Best books debunking Christianity

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It gets better with time, I was actually raised as a Jehovah's Witness which I left at 16 (as soon as my parents said i could make my own choices) which led to all manners of discord, which to a degree i understood. I believe the indoctrination left me emotionally immature in some ways.

The 'god' bug though was very strong and later in life I got involved with a baptist church,  I always had believed in a god and got involved with a much more traditional church, which for me , now an adult i fared much better.  I became very active in my faith, I identified  with the closeness of god, the holy spirit, indeed i was very winsome with my faith and had about 30 or so spiritual (people i had the then honour of guiding to faith) children , many of which keep in touch despite my rejection of faith, in fact they still come to me for advice. I lost a great deal of friends, kept others (who pray for me) to be fair i think it's simply awkward for them i have rejected what is most dear to their hearts and that's hard to take.

The road out is as complex as the one in, it takes years to unravel what it took years to indoctrinate but bit by bit is does unravel and I no longer fear any backlash,  i am finding a new found freedom especially in the area of discovery, science, and the people around me, now not having to filter everything through the irrational filter of religion, i can see clearly now.  The road out can be very hard, and very costly..  but it is worth the journey.

Thanks for sharing your story. And I appreciate your caring words, but I "came out" as an atheist in my early teens. It was a problem then, but not anymore. As for "indoctrination" I have one vague memory of it when I was a young child. I went to Sunday school with one of my protestant friends. In my Catholic Sunday school classes we did crafts or listened to Bible stories, stuff like that. But in my friend's Sunday school class, these two women came in and talked about "these people who don't believe in God" and how horrible they were. Quite frankly, I think it had the opposite of its intended effect. I was intrigued, never having heard God's nonexistence mentioned before. 

It sounds like you invested some serious time and effort in your faith. You said the road out was difficult for you. Do you still have difficulties? Or are you past that? In its own way, Atheism can be rather rewarding.

I think the most rewarding thing about being an atheist is the freedom of thought. One feels free to explore any number of interpretations of the universe without feeling that one has sinned. To perceive the beauty of the universe and not reflexively think of some biblical creator is to truly behold an unfathomable beauty. Another benefit is of not taking offense at things which are not offensive. Gay people aren't trying to rebel against God; they're just gay. When someone is honest and forthright about something, it isn't blasphemy, it's telling it like it is. To me, the advantages of atheism outweigh any potential disadvantages.

Hi there

I do feel free now, in fact as you point out it's more than being free it's like a whole new world of discovery has opened up, just like you experienced I can now explore science as science instead of trying to fit and filter it through a religious world view. One of the reasons that led me to disbelief was the torturous twisting and re-defining of science I had to do to remain true to my faith, in the end the strain was simply too much.

The universe really is beautiful isn't it, i have many more questions than answers, isn't that exciting and wonderful to live in such an era of discovery and casting off of old ways of thinking. Now I can simply look and learn, people really have no idea of how freeing that is if they are still deep in their faith. I can learn to love all peoples without judging from a religious point of reference about their chosen lifestyle, though like you mention I believe that gay people are simply made that way, just like I am made a heterosexual I no longer have to say things like 'you are in sin, but god loves you anyway' I can simply say 'I love you', without casting my prejudices and excuses on an imaginary god.

Like yourself there was a time when the thought of a universe with a god was inconceivable and as I listen to the theists on here I don't doubt that they believe, but I also know they have to keep accepting what now I see clearly as an untenable compromise from day to day, they make the same excuses and replies I used to make, and now instead of feeling pity for the lost (as it were) I feel empathy for the so called saved.

It's like waking up from a long nightmare, while you were in it you became comfortable with its lies and revelled in its compromise believing it to be the answer to everything, but now I'm free and can now seek answers and discovery, it is the most exciting part of my life ever.
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