So my story of becoming a non-believer:

[Mechaghostman2]

I was raised in a Christian home, my mother being like a super religious freak and my father being more of a moderate. I initially turned away from religion due to my anger with the hypocrites that preach but don't follow their own words. For example, my mother cheating on my dad and getting a divorce. After the anger went away I decided to look into the issue further and found no logic to be had in religion, as well as various YouTube atheists making better points than any Christian I've ever heard... even TheAmazingAtheist can do that. Prior to that I was a religious freak, a creationist and etc. for about 19 years. However, there were a few times when I doubted the religion prior to any of this, asking if anyone has noticed the similarities between god and Santa, or thinking my grandmother's description of heaven was very much like a fairy tale. I also would always stick up for gay people when I heard the bigots around me go on their rants against them. Still, I held onto religion through those times, I guess as I was conditioned to do, and boy, am I glad I left it. It's full of hatred and hypocrisy and illogical nonsense. Sadly, the brainwashing still has an effect on me. Occasionally I will feel guilty about my views. It's not as bad now as it was the first few years of it, but occasionally it's there. Ah brainwashing, does terrible things to you. Makes you feel almost like you broke up with someone for coming to the realization that god is imaginary.

[robvalue]

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm sorry that religion has left its ugly mark on you. This is why I'm so against indoctrinating children, you leave them either brainwashed for life or fighting out to reality with scars to prove it.

Well done on caring about the truth, and I hope that in time the hurt will fade. In most cases, I've heard that it does.

"When you realize Santa is actually a far less ridiculous proposition than the biblical God, you're ready to be become an atheist."

[Old Baby]

Hey, thanks for sharing your story, which mirrors mine in many ways.

I also feel that nagging that I'm going down the wrong path, in denial, all that. My Christian friends would tell me that this is the Holy Ghost trying to draw me back. The problem is that even if I came back, all the same questions would still be there. It's not totally unlike how I felt when I broke up with a girlfriend once. "Don't you feel terrible? Don't you miss her? Aren't you afraid that she was 'the one' and you were just too selfish?" I still think those thoughts when I'm around that girl, but I realize that getting back together with her would bring me back face to face with the same reasons I had for breaking up the first time.