Atheism: My Story

Ask anyone around me, it took me years to become an Atheist. I first started having questions when I hit 7th grade. Where was God, WHO was God? I was raised in a Methodist home, we didn't go to church every Sunday, try once a month. But at home we said grace, we prayed before bed. Christmas was about celebrating our lord. (Though we did get presents) around the time I hit 7th grade, I wondered, what was this huge deal with the bible? 

Up until that point I had taken everyone's word for it. God was real, don't question it. But when I sat down and read the bible, when I actually started to listen to the sermons, I saw that the Christian faith was chalk full of contradictions. 

So I started asking questions, I started looking into science studies, etc. I realized that science had more answers than God. Pretty soon I had more questions than answers, and no one seemed able to help.

Fast forward to 9th grade. I was still struggling with my beliefs, although I was leaning more towards the Agnostic side. I couldn't talk to my family, as I'd be shunned or put in an intervention, and my friends believed whole-heartedly in God. I met some new friends, some in which had already declared themselves as non believers, and I was exposed to a world I never knew existed. For me, being a Christian meant living by God's law. Doing things to please The Lord. My non believing friends showed me that they could do things and the only guilt they felt, was if it harmed someone (normally it didn't). They were free from religious chains that had held them down a few years prior. 

After reading into different religions, and looking into science, I had decided I was Agnostic. I didn't believe in God, but I believed in some other higher power. Over the next few months, several fights with my grandparents, and hours of studying more in depth science and religion, I changed my views once again. Only this time it stuck. I was an Atheist.

For many Atheists, the hardest part is telling your family. For me this proved true. When I finally got the courage to tell my grandparents, the reaction was typical. My grandfather disowned me and my grandmother, while disappointed, stayed by my side. 2 years have passed and nothing has changed.

I don't hate religion. I don't. I hate that it has clouded people's judgment and have made them act so cruel to their own kind. I am Alli. And I'm proud to be Atheist.