Where does the road to Atheism begin?

Question

Here is where mine began.
I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. My father was the presiding overseer. My older brother was an elder, my sister a volunteer. My mother provided the perfect christian home.
Problem. My father and mother were both alcoholics. They beat their children like in the "movie of the week". My mother never got out of her mumu for ten years after she killed my little brother in an alcoholic rage. My father liked to travel, and he had a penchant for young ,black women. My brother married his therapist, and my sister, well, bless her, even though she was raped by my father, has fallen off the face of the earth.
Yet, they like to talk about the "truth". I talked to my sister about five years ago, and she tried to get me come back to JWs. Now, not all JWs are horrible. Some are people trying to find meaning in the midst of madness.
God, in His Kindness excused me from this life of insanity. I look back, sometimes with sorrow, but mostly with glee.
Now, report this

There was one JW, his name was Mike Wall, he would be about seventy five or eighty by now, he wanted me to come live with his family instead of mine. But my parents refused this offer. He knew what was going on. I wish he had called the police, but, that was a long time ago. If you ever see a very old guy named Mike Wall, give him a hug for me.

Answer 1

wow...how in the world did you manage to turn out so...sane? I'm sending you a hug right now.

I think the road to athiesm begins with honesty. Honesty with yourself...and that you seem pretty good at. Some people would make excuses and hide behind god...like your parents, and you're lucky enough to not have the need to do that.

more and more hugs...and anyone who reports you is a horse's ****..

Answer 2

If your story is true, you have my deepest sympathies. You were raised in a cult in an extremely dysfunctional family. Hypocrisy seems to have been the order of the day in that world. I can completely see how your experience would turn you off to the idea of religion, however, none of that answers the question of whether or not there is a God. While I am terribly ashamed of much of what takes place in the name of religion in this world, I continue to believe in God's existence and attempt to live a life that would meet His approval (to the best of my ability.) To me, you don't sound like an Atheist. You sound like a person who has been tragically victimized by people who claimed to be religious.

Answer 3

Wow dude, I'm sorry you had such a scarey childhood. I, on the other hand, was raised by my overly protective but otherwise nice christian preacher father and music minister mother who dragged me and my little sister to church with them every Sunday morning and evening, and Wednesday evening (baptists). I went to Sunday-school and even christian school for many years til I was basically overdosed by it all. My sister used to want to be a missionary, but now she wants to be a Muslim like her husband. Me, I never really felt it was real, even though I tried really hard to get jesus into my heart, and answered many alter calls, got baptised, handed out tracts and even sang in the choir as late as my late teens. But, no sign was given to me to prove that any of it was real, and no prayer was answered. So, I concluded that god did not want me as a follower or he didn't exist. It makes more sense that he just doesn't exist. The more research I do, the less likely it seems that there is a god, any god. But, I could be wrong. I have been trying recently to believe and it's something I just can't force myself to do. If god wants me, he's going to need to communicate with me in a way that I cannot deny. Otherwise, I am totally "lost" to christianity, as they say.

Answer 4

As a child while being told the story of Sampson in Sunday School. A few weeks later we were told about Noah and the flood. I knew then if I had to continue I was going to be questioning and looking deeper. I did. Nuff said.

Answer 5

*hug*
Short story.
Mom= Catholic (guilt guilt guilt all the time)
Dad= Atheist (grew up Mormon and was bitter bitter bitter with having to parent his siblings)

I was told by my parents that I could choose for myself what I wanted to believe in. I was educated about it and visited many churches. I just *never* believed in it.

When my beautiful 18 year old cousin committed suicide I was told that she would not go to Heaven by my dad's side of the family. I couldn't understand this. How could a loving kind human being not be in a loving kind place?

It was then that I began omitting "under God" during the pledge every morning. I was in grade school.

Answer 6

I wish I could hug you right now.
Your story is a terrible reality - I lived through an awful one myself. My journey towards athieism began because I saw the hipocracy of religion and decided it wasn't ok to turn a blind eye towards it like everyone else I knew had done.

Answer 7

While not getting along with someone of a faith might lead to discouragement, I would think that changing faiths would involve more than disagreeing with others who either do, or at least claim to, follow said beliefs. Case in point, will you now stop being Atheist if someone who is Atheist treats you badly??

Answer 8

Well your way out is clear in that principle and practice were not in tune.
Other people are influenced by ideologies, such as communism.
In others, religious beliefs wither away, particularly when as in the case of Christians, there is not much they are required to do actively, to keep to their religion.

Answer 9

Well, can't blame an imaginary god for real crap.

I think the road begins with critical reading skills, since the Bible is where we get all our knowledge about this God guy. Similarly, critical reading tells us that Harry Potter is just good fun and we don't go running into brick walls about it.

Answer 10

Life's a b****, and some people are more acquainted with her than others. My road wasn't so dramatic, I simply grew out of religion. The more I thought about how ridiculous the bible was, the less I felt the need to believe in god.