. Born into a Christian family here in Oklahoma, for 27 years I followed blindly. Just within the last year I've slowly converted to agnosticism, and now to atheism. It's a hard road to follow here in the south because I've been pretty much labeled as "crazy" now. The nail in my "religious coffin" was Dawkin's "The God Delusion." My newfound views are not easy, and I've been trying to spread my story of conversion to my friends on Facebook and via my blog, but I just have one question for anyone reading this: It's a very lonely, isolated feeling to be where I'm at, although I think I've converted my wife and brother at least, but I was just wondering if anyone has any good advice or experience that they can offer up to me to help me push on through the resistance? I think it's very important for our world to change in this religious era, therefore I think keeping to myself is definitely wrong. Thank you for your time.

ragzy02 (Jason)

[Justtristo]

Hey everyone. Just a quick intro. Born into a Christian family here in Oklahoma, for 27 years I followed blindly. Just within the last year I've slowly converted to agnosticism, and now to atheism. It's a hard road to follow here in the south because I've been pretty much labeled as "crazy" now. The nail in my "religious coffin" was Dawkin's "The God Delusion." My newfound views are not easy, and I've been trying to spread my story of conversion to my friends on Facebook and via my blog, but I just have one question for anyone reading this: It's a very lonely, isolated feeling to be where I'm at, although I think I've converted my wife and brother at least, but I was just wondering if anyone has any good advice or experience that they can offer up to me to help me push on through the resistance? I think it's very important for our world to change in this religious era, therefore I think keeping to myself is definitely wrong. Thank you for your time.

ragzy02 (Jason)

Welcome!

Thank You for sharing your story to us, many of us on here have been through the same experience and understand what you are going through right now.

Also I would like to say you are no longer alone and among friends now.

[ragzy02]

I just noticed your quote at the bottom. It's funny because in the middle of reading "The God Delusion" I turned to the front of the book and wrote "Could it be that man created God in his image?" I'm not sure, but someone has probably said this before though.

[Minimalist]

Ignorant family and friends are difficult because as much as you want to fucking slap them you just can't. It's considered bad form.

You need to take comfort in the fact that merely by existing and failing to eat babies or put poison in the water supply you are causing them to doubt everything they've ever heard about atheists. Doubt is insidious once it begins...as you apparently already know. There is no magic bullet, though. Some of them will never come around.

Hello, btw.

[ragzy02]

You speak truth. I just wished I would have "saw the light" earlier. I'm 29 so I guess it could be worse. A conversion is something that doesn't happen overnight, and when you are "indoctrinated" from your birth on up, it makes it very, very difficult to even look at evolution research. Once I let myself cross-over the preset Christian boundaries, things came together. With much shame, I admit that I hated Richard Dawkins before I even knew him. What a marvelous mind, and I couldn't be happier that I made that ONE decision to buy "The Selfish Gene" because it changed my life forever!!! Never before has a book influenced what I perceived the world to be like it has.