Did you ever believe?

[OnlyNatural]

I wasn't raised religious, but as a teenager I jumped wholeheartedly into what I now see as a rather cultish Christian community. I invested a great deal of time and emotion into it, and for a while I really did believe. And because I believed, these people surrounded me with tons of love and support. I interpreted the wonderful feelings that came from this social inclusion as 'God,' 'Jesus,' 'the holy spirit,' etc.. I was young and naive, so having that 'warm, fuzzy feeling' was all the proof I needed that my beliefs were true.

But education and life experience soon put an end to that. Some writings in an ancient book, some strong emotions, and the mutual reinforcement of beliefs in a closed community... I soon realized that this was not nearly enough to justify my faith, especially since every other religion or cult has the same ingredients, and the same arrogant assumption that only THEY are right, and everyone else is wrong.

And by the way, once I stopped believing, all my 'wonderful, supportive, loving Christian friends' no longer wanted anything to do with me. Wouldn't even speak to me. Made me completely despise the in-group vs. outsider mentality they have, which of course wasn't a problem when I was a member of the exclusive in-group. Like them, I also used to look at non-Christians with condescension and contempt, or as lost people in desperate need of salvation. But I'm so happy to have escaped. I'm certainly a less bigoted and more tolerant person now that I'm an atheist.