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Rant on My Own Stupidity

I, like many, used to be a conservative Christian. I attended a small, Southern Baptist college. And now, I am thinking WHY? I wrote a blog post on my public-everyone-can-read-it blog, Redheaded Skeptic, and de-Conversion picked it up. It sure did create a stir on my Facebook inbox!

Not only did I receive a few odd responses (and one crazy, come back to Jesus book of an email), but I am realizing I should be worried about letters of recommendation. Everyone knows I divorced my youth minister husband and became an atheist. That is quite the scandal in my alma mater! I want to apply to a graduate program this fall, but don't even know where to begin. When I left my husband, I effectively cut off any letter of recommendation I could get from faculty and supervisors (all my work was done in the church under the supervision of the pastor). I really had nothing of my own except school. Now I am realizing that my work belonged to my husband, whom I left, and my schooling belonged to Jesus, which I also left. Finding a job has been close to impossible. (I did find one that I was WAY overqualified for. Even working full time wasn't paying several of my bills, and it was actually more cost-effective to go to school picking up some undergrad pre-med classes that I didn't need letters of recommendation to get into.)

Further proof that religion harms!

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Comment by ObscureAtheist on March 4, 2009 at 11:07am: don't worry. your condition is not bad .actually i was a very religious muslim! and now i am atheist and still live iran! and i don't when i can get rid of here but i am still hopeful.

Comment by unholyroller on March 3, 2009 at 11:22pm: First, congrats on escaping from the mental prison. You are far from stupid. Your writing proves that. Planetologist is right. What matters is the ability to think clearly and put your thoughts down in a logical and interesting manner. Keep up the search. You clearly have much to offer. Beat wishes.

Comment by Krista on March 3, 2009 at 9:51pm: You aren't stupid. If you were you'd still be a brainwashed Christian.

Comment by Planetologist on March 3, 2009 at 8:55pm: Don't worry about that one college, whichever one it is. There are plenty of good graduate programs in any topic you want, all over the country. Even if you want to stay close to your home region, there are most likely other universities in your state where you can find good programs.

And don't get discouraged by theists hinting that your blog might hurt you. They're lying. I've done my share of picking through grad student applications in my own department, and the one thing that I always want to know is whether a prospective grad student can think and write in complete sentences. If you have a blog, and it's well written, you've got a major plus on your side when you apply to grad school. Just point the selection committee to your blog, keep writing on it, and write it as well as you can. You'd be surprised how quickly a faculty panel will pounce to offer assistantships to people who can prove they can write.

Comment by Laura on March 3, 2009 at 8:21pm: (Really, the comment section was more entertaining than the actual post. hehe)

Comment by Laura on March 3, 2009 at 8:20pm: Oh, just my de-conversion story in a nutshell. Why I Stopped Believing in God

Comment by Фелч Гроган on March 3, 2009 at 8:16pm: So what was the post ?

Comment by Laura on March 3, 2009 at 7:51pm: thank you both for the encouragement! I have come a long way, but at times, I feel intimidated by how far I have left to go! :)

Comment by cj the cynic on March 3, 2009 at 7:12pm: You deserve better than what the world is giving you. Keep pushing for it, and it shall come to you. Your life belongs to you; no one can take that away. NEVER give up, never back down, never relent!