How I Became An Atheist: Part 1 - In The Beginning

[belugafishgod]

Oh.....and also....The ark story is...very unlikely. The age of the earth being about 10000 years old is also VERY unlikely, and other things like that. It defies common sense but some christians actually believe it as fact. I also have issue with that.

[belugafishgod]

I do agree with some content in your video. I do think that the speaking and tongues and a lot of things in "Christianity" or religion is fubar. I would like to write more right now but I got to go...later. Oh...I think eternal damnation is wrong and should not happen to human beings. ok...SOME human beings.

[belugafishgod]

I wasn't saying the bible is flawless. I don't believe that. I am .....not even a christian in some peoples book. I am intrigued by the bible and the stories of Jesus and his outrageous claims. He was either a savior, a madman or the biggest liar this world has ever seen....he could I guess have been out of someones imagination. I am the person who is not sure what or who he is. But it boggles my mind that he would be anything but the savior. That is where I stand.

[belugafishgod]

Without Christ mankind is lost. Dirt for worms. There is no other hope. Their is either Christ or eternal darkness....there may be something else. Like darkness and then consciousness again..it may be a cycle. Personally I like the Christ idea better than eternal darkness...but I like the thought of eternal sleep or darkness better than having to go through the hell of this kind of life AGAIN. So should I believe in what gives me the best end result or the truth...whatever the hell that is?

[axel5735]

@belugafishgod Why do you think life without religion is hopeless? I became an atheist a few years ago and I could have never made a better decision in my life. No longer do I have to live life in fear that myself or my loved ones and those who've passed away will go to hell. No longer do I live consulting a 2000 year old book for bad moral guidance and fairy tales. If you'd rather live life in doubt and ignorance and worship out of wishful thinking and fear than you are coward.

[belugafishgod]

@axel5735 because it IS hopeless. As an atheist you believe in no other end than darkness after death. That's it...end of discussion. There is no other option for you. How the hell is making the decision to be atheist beneficial to you in the light of the subject of death? At least for me there is hope of something after death. You say I live in doubt. We all live in doubt my dear. I however do not live in ignorance.You assume since I claim Christ is the only hope that I must be ignorant.

[axel5735]

@belugafishgod Atheists don't have a dogma meaning yes, they can actually believe in an afterlife and even if they don't, how is that a bad thing? Would you say how it was before you were born was a bad thing? It was nothing and you weren't effected at all. There was no darkness, no destruction, no suffering. Just because you don't get goodies for making it through life doesn't make dying a horrible thing. Continued...

[axel5735]

@belugafishgod Continued... Yes, but that is false hope. I am concerned if what I believe is true or not which is what lead me to ask questions.Of course we all doubt but I was talking about it from a theological prospective. I no longer worry if I'm wrong about my stance on religion because I'm 99% sure and even if they are true I'll be punished for the wrong reasons. Any person who willingly worships a god who sends people to eternal damnation for not worshiping him is ignorant.

[richardmoz]

Nicely done. It's nice to see the truth but hard to realize what is the truth. Science works and for for many it's hard to understand why. They think it's the Scientists opinions what make it true but it is by doing the experiment over and over and differently over and over to see that no matter how you work at it, the answer will always be the same. I've always been a skeptic but never knew it until older It was my questions at church is what had me sent away. Thanks for putting this up.

[Colthrone]

Did you renounce Jesus because of the explanations man gave you? OR did you actually see these explanations in God's word? And if indeed man's explanations was what turned you off to God, why did you go to atheism which is full of......man's explanations?!?

[a11m0n]

Wonderful! Please make some more videos.

[MrSpock1100]

@aghahowa11 said- "now that your an athiest, show me ur tits...." aghahowa, I can clearly see you're nuts.

[leeroynaggins]

Watching "Jesus Camp" was like reliving my childhood.

None of my friends have had such an experience.

They just can't imagine that such a culture exists.

But it does and a generation of people are trapped in that belief system.

The US seems to be permeated by fundamentalist, anti-intellectual thought these days.

Only these voices can hep people to connect and give them the strength to lift themselves out.

Hope you continue your video series...

[aghahowa11]

now that your an athiest, show me ur tits babe gurl lets enjoy life

[hc5831]

Thanks for your video. The amount of brainwashing that goes on in religion is revolting.

[Discern4]

Thanks Sarah, are you going to continue your story?

[sariglenn]

Great video, well told story. More stories like yours surface every day. I credit it to the more openness of society an the technoogy to get the story out. 500,200,100 , even 50 ago, thoughts and stories like yours were suppressed so that the person either held it in , or was finally convinced they were being deceived by some evil entity.

These stories give compelling thoughts of what religion really does to a person who tries to do nothing but rationalize it. instead of blindly believe it.

[ThatBLuEchic]

holy shit! i went to a "holy roller" church & demanded to leave & those ppl threw me down on the fuckin floor...It was the scariest thing that ever happened....ever

[mazzroa]

O mankind, fear your Lord and fear a Day when no father will avail his son, nor will a son avail his father at all. Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver. (33) Indeed, Allah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour and sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. And no soul perceives what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul perceives in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted ,Quran

[ronie3336]

qib

[jesusfilledphil]

AccidentalAtheist - You have been decieved! Watch some Kent Hovind seminars and that will put you straight. I think that your Church let you down on teaching as is often the case, there are many videos on YT that prove God is the creator of all things.

[voyagersystem]

Why blame Jesus because you had your life messed up by a Christian cult?

[briggles]

Have you been de baptised?

[Hamporkcheese]

christian to atheist Mormon to Atheist Islam to atheist did all you atheist start as fanatical religious people? that is how an extremist mind works i guess... "believing in god " to " god does not exist"  no middle ground.... no gray area we are all one my sister we are all one everyone everything everything everything we are all one the Mayans knew this.. the Mayan way of greeting each other was by saying "hello another me"

[kelsehoffman]

Religion is awesome. How could you not believe in God. Dosn't it make more sense that an all powerfull thing that sprung up from nowhere created you? Theres thousands of religions around the world so Christianity has to be right, Duh. I realized at around 12 when I had enough cognitive ability that people are dumb and will believe just about anything as long as enough people around them believe it as well. I just remember sitting in Church one day out of the blue thinking this is crap.

[hypercannon1]

I don't know why there is fewer female atheists than male I mean religion is completely against females god was a man, Jesus was a man, women need to cover there faces. If I was I women I would be like screw this if god was all loving he would make men and women equal.

[Lukyo1984]

Was Evid3nc3 the first person to do these deconversion videos or did he just popularize them?

[soccerwizard975]

@Lukyo1984 i think he helped other people do it, his series is amazing.

[Comp1337e]

Awesome. Thanks for recounting your story.

[CaptainGreen2008]

Very good video - now where's part II?

[lutthe1]

IF your biggest problem problem with God is scientific evidence check out creation series by Kent Hoven he talks about each of the things you brought up, I was hoping to see more but I'm guessing ur in the process of making these videos. I see how hart your are about what happen to you when you were young but that has nothing to do with God, we (humans) make mistakes but attributing it to God is not the right response.

[yakraiv]

I like your face 

[RubixWizz199109]

There was a climate that was perfectly capable of allowing dinosaurs to live. Dinosaurs went on the ark though we can only guess that they took babies of these animals on the ark. Just as we would assume baby elephants or giraffes. They argument for a young earth holds still not only due to sun size, but carbon-14 with is showing an earth roughly around 6,000 years old. I appreciate your videos, yet I do want you to know that God is so real. This stuff isn't a fairy tale.

[DandAinTac]

Have you heard of LovingDoubt? She's another atheist/former Pentacostal. She has a long series of clips explaining her deconversion process. You might find it interesting. I'll watch your forthcoming clips to see how many similarities there are with your deconversion stories. Christians usually imagine we atheists are "mad at God" and that we are rebelling and so on, but every deconversion story I hear, is a story of a long, RATIONAL process.

[biblethink]

I hear what you're saying, I have been in the Pentecostal Church and still am. I have seen the Jesus camp video and the Marjoe video, and yet I am still 100 % sure that God exists and the Holy Spirit still operates in the Church. Just because there are fakes doesn't mean there isn't the real thing. Anyway, I've experienced the real thing and I know Jesus is real. I have seen divine healing and have heard the audible voice of God, check out video on these things if you want.

[TheAccidentalFascist]

I really like your video. It made me have the courage to come out and say that i don't believe in democracy anymore. Like you, i was indoctrinated at a young age into a democractic liftestyle. Learning the Constitution, memorizing the premable, saying the pledge of allegiance and learning about our great goverment and even voting. I no longer vote.

I can no longer believe in the myth of democracy anymore. Now, i'm off to read some Carlyle and Calhoun.

[jesper4868]

No offence, but how can you atheists even live? I mean, I dont think I could live without a God.

[zeitgeistmonroe]

Where's part 2

[trhtpc]

We are waiting for more... :)

[BoomChaRhythm]

Your story is not unlike so many others I've heard, yet somehow your delivery and intelligence level is unique among all others. I really hope you find the time to finish your story, as I know it will be a very worthwhile YouTube addition. One thing I find true in almost all these accountings is the fact that the quickest and most direct route for a Theist to become an Atheist is to just READ and STUDY the bible. It worked for me.

[MrSpock1100]

First the flood of Noah and the Bible being inerrant, then the 6000 year old earth, the tower of Babel, then OMG!!!, Jesus talked about the flood like it happened, but it couldn't have. He was wrong too, and that means NOT God. I'm now 50, and an agnostic/atheist. I would be happy with Deism, even though I don't believe it is true. It would do away with "Where did everything come from?". I could say the Real God made it, and he is pissed people think the God described in the Bible is Him.

[MrSpock1100]

Hello from a former Fundie, Young Earther. Glad to see you didn't wait 45 years to question like I did. When difficult questions arose, I thought there had to be an answer, I just didn't know what it was. On a vacation out west, looking at the rock layers, it hit me that this couldn't have happened in 6000 years. I looked unto flood geology and real geology until I knew who was lying to me. To my surprise, it was the creationists!!!. The dominoes started to fall. One after the other.

[Skepticktok]

Oh we former Pentecostals have our stories don't we? Satan bite the dust by Carmen, wow long time since I've thought about that. 

[jhNNNNNNNy]

plz continue your videos. thx.

[Skepticktok]

Oh Pentecostalism...long before I left Christianity I had to leave you.

Were you Word of Faith?

I think you and I would have alot of things to talk about. Feel free to check out my videos.

[belipo]

It is interesting to read what is going on here. I was a skeptic recently but I am now a Christian. I wish the best to all of you. On the other hand I do wish that you would come into fellowship with Christ once again. Ask him into you life. Ask him to guide you. It is saddening to hear that so many of you had to go trough religous rituals and religous practices to in order to be validated by the church. That is pure religion. The love of Christ is not prestent in religion. I am a cessastionist.

[Haywerth]

Ha, ha. Former baptist here. Our church was right across the street from a Pentacostal church, and we could always here them when they started the dancing in the aisles. Thanks for sharing your deconversion. Almost makes want to share my story.

[LJonYT]

LOL, I was baptist. I think we figured you Pentecostals would go to heaven too, but God would scold you when you got there and tell you to calm down. And yes, following God was an act of will. Dinosaurs always confused me too as a Christian.

[BaconNCream]

Great vid, I have huge respect for those who have come from fundamentalist backgrounds. Nice to be able to follow a deconversion story, than simply watch.

[violentlygraceful]

I grew up in a Calvary Chapel (an offshoot of Hope Chapel, which can be quite charismatic), and my father was as heavily involved in ministry as you can be, without actually being a pastor. I can relate to the Bible camps, just without speaking in tongues. I remember "Satan, Bite the Dust" also! I remember that explanation for the dinosaurs' extinction as well, and the evil liberal scientific conspiracy.

I didn't think to question for 16 years. Thanks for sharing...

[loserella55]

Former pentecostals represent! Haha. I used to struggle with the thought that the people were actually demon possesed because they acted like it, but at the same time figured that was blasphemy.

[AccidentalAtheist]

@loserella55 Demon possession isn't something my dad really focussed on, but one of the members at a church we were at had a son with physical and mental disabilities, and she was constantly asking for prayer to cast out the demons inside him. Difficult for my dad, politically speaking.

Also one summer at camp a girl got caught down at the lake with one of the boys and a bunch of counsellors held her down & tried to cast the demon of rebellion out of her. I remember that really freaking me out.

[onlywhenprovoked]

@AccidentalAtheist That sounds like a bit too much like a rape scene, to me.

[DebateRobo]

@loserella55 - seems like a lot of former Christians really don't know too much about Christianity. And many of them come from Pentacostal groups, which seem to be anti-intellectual and know very little about their faith and apologetics. Though you claim to know about apologetics I bet you couldn't argue it. Just an opinion.

[DebateRobo]

@loserella55 - I actually went to a formation I believe to be Noah's Ark. A friend of mine found rocks with nails in them.

[DebateRobo]

@loserella55 - scientists cannot prove that they know the distance of stars because distance is determined by triangulation. Surveyors use trangulation to determine distance. They know the accuracy because they can measure it compared to their observations. But objects light years are to distant to travel to and thus compare.

[Lovingdoubt]

Your dad was a pastor? O.O HOLY CRAP. I can't imagine that. I became a pentecostal at 16, so I was lucky to not be younger. Jesus Camp is VERY accurate. I was a camp counselor at a camp almost identical to that.

People don't understand that when one is in an environment like that it seems normal. Humans are good at adapting to social environments, especially children.

[endthedisease]

Can't wait for part 2

[KasparHauser4]

Many of us are completely unaware that this goes on.

[AccidentalAtheist]

@KasparHauser4

Which part?

[aurianaserena]

@AccidentalAtheist How did your family react to your atheism? How did you deal with it? I'm an atheist with a super-religious Catholic mother and I could really use some tips.

[AssilemakaMelissa]

Girl I am right there with you! I can not imagine though how much harder it has been for you considering your Dad was a Pastor. Another difference is even though we did attend Holiness, speaking in tounges churches we also went to other types as life progressed like Baptist and others..I even went to Jehovah Witness church a few times as a kid. Eventually ended up in non-denominational. Does your family talk about god but shut you down when you speak?

[AccidentalAtheist]

@AssilemakaMelissa My family is actually remarkably respectful, all things considered. They tried to pull me back in early on, but these days is something we just don't talk about. (Although I'm sure I'm on a bunch of prayer request lists.)

From their perspective, I have the spiritual equivalent of a terminal illness. In fact, actual illness would be easier for them as long as I was a Christian. At least that way they'd know we'd meet again in Heaven...

It's difficult, basically.

[indignant99]

Wow. What filthy lying teachers you had!

[AccidentalAtheist]

@indignant99 Is it really lying if you believe you're telling the truth? Because I'm convinced that she thought she was.

The thing about the dinosaurs is kind of atypical. (The extinction after the flood idea is much more common.) But there are all kinds of crazy ideas to explain away evidence against a literal interpretation of Genesis. Basically, they all boil down to "God did it". Since he can apparently do anything, that 'argument' can ultimately be used to explain away everything.