Ditto.

The main reason I turned atheist after my confirmation (16 yrs old c.2001)) Was because there was absolutely zero substance to anything it seemed like. No examples of true evil to contend against. On top of being forced to go to church every Sunday at fucking 6am like psychos and then being forced to stay after for Sunday school (which wasn't all that bad, it still seemed "empty" though), my parents never actually gave a shit about god or anything and just rolled over whenever I asked questions that challenged their convictions. So there's that. It was all for show.

But one thing that stuck with me was remembering all the stories from the bible. David and goliath, Cain and able, Jonah and the whale, Noah's ark etc.... And how I can find parallels between those and currents events. Actually seeing true evil in the "real" world is when it clicked. So here I am at 36 and I've only just now received the proper guidance I was missing. It wasn't from a pastor or priest. It wasn't my Sunday school teacher nor was it my parents mindless obedience to the "religious right" (remember the "religious right"?)

It was simply exposure to true evil. Like, supervillain evil. Combine that with the fact that I always struggled internally with the concept of the "big bang" being a reasonable explanation.

However, the concept of church is fine and all but I do believe my generation was meant to be turned off by the "emptiness" of the church. Lots of repenting for...playing video games? It was just so dumb.

But yeah. I owe a lot of gratitude to this place as it reminds me of web 1.0 forums I frequented and how freely ideas were traded and discussed. Where to we go from here? Victory looms on the horizon.