The I ain't religious no more but I used ta be thread.

[LTKoblinsky]

Everyone has to decide for him or herself what's true and what's not. 

Its not a simple decision.  And, the answers are not all there....

The answer of whether you believe something is true is there. Penn Gillette puts it best:
Do you know whether a god exists? no
Do you believe a God exists? no

Unless someone is an arrogant ass, the first question should always yield a 'no'. The second question is where believers and the non-blind diverge. If my best friend tells me he has an omnipotent invisible friend who judges his every thought and punishes him by hurting the people around him, do I really know whether he's lying? No. Do I believe him? No.

I was a Fundie Baptist for a large portion of my life. I converted to LDS about the time I was twelve and living with my mormon grandmother. When I was 17,   I started attending a Fundie Baptist church again after I moved back in with my mother (loose history). When I was 20 and in college, I read Atlas Shrugged.  Rand's criticism of spirituality initially turned me off to her message, but it planted the seed. I could no longer read the bible in the same light and soon couldn't even pray without feeling stupid. I read the Case for Christ, but that made it worse and Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation finally tipped the scales. I find it amazing that otherwise intelligent people can possibly believe such obvious mythology and superstition, but it attests to the power of a dogmatic upbringing and the manipulation of guilt. It disgusts me.

[dalebert]

such an evil bastard, really, then suddenly, you turn the page and it's the new testament and the same vengeful guy is loving and caring and wonderful. Jesus was the ultimate PR spin. A lot of shit is forgiven/forgotten in the bible because of jesus. He loves the little children, you know.

Just goes to show that the good cop, bad cop routine is the oldest gimmick in the book.

"Look, my partner's nuts. No telling what he'll do to yah! Just work with me so I can protect you."

[John Shaw]

Not to be a ball buster but we can make a "Mock religious people thread" if ya'll want to. Here, I'll even do it. Now there's a hate thread and a love thread.

Try to let this thread be for people who want to talk about their deconversion, please.

[Pilot_MKN]

I grew up in (and still live in) Mississippi.

I'm surrounded by bible-thumping Southern Baptists who hate drinking, hate gays, hate logic, love country music and love sending troops to kill brown people.

Its a state where making the joke "Islam is just Christianity taken seriously" gets you nearly thrown out of a Libertarian meeting.

Its enough to make any thinking man turn against religion.