*WATCH THIS*
Discern4: ”Some Muslims showed up at the 2012 Atheist Convention in Australia. This is what happened :)”
This is another example of what blind faith is capable of. Dafuq?!
“Creationists think that the entire universe was created 22,000 years after prehistoric Germans invented sex toys.”
Infuriating doesn’t even cover it.
This video, entitled “Child Sings Ain’t No Homo Gonna Make It To Heaven In Church” is a chilling reminder of what religion is capable of doing to young minds.
-Ty
#MyAtheistSelf project submission from wakethestorm:
Name: Maren
Age: 18
Location: Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho
My story: From the time I was born, I have been taught Christianity. This is a very common story, especially in conservative areas like North Idaho. I went to church every Sunday, said my prayers, all things that children who have been raised this way do. However, that is where my story branches off a bit from the norm.
My mother’s second husband was a horribly emotionally abusive man with a twisted view of religion, and he punished me accordingly. If I did something he didn’t like, I was sat at the dining room table and instructed to write a Bible verse over and over. 100, 200, up to 500 times. Keep in mind I was no more than 7 years old.
Eventually they divorced, and that particular torment was over, but I never recovered the initial respect and awe I had for the religion my family had always practiced. Over time, the pain I had suffered turned to anger. I still went to church, I still raised my hands and “spoke in tongues”, but I felt more and more disconnected not only from the display of deity worship itself, but from everyone around me who was wholeheartedly buying into it.
Years later, I was sick of it. I felt like a liar, and a fraud. I resented every Christian I knew for teaching me to be such a bigoted, selfish, intolerant person. I was constantly anxious because I still have a shred of that belief that I was going to be struck down by lightning if I didn’t perform. I decided, if I was going to break off from everything I’d known, it would have to be quick, like ripping off a bandaid.
So, I did what I needed to do. I came out to my family as queer, which was honestly a non event for me since it is such an integral part of who I am. I told them I didn’t believe what they had taught me growing up. I also told them it wasn’t their fault, nothing they did wrong, and that I loved them very much. The backlash was huge.
But now, two years later, it was worth it. I am experiencing a freedom I never knew while I was bound by the chains of religious guilt. My fiance and I are expecting our first baby in December, and we have agreed to let them choose a religion (or none!) for themselves. No indoctrination for our family. No more indoctrination for me.
#MyAtheistSelf project submission from behind-the-chair:
My name is Brittany, I exist here.
I didn’t really grow up with religion so I guess you can say I’ve always been an atheist. My Grandfather, who raised me, was brought up in a very strict Catholic house in Ireland so he did all he could to escape that once he came to the States. However, attending Mass once a week is still embedded in his brain even though he also practices Buddhism and meditation.
But I digress…I DID give Catholicism the ol’ college try in my teens but that fell through pretty much immediately when I realized I would never conform to hatred, bigotry and misogyny.
I live in sin with my boyfriend Alex in Tucson, AZ. We refuse to get married until EVERYONE can get married. Until then, we’re quite happy not having a piece of paper define our love.
I don’t hate religion….I just hate what it has brought this world to.
Submission fromnewjerseysuccess-story:
My friend showed me this hilarious website Barbie Gone Bad and I laughed hysterically at this very offensive picture! Thought I’d share.
Barbie on a Cross.
