Like you, “I walk away each time more certain about designating myself to be an atheist” but find it less combative to say non-believer. It’s almost like believers & especially evangelicals call it “fighting words” to say atheist but non-believer is less confrontational. And it’s the confrontation I find so disheartening.

Thanks. Lucky for me, my husband is on the same path as I am, so we face the craziness (from both families) together. With children of our own now, I’m so glad we see the universe similarly.

I check in here often and am always interested in people who are a little further from their de-conversion experiences. It’s so brutally painful and reading other people’s stories gives me hope that I will continue finding ways to stay strong in the face of rabid conservative Christianity. Thanks for the welcome.

Great post. Thanks for sharing your story.

I’m an atheist whose entire family is fundamentalist Christian. Upon entering my parents’ home, I was interested to see a handwritten sign that read

“If God doesn’t exist, NOTHING MATTERS.
If Got DOES exist, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.”

I was struck with sadness, and also confusion, because I have found life (and those inconvenient, messy, and often irritating beings we call humans!) all the more precious now that I’m not waiting for an eternity in heaven. For me, the absence of a god makes that which we have now the most important consideration of all.

Deconverting has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and the best. I’m glad to have found this site (I came over from the Friendly Atheist blog).

But then I thought it would still probably be unclear. Thus this PS.

But then, stupidity has no upper limits, unlike intelligence.

Which is why [humankind] can act so wrathfully and so cruelly, IMO.

We still have that problem today. We have ‘terrorists’ who must be seeing ‘counter-terrorists’ the other way around – as the godless atheists.

There is no such thing as godless, Godless or Atheist. More of my position may be viewed in my site. (There is No Such Thing as Atheist or Atheism, Some Thoughts by Another Walking Organism, and others posts I’ve categorized under Religion)

An antithesis of religion is in fact religion.

Is not it possible that you were looking at Christ through the eyes of others? You were seeing people who practice Christ they think it should be. And you did not like what you saw. In fact it was those people that you don’t approve, and probably not Christ himself.