General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Any Ex-vangelicals? [View all]myccrider
(484 posts)but in the mid 50s to mid 60s, before they went completely off the rails. They were still wackadoodle, just not political...yet.
We were very involved in the church. Went to services or meetings 5-8 times a week, Dad was a deacon and in the choir, Mom helped the secretary, I was determined to be the first female Baptist minister, etc. When I was around 12 I decided I needed to read the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelations. I was really confused by what I read. The church was not yet pushing the young earth propaganda very hard and I was also fascinated by science...and dinosaurs!
So I had questions about what the Bible claimed that my parent's couldnt answer, so they sent me to our preacher, Brother Bob. He was an ex-Marine and had completely bought into young earth creationism. It didnt go well. I think it was the third or fourth counseling session where I asked him, "After Cain killed Abel and went over the hills and found a wife, where did she come from????". Because of all the previous head-butting wed had when he got so frustrated by my questions ("Dino bones were put in the ground by Satan to lead you into sin!" "If you dont stop questioning, youll go to Hell!" ), he completely lost it, yelled at me and refused to meet with me again.
That was the beginning. It took another 8 or 9 years of me reading, researching and questioning, but I was an atheist by 21. Two things that I remember as startling me the most into questioning the existence of a god shortly after that fiasco was: 1) we studied Greek mythology in Jr High and I thought "Oh! Other people created false gods to believe in, hmmm, could my god be false, too?" and 2) reading Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain when I was around 14 or 15. He presented Satans view of humans and our religions with his inimitable humor, sarcasm and style. It made me furiously to think.
I also visited a bunch of other churches in my teens, from Catholic to Pentacostal searching for answers. Nothing checked my growing questions and doubt.
My parents didnt do anything drastic to prevent my questioning, although they were somewhat distressed by it. I dont think they understood where it could lead, wed never really heard of atheism. But even after my deconversion, they never brought strong pressure on me or berated me. I give them huge credit for that because they both drifted to the right politically with Reagan and the churches and becoming "born again", but still treated me the same. Well, Dad and I argued, but it was never...vicious.
Thats my tale. Im 70 now and have never been tempted to re-convert.