Question #1 from Will

This is my first blog post. I am gonna start writing these at least once a week, but I am gonna try to write a few a week. I will answer a single question per blog normally. Others may be just a thought on a particular subject or news article, These blogs will be about numerous subjects, but mainly they will be either religion,science, or sports. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoy and take something away from it,

My friend gave me this question to answer. Your family raised you a Christian, most of your childhood and current friends are Christians, what happened in your life to change your outlook?
Most people have a tragedy and blame God and convert. What's your reason?

This is a very good question, He is correct, I was raised religious and most of my current friends are religious and I am not sure if any of my childhood friends were non religious because it never came up. The problem with his second statement that most people have a tragedy and blame God then convert is only half right. If you blame God for anything or hate him/her for a tragedy in your life then you are a Misotheist not an Atheist. A Misothiest hates God/Gods. But they still believe they exist. An Atheist rejects the idea that a God/Gods exist. You cannot logically hate something that you do not believe to exist. As far as for me, lets establish my worldview. I am an Atheist. I do not believe a God/Gods exist. I do not believe in a God due to the lack of evidence for one. I also will never say I am 100% certain that God cannot exist. A God may very well exist, but there is simply no evidence for one, I mean Zeus, Ra, Thor, Odin, Horus, Dionysus, Hera, Krishna,Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Apollo, Jupiter, Wotan and Hanuman all may exist but without demonstrable evidence to prove their existence they simply shouldn't be believed as such. Now to why I stopped believing. I only know of one time in my life I truly believed in God (the Christian God). I was 15 years old and was attending a local Baptist church not far from my house. I attended for about a year and went on the vacation trips, the week long bible studies, the missions all that jazz. I felt in my heart that the God of the bible was real and I could feel him. I truly believed he was real. I wanted to tell others and spread this feeling I was having. I didn't question a thing. Before then I kind of always had issues with what I was taught about God and the bible and its explanations of the natural world. For instance I wondered why if we all came from two white people from a garden why were there so many different races? How did a male and female of every animal in the world fit on a single boat? Why was the answer "God did it" good enough? If the God I was taught was the only one why were there other religions? If the bible was written by man and I know men lie to gain favor how do I know the bible is true? These were all questions I had but when I would ask my parents they would scold me and then tell me about where people go when they question God. I was a kid! They let me know that if I questioned God in any way I could burn for eternity! Needless to say I buried all those thoughts. After my year long Jesus crusade I did what most teenage boys do at that age. I spent my time playing sports and chasing girls. I stopped having time for church and God. I still believed though. I still had that fear of hell to keep me from not believing. That is why most believe, it's not because it's proven to be true or the amazing beauty of it. It was simply because they are threatened with eternal punishment if they don't. It wasn't till a few years ago that I truly began to have my doubts. I began to remember these questions I had always had, But now I am an adult and no one will tell me what I have to do or they will punish me. So, I began to ask people. I asked preachers, friends, family and anyone that would answer, The issue with who I was asking was that they were all believers. They would instead of offer me answers to my questions would merely tell me how to have stronger "faith". That was my issue, I didn't want to believe in something without it being proven to be true. I finally asked a non believer and guess what? I got the answers I was looking for. I asked why were there other races if we came from two white people in a garden? Then they explained to me scientifically and by evidence that it was genetically impossible to have all the different types of people that we have from two single parents. Then I asked about the ark and I was again explained why it was impossible. So on and so forth. I was given actual answers not either believe it or burn, I don't know, or have faith. I was being given actual answers about how the world works and about reality. I have since learned so much more about the history of the world, about the true origins of religion, evolution, astronomy, the origins of the universe and lots of other things that actually happened. I now understand our origins as a species. I know how the Earth formed. I know now that religions aren't true but merely a product of culture. I feel happier now about my outlook on the world then I ever did when I did believe. I am more compassionate about my fellow humans. I don't look at people and think they are gonna burn in hell because of a lifestyle choice, I understand that homosexuality is just as normal as heterosexuality. I know that I share a common ancestor with every living thing that has ever lived on this planet. I find that way more beautiful than I have dominion over anything. The same elements that make up stars make up us. We are star stuff! So in closing, what changed my outlook was my desire for knowledge about the natural world. I just wanted to know what was true. Thanks for reading!