Were you once a believer?

[ilikedesifems]

Only in the last 5 years or so.

[Bucky Ball]

There are some amazing French abbeys, in beautiful locations, some high up in the mountains .. Lorval, Citeaux, (where St. Bernard was, originally .. although it's a travesty that Clairvaux, where he was later is now a high security prison, .. I think The Jackel is still in prison there ??) Acey, Aigubelle, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cis..._in_France My gramps took me to a bunch of them one summer we were in Europe. They are cool, and some still going. Fascinating part of Medieval history...especially the discovery of and production of champagne, farming techniques, copying of ancient manuscripts .. bla bla. I think they done good.
I was a belieber until I asked my 6th Grade teacher how, if there was no temporal/spatial dimension, (spiritually), souls "went" places, (like Hell and Purgatory). She told me to shut up. She was a gorgeous nun though. A dead ringer for Audrey Hepburn. She's still a friend.

[Alastor]

I was a Muslim

a Sunni Muslim

Now I'm Atheist

No God , No Supernaturals

[Chaos]

You still believe in supernatural avatars. Gotcha!

[Alastor]

LOL I can't use Alastor's name without his photo

[Codename.WiAx]

I wasn't. My parents tried very hard to make me follow different awkward rituals of Hinduism and you guys know what happened?
My dad became an atheist!

[Full Circle]

Followed the Catholic crowd until I fell in love with a Jewish girl at 19. All hell broke loose and we got it from both sides of the dogma isle. My parents said she was damned, her father gave me looks that could kill. It was all downhill...uphill? from there.
The funny thing is that after we broke up we both broke away from religion altogether.

[rationalavenue]

I was born in a high
caste Hindu family. My parents told me that I was a Brahmin, something that is
considered very important in Hinduism. If you are a Brahmin, you are closer to
God than anyone else. Even when I was a child, elder people from lower castes
in my village would bow down to me. I could never understand this. I could have
very easily become another orthodox religious fundamentalist in my village but
I was lucky. I was lucky because my father is a Medical Doctor and I was taught
science from my very beginning. I studied in the best school in my city. Apart
from this, My Dad had a huge library in our home. I was a nerd from my
childhood. My favourite time pass was and still is reading. I read philosophy,
theology, science, history...a lot in my spare time.

Knowledge guided me
to understand that religion is nothing but a fabrication of human mind. Knowledge
taught me that everyone has as much rights in this world as I have. Knowledge
opened my eyes. Books made me a deist from a theist. I was still looking for
answers.

Then, in 2005, I
joined various social networking sites. Here I met many wonderful people. I
discussed with atheists around the world and came to understand their point of
view. I understood how religion poisons everything and why it is not just
necessary but also our duty to stand against religious dogmas and
superstitions. Today, I am a proud atheist. Thanks to the numerous books I have
read and the people I have met in my journey for truth.

This year, I and some
of my atheist friends started a website called “Rational Avenue”. We want to
promote rationalism, scepticism and science in the world. This world is a
beautiful place and this life is the only one we have got. I want to make it big;
I want to make it meaningful.

[Peanut]

Always heard about God and Jesus growing up. My family never went to church. It was just "this is life and by the way, there's a guy up there that watches everything you do." I got tired of it. I decided I was gonna ask questions that could be answered with solid evidence.

And the stories were so UNBELIEVABLE.

[skepticismandsprinkles]

I always questioned, but until my mid to late teens I took belief in god as a given