My story [self]

author: Mekchrious (5 months) | author karma: 8/71 | original story's comments | [flag](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23atheismbot&subject=flag&message=Please describe why you're flagging this submission - http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/numxw/my_story/)

Hello there r/atheism! As per the norm, I decided to write up a little something describing my story and my ultimate shift growing up fundamentalist Christian and the little steps along the way, which ultimately led me to become an atheist. There will be a tl;dr, but I'll try to keep this fresh!

Grew up with two fundie parents...hardcore. We are talking long skirts and uncut hair for the women, short hair for the men, no television...the works. As a kid, I of course accepted this without questioning. I was enrolled in a public school until third grade, upon which I transferred to a private, Christian school. While the school was First Assembly/Nondenominational and more relaxed than my parents, in many ways, it hurt me even more, and simply from a social aspect...never send your kids to a school of less than fifty children (with a graduating class of three).

So this school...well, let me tangent for a moment. I see stories of kids questioning early, and I wish I had been challenged at a younger age. When you literally were never exposed to an outside world...it is hard to think about anything else. So this school, beyond the obvious required church, worship, and Bible reading, had very strict rules and pounded false, hurtful ideas into our heads (such as "courting", not "dating", never being alone with a girl until marriage, etc).

I never truly realized how much all this hurt me until recently. Getting into the workplace from 16-18 was a time of growth and separation for me, but inside, I was still that good little Christian boy.

What was that driving force that led me down the road of questioning? Probably a good Christian friend of mine, when I was probably 17ish, asking me to question some of the more crazy things I had been taught and even look at them Biblically. I did so, and things began changing inside.

At 19, I started college, and in that first semester, I was in that false stage of Christianity that I see so many people living in. Partying on the weekends, then getting up Sunday to play on the music team for example. I am not saying all Christians have that mentality, but many do. Being an open-minded individual, I began to really question everything around now.

This was about the time I quit church entirely, and my parents began to notice. I never truly "came out" to my parents about being atheist; it was more of a gradual shift. The final nail was pounded in when they found me reading "Why I Am Not A Christian", by Bertrand Russell. Since then, they have been fairly supportive and I have even debated with them several times.

This past spring semester, summer, and fall have been the time I've really matured into an adult, solidifying my beliefs. Inch by inch, piece by piece, as more and more evidence showed itself, I saw what ludicrous Christianity and religion truly was. I'm glad this change was gradual; reading atheism literature next to the Bible and comparing the two really helped me mature.

Now I am a twenty year old atheist who thinks about things, anything, more than most his age. I have my nose buried in books and articles constantly, and I am well on my way to be coming a successful engineer. My only regret is the few like-minded people in my area (Midwest). In fact, my best friend is a Christian, but an educated one, and despite his beliefs, we agree to disagree and make it work :p

Finally, my realization I was truly an atheist. Being a science nerd, I tend to think of stuff in scientific terms. To me, for something to be true, it needs to have a negative proof, or a disproof. The following claims share the quality that they can be disproven: I have red hair. The second law of thermodynamics. Evolution. These are ideas that can be proven wrong, but there is overwhelming evidence for the former, and they haven't been disproven. I'm sure you can see where I am going with this: You can't disprove God. That, along with a lack of evidence regarding his existence, is enough for me to say that he doesn't exist.

So that's my story! Nothing spectacular, and I wish I could say r/atheism influenced me like so many others...but the fact is, I found this reddit after I became atheist. Regardless, it is a community of like-minded people with whom I can share experiences and ideas!

tl;dr: Grew up fundamentalist Christian, went to a small, private, religious school, was very protected and innocent because of it, was challenged by a fellow Christian to question some ideas and that started me along a gradual road to my current beliefs.

If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask! Otherwise just wanted to thank you guys for some great laughs, some great discussions, and overall a great community!

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