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Hi, I'm Rachael and I'm very new here.
I'm still looking around and loving what I see.
One of my first memories about religion was when I was about 4. I remember I let my little dog out of the back yard, and he ran onto the street and was immediately hit by a car.
I remember burying him in the back yard, and being genuinely surprised that he didn't rise from the dead.
I asked my Sunday School teacher the next time we were at church, why jesus could rise from the dead, but my dog, Sandy couldn't. And her reply was to take me by the hand, turn me around to my Sunday school class, and tell everybody that I was a "dirty little girl". She then smacked me, and forced me to sit on a chair while facing the corner of the room until Sunday school was over.
I remember crying and feeling both ashamed and genuinely confused as to what I had done that had been so bad.
That was my first real memory of questioning religion and god. As I got older, the more I found myself questioning what I had been taught.
The day I finally admitted to myself that I was a non-believer, I felt like a weight had been lifted. You've heard people describe their experience of being "born again", well it was like that for me. I felt an incredible sense of peace wash over me, as I let go of religion once and for all.
I'm so happy to be living at a time where I can find groups like this, and meet other like-minded people who aren't afraid of the truth.
I t
One of my first memories about religion was when I was about 4. I remember I let my little dog out of the back yard, and he ran onto the street and was immediately hit by a car.
I remember burying him in the back yard, and being genuinely surprised that he didn't rise from the dead.
I asked my Sunday School teacher the next time we were at church, why jesus could rise from the dead, but my dog, Sandy couldn't. And her reply was to take me by the hand, turn me around to my Sunday school class, and tell everybody that I was a "dirty little girl". She then smacked me, and forced me to sit on a chair while facing the corner of the room until Sunday school was over.
I remember crying and feeling both ashamed and genuinely confused as to what I had done that had been so bad.
That was my first real memory of questioning religion and god. As I got older, the more I found myself questioning what I had been taught.
The day I finally admitted to myself that I was a non-believer, I felt like a weight had been lifted. You've heard people describe their experience of being "born again", well it was like that for me. I felt an incredible sense of peace wash over me, as I let go of religion once and for all.
I'm so happy to be living at a time where I can find groups like this, and meet other like-minded people who aren't afraid of the truth.
I t
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jack Matirko on -
... Yeah my sunday school teachers showed an equal dislike of questions. Welcome!
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Permalink Reply by Rachael T. on -
Thanks Jack!
Well it's well known that religion doesn't require you to think. As a matter of fact, god preferred them dumb.
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Permalink Reply by lOS`AMIGOS on -
Welcome to atheist Nexus Rachael .Glad you survived the experience with that crazy nasty sunday school teacher.
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Permalink Reply by Rachael T. on
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You know, rather than hold malice towards her, she really did me a favor. She was the first step in my journey towards atheism.
Thanks for the welcome, Los, I love your little Kiwi. I'm an ex-pat Kiwi living in Canada.
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Permalink Reply by Rachael T. on
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In her case, she was the first step in my journey towards atheism, so in hindsight she did me a favor.
Of course, if I'd have run into her as an adult, I might have given her a piece of my mind, and then some.
Religious crackpots really don't like to asked questions. We're supposed to follow along blindly and bleat, like the good little sheep the bible wants us to be.
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Permalink Reply by Rachael T. on
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True. When a child can bring an entire ideology to its knees, that's the sign that there is something very very wrong with the ideology.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Healy on -
Welcome to the A|N
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Permalink Reply by Rachael T. on
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Thanks, Richard!
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Permalink Reply by David Sensei on -
I'd like to add my sympathy for your traumatic Sunday-school experience. It's amazing how they can get away with this kind of emotional abuse to children in the churches on a daily/weekly basis, while trained public schoolteachers walk a fine line. I'm sure what she did was quite illegal, actually. The woman who abused you was most probably not a trained care-giver but some pious churchgoing volunteer not fit to be anywhere near children. I wonder if she smacked her own brood for daring to ask how Santa gets all his presents delivered in one night. In school we had all kinds of 'religious instructors' who told us all kinds of bullshit. But you're right, she did you a favor.
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