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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I grew up in a deeply religious family. I went to church twice a week and went to religious private school. I was devout as a kid. But from my earliest memories I remember having questions and experiencing what I now understand was skepticism. I was a logical little kid (later became an engineer), and some of what I was taught just didn't make sense. But I was also terrified to admit it and kept my doubts quiet.

In college I stopped going to church as soon as i said goodbye to my parents, even though my mom signed me up (against my wishes) with the campus Christian fellowship group, who proceeded to stalk me for four years. I also met a lot of people with totally different backgrounds, some atheist, and they were all good people. I started losing my terror of disbelief and went through a phase where I called myself an agnostic. I also got very angry at what seemed clearly to be a form of mental control during this period. My questions weren't wrong, but I was made to feel like something evil or wrong just for having questions.

Finally I dropped the pretense entirely and accepted that I was atheist. I still remember the walk I was on when I was finally honest with myself. [b]I remember feeling an enormous sense of peace and relief. It was as if a lifetime source of pain and tension was just alleviated.[/b] It's been over thirty years now and I still feel that sense of comfort and relief in being an atheist. I don't have to pretend I am something I am not; I can finally be my authentic self. [/quote]

Sounds wonderful.  Also sounds like descriptions of being "saved".  Maybe it's a universal sense of release, irrespective of what is being released.[/quote]

It is more akin to coming out of the closet and living honestly.[/quote]

Got it -- it's an affirmation; not a revelation.  Its acknowledging something you always had; not finding something new. It's accepting who you are; not changing who you are.[/quote]

Yes, this is a good way of putting it. [/quote]

It makes me a little sad though, because it implies that the truth, while always there, was carefully, purposely, hidden from view in favor of a different conclusion that, while unverified and unverifable, pervades society.

Perhaps a good comparison is systemic racism, in which non-caucasians are seen by society at large to be inferior and are treated that way, so that even people who are not inherently racist see non-caucasians as inferior.  And noncaucasians, though they may not feel inferior, are forced into an inferior role by the larger society.[/quote]

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