I have thought extremely long and hard about "coming out" as an atheist on online communities etc.
Even now I have a certain degree of doubt hindering my expression, but I've finally decided to go for it.
I was born a free human but quickly indoctrinated into the world of Islam.
Studying religion was almost an inherent interest for the longest time and I "sought" to "find" God through research for the longest time. But the deeper I searched, the more impossible it became for me to continue to believe.
My research had the opposite effect - and I was lost and confused for the longest time till I stumbled upon evolutionary biology recently and came across Dawkins' "God Delusion". I haven't read through the entire book yet, but one thread led to another and soon I was exposed to the likes of Sam Haaris, Christopher Hitchens --- this led to discovering many of the Youtube Atheists (Thunderfoot, OMGitscriss, Darkmatter, Thelivingdinosaur, Potholer etc) - and they opened me up to stop assuming the existence and researching to prove the existence but question the very existence itself.
I'd always known that there were some deep inconsistencies in religions - especially their archaic ways, and of course, the way people cherry-picked teachings to suit their convenience.
Anyways, recently I came out in front of my family - and since then I've been called everything from stupid to a heretic. One of the reasons I was divorced was because of my lack of religious beliefs and constant questioning of it and finally I now have an impossible time making friends because 97% of the people in my country are religious.
I've had several highly emotional experiences since leaving religion - and the process is still somewhat incomplete (in the sense that I still have a lot to learn about the world that was hidden from me).
I feel like I'm a sponge now and kinda wish that I was still a young child who hadn't lost almost half of his life being trapped in a religious world. This is my first experience amongst atheists.
Anyways - that's my story. It feels good to get it out.
Even now I have a certain degree of doubt hindering my expression, but I've finally decided to go for it.
I was born a free human but quickly indoctrinated into the world of Islam.
Studying religion was almost an inherent interest for the longest time and I "sought" to "find" God through research for the longest time. But the deeper I searched, the more impossible it became for me to continue to believe.
My research had the opposite effect - and I was lost and confused for the longest time till I stumbled upon evolutionary biology recently and came across Dawkins' "God Delusion". I haven't read through the entire book yet, but one thread led to another and soon I was exposed to the likes of Sam Haaris, Christopher Hitchens --- this led to discovering many of the Youtube Atheists (Thunderfoot, OMGitscriss, Darkmatter, Thelivingdinosaur, Potholer etc) - and they opened me up to stop assuming the existence and researching to prove the existence but question the very existence itself.
I'd always known that there were some deep inconsistencies in religions - especially their archaic ways, and of course, the way people cherry-picked teachings to suit their convenience.
Anyways, recently I came out in front of my family - and since then I've been called everything from stupid to a heretic. One of the reasons I was divorced was because of my lack of religious beliefs and constant questioning of it and finally I now have an impossible time making friends because 97% of the people in my country are religious.
I've had several highly emotional experiences since leaving religion - and the process is still somewhat incomplete (in the sense that I still have a lot to learn about the world that was hidden from me).
I feel like I'm a sponge now and kinda wish that I was still a young child who hadn't lost almost half of his life being trapped in a religious world. This is my first experience amongst atheists.
Anyways - that's my story. It feels good to get it out.
