A question for all you converted athiests!

[Clueless Morgan]

I have a question for all you converted athiests...

How did you feel before you converted vs. after you converted?

I take issue with the word "converted" and the idea of "converting" to atheism. That's like asking me what my favorite sport to play is: I don't play any sport.

As for the spirit of the question, which I take to be along the lines of "how did you feel after you became/realized you were an atheist?"

I didn't feel any different. I wasn't a devout Christian by any stretch of the imagination, I had only been to church less than a handful of times, as religious as my family ever got was putting a nativity scene out as part of our Christmas decorations, so I was as minimally christian as it might be possible to be. Realizing that I didn't believe in any gods and that the idea of organized religion didn't make sense wasn't that earth shattering for me. I've described it before as thinking, "Hey, I'm an atheist. Hmm... don't I have math homework to do?"

[h4ym4n]

I was born atheist and it stuck.

I don't ever remembering believing.

[robvalue]

I'm trying to remember if I ever believed in Santa. Probably. Don't have a lot of memory from that age.

[Chad32]

My conversion was a slow process, thinking about what acceptance of Jesus' death and resurrection means over the course of years. The closer I looked at it, the less it made sense. Especially when I found out some things about the time the bible was written. It all started falling into place that this was as much a set of mythologies as any pantheon of gods I've heard about. After my conversion, I felt sort of disappointed that my family hadn't figured out what I figured out. My grandmother had kind of an excuse, since she had to worry about the KKK burning a cross in her yard. My sister and brother in law don't really have an excuse.

It's just one of those things I dropped, like other childish things. Except I'm surrounded by people who believe Jesus is the one true living god, and some people are literally crazy about it. FSTDT can be a scary place.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

I basically felt wiser once I realized that religion made no sense. I feel kind of strangely out of the matrix, but at the same time realize there are people aware of the matrix but plead allegiance to as well. A lot of religious people make outrageous claims that the illuminati is using mind control on people, but once you wise up you realize advertisements,all media and religion are perfect form of mind control, the only people who can't be controlled and manipulated are those who rub brain cells together to figure it out.

[SteelCurtain]

I was lucky enough to never really buy into it. But I was sheltered enough that I didn't really know what to call myself until I started reading books in college. If you had asked me as a 14 year old what religion I was, I would have begrudgingly said Christian. But in reality, I was not buying it even a little.

So putting a label on it was liberating. Realizing that atheist was just a term describing something, it didn't mean I was a terrible person or church-bomber or something like that. Also, reading books that eloquently explained what I had been thinking for years without being able to put words to it was also something I desperately needed. I'd recommend the same.

[Losty]

I have a question for all you converted athiests...

How did you feel before you converted vs. after you converted?

I'm just very curious as I am a new converted athiest and honestly, I feel a lot more comfortable and at peace with myself more than I ever felt being Christian, since I was constantly questioning if it was real even when i was a devoted Christian, there was always that nagging sensation in my head saying "Are you wasting your time at church?"

So please, let me know Thanks!

Hmm...I felt horrible...now I feel great. Religion did bad things to me emotionally, psychologically. Though, it's probably more fair to say that it was religious people and not religion itself.
Leaving Christianity for good was scary, but now that I'm finally out I am happier, healthier, and free
Congrats btw

[abaris]

I went through the motions when I was a child and as a teen. But that was about it. Religion never played a leading part or even a supporting role in my life. I didn't give a shit, but I didn't call myself atheist until pretty recently. The reason for this, I didn't give a shit about that definition either. Simple as that, I never gave religion much thought, only when religious movements started to piss me off and to disgust me to no end, I felt the need to declare I'm not in any way part of that worldview.

[emilynghiem]

I have a question for all you converted athiests...

How did you feel before you converted vs. after you converted?

I'm just very curious as I am a new converted athiest and honestly, I feel a lot more comfortable and at peace with myself more than I ever felt being Christian, since I was constantly questioning if it was real even when i was a devoted Christian, there was always that nagging sensation in my head saying "Are you wasting your time at church?"

So please, let me know Thanks!

The people or whole community is the church body. So wherever you need to be or to go to make the most of your relationships and resources in life, that is part of your church. Here, this forum may be where you find that connection with others so this may serve as that for you. And wherever else you go, you are a like a guest in someone else's network.

Just like selecting what classes to take with which teachers or students, you go where you feel you have something to learn or share. Everywhere is like huge school, or group therapy even, and there are different classes or groups running simultaneously. You go where you feel a connection that helps you personally to grow and develop your goals and purpose.

[FatAndFaithless]

Not entirely sure what you're trying to say there... certainly this site and the folks on it are not part of any "church" of mine.