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Mandi · June 7, 2009 at 6:49 pm

Well, I was raised by very religious parents. Both Roman Catholic. I was taught religion at a young age, mainly the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I had always been skeptical of whether or not there really was a god. However, I was constantly afraid of "going to hell" if I were to ever think such thoughts. Also, thoughts of what my religious family and peers would think kept me a practicing Christian. I decided to pretty much forget such questions about the existence of God. It wasn't until about 7th grade (I'm in 11th now), that I took an interest in various mythologies. After reading each mythology's bizarre view on the creation of the earth and mankind. It was then that I asked myself the question; "What makes Christianity any different?", that's when I realized that Christianity was nothing more than a bizarre mythology conjured by people attempting to answer the question: "How did we get here?".

That's pretty much my story. I'm an atheist now.

Samson · June 7, 2009 at 9:08 pm

Don't stop questioning and keep researching as much as possible.

This part of your write up, stuck out the most, "GOING TO HELL"...

Keep in mind on something, Hell was nothing more than a mistranslated word from the Torah to the Christian Bible. (Grave to Hell) You can thank the church for changing that little tidbit. Funny thing, is that it wasn't until a "Jesus" that Hell was even part of the whole big play which came out of the N.T..

It's all bullshit, and for every story in the Christian Bible you can find an older one with different names, outcomes and issues....Tall tales passed down from one generation to the next.

One question I've always brought up to Christians is "Which God" do you believe in?? The one from the Old Testament or the New Testament? Of course the answer is always...:But they are the same:.......And then the debate begins...

Logic will tell you how very different both people were from the O.T. and N.T. It's almost as if the Christians had to bring in the New Testament to sugar coat everything a bit....

Bottom line, don't believe the Bullshit, do your own research and keep learning......And remember....."Intelligence is the only moral guide"........... Smile

**Kyuuketsuki** · June 8, 2009 at 1:50 am

(June 7, 2009 at 6:49 pm)Mandi Wrote: Well, I was raised by very religious parents. Both Roman Catholic. I was taught religion at a young age, mainly the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I had always been skeptical of whether or not there really was a god. However, I was constantly afraid of "going to hell" if I were to ever think such thoughts. Also, thoughts of what my religious family and peers would think kept me a practicing Christian. I decided to pretty much forget such questions about the existence of God.

Pretty much the same ... RC education all the way to secondary although I started to stop believing at the age of 13 courtesy of science fiction. Like you I was scared of Hell and it wasn't until 10 to 15 years later that I stopped having nightmares due to religion and I only finally found a comfortable stance when I realized I was an atheist about 15 years back (I'm 52 now).

Kyu

~~Edwardo Piet~~ · June 8, 2009 at 5:18 pm

Your story sounds like a pretty standard de-conversion story from what I've heard, Mandi (I was never really religious myself).

Welcome to the forums!

EvF

**LukeMC** · June 8, 2009 at 6:33 pm

(June 7, 2009 at 6:49 pm)Mandi Wrote: I was constantly afraid of "going to hell"

On the contrary, I was afraid of "going to heaven". The concept of eternity shook my 8 year old self to the bone.

Thanks for sharing your story. It's great that you found the courage to put all of this "hell" business behind you and be true to yourself.

Johnny · June 12, 2009 at 2:04 pm

(June 7, 2009 at 6:49 pm)Mandi Wrote: Well, I was raised by very religious parents. Both Roman Catholic. I was taught religion at a young age, mainly the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I had always been skeptical of whether or not there really was a god. However, I was constantly afraid of "going to hell" if I were to ever think such thoughts. Also, thoughts of what my religious family and peers would think kept me a practicing Christian. I decided to pretty much forget such questions about the existence of God. It wasn't until about 7th grade (I'm in 11th now), that I took an interest in various mythologies. After reading each mythology's bizarre view on the creation of the earth and mankind. It was then that I asked myself the question; "What makes Christianity any different?", that's when I realized that Christianity was nothing more than a bizarre mythology conjured by people attempting to answer the question: "How did we get here?".

That's pretty much my story. I'm an atheist now.

I was raised fundamentalist baptist, but converted to Catholicism. Fear of hell kept me in the fold for my whole life almost. It wasn't until I found out the true origins of the hell doctrine that I studied my way out of Christianity. Once hell was disproved in my eyes that was it. Christianity came crashing down like a house of cards.

binny · June 16, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Hell is a powerful thing to children and frankly I think it's abuse. Luckily I wasn't raised in a religious home so hell was only brought up as a swear word. The first real impression I got of hell was when I saw 'The Exorcist'. I know that's not real, just a movie, but I was 10 years old and it scared the shit out of me. I thought to myself 'thank god I'm not catholic'. That was probably the beginning of the end for me. If I had to believe in that then I didn't think I wanted to believe in any of it Smile

~~Edwardo Piet~~ · June 16, 2009 at 5:27 pm

I agree Binny.

I personally think the whole concept of "hell" practically forced upon children is definitely child abuse.

EvF

Samson · June 16, 2009 at 7:27 pm

(June 16, 2009 at 5:27 pm)EvidenceVsFaith Wrote: I agree Binny.

I personally think the whole concept of "hell" practically forced upon children is definitely child abuse.

EvF

I couldn't agree more...Now try telling a "Christian" that....lolol

That "Conversation" was interesting...(Sarcasm off)...

**Kyuuketsuki** · June 17, 2009 at 4:15 am

I believe that indoctrinating a child with a religious belief system is psychological child abuse ... I think RE should be about a religion and not designed to teach a specific one (and to be fair, in the UK today that tends to be the case as as far as I know) and I think it should be a person's choice whether or not to opt for a specific belief and that hey should do so from an informed position, at an age that society decides they are legally able to (so 18 in the UK).

Of course the mainstream religions wouldn't want that because information (education) is poison to religion, it always thrives better in societies that are ignorant, poor or uneducated and climates of fear.

Kyu

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