If
you look at
my backround, I’m about the most unlikely person to become an atheist.
I was born and raised in rural Alabama. I went to church every Sunday,
and I was baptized at the age of eleven. Both of my parents are devout
members of the Church of Christ; a strict, by-the-Bible denomination.
My Father even preached from the pulpit some Sundays, and I was forced
to preach from about the time I was thirteen. When I was growing up, I
believed fully and wholly in the bible as the infallible word of god.
After
I turned
sixteen, I began having serious doubts and questions about my religion.
I just didn’t feel like god was there anymore. If he was, I reasoned,
why is there so much injustice? After all, since I had devoutly
followed him more than most of my peers, why did I feel injustice,
social frustration, and weakness? I later answered my own question: god
must have a plan for me, and these obstacles I was facing would
eventually lead to great blessings. That answer satisfied me, at least
at that time.
Before
I turned
eighteen, I became curious about the theory of evolution. It was never
taught to me, save its mention in an erroneous Christian Biology
textbook and a lesson my Father taught about it in church. I began
reading books and visiting websites about evolution. Christianity or
Evolution: Which one was right? I found that most of the Creation
websites provided erroneous and misinformed statements. The Evolution
websites, such as talkorigins.org, provided corrections and rebuttals
to every single Creationist claim I came across. One day I went to a
local bookstore and purchased a book, “The Case for a Creator” by Lee
Strobel. The book posed some rather convincing arguments against
Evolution and Atheism. The book claimed that some biological
structures, such as cilia and bacterial flagellum, were irreducibly
complex. The book claimed that these structures could not have evolved
because the parts could not function without one another. It also made
claims that the universe must have had a first cause, and that cause
was God. It discussed how our universe was perfectly suited for our
habitability. For example, gravity could have been stronger or weaker,
but it is not: The level of gravity in the universe is just right for
sustaining life. At the time, these arguments greatly renewed my faith.
I
continued
studying science through books and the internet. I found rebuttals to
all these arguments that had once convinced me. Scientists had
hypothesized how structures such as bacterial flagellum could have
evolved. Scientists were digging deeper and deeper into the origins of
the universe. They didn’t understand everything yet about how and why
the Big Bang took place, but there was no reason to assume that any god
had anything to do with it. I also found the explanation that the
habitability of the universe did not matter. We are adapted to it, and
not the other way around. My faith before hearing these statements was
like an air filled balloon. Afterwards, it was as if someone had popped
that balloon with a very sharp needle.
One
night while
thinking about these things, I came to this conclusion: If Evolution
was proven, then I must disprove the Bible before I stop believing in
God. I had one nagging question: What if scientists were wrong about
all of this? I reasoned that man could not possibly write a
Two-thousand page error-free book. To prove it wasn’t from God, I would
have to find error in it. I began doing research online about the
Bible. I found websites like evilbible.com and
skepticsannotatedbible.com, which listed hundreds of contradictions in
the Bible. However, I also found just as many websites attempting to
refute and explain every one of these contradictions and errors listed.
My mother even lent me a book, “Alleged Contradictions of the Bible and
their Answers.” It seemed that every time I found a contradiction, I
found someone able to explain it away. For instance, the books of
Matthew and Luke contain contradictory accounts of Jesus’ ancestry. The
common explanation is that one of these genealogies is for Jesus’
mother, and the other is for Jesus’ father. The problems with this
explanation is that the bible does not say this, and there is no need
for Joseph’s genealogy. Joseph was not Jesus’ father according to the
bible, the holy spirit was. In the end, the contradictions which
convinced me the Bible was not inspired were the differences between 2
Samuel and I Chronicles. These books contain different versions of the
same story, with several differences. Second Samuel 24:9 states there
were eight hundred thousand fighting men in Israel. First Chronicles
21:5 states there were one million, one hundred thousand. The same
verses also state different numbers of the fighting men in Judah.
Second Samuel 24:13 states that god sent his prophet to threaten David
with seven years of famine. First Chronicles 21:12 states that god sent
his prophet to threaten David with three years of famine. There are
many, many more such contradictions I could delve into. Many of these
contradictions are explained as simple copyist errors. You see, the
bible was copied over and over again in ancient times. I could not
accept this explanation. If this was true, why did god allow copyist
errors into his word? Could he not have kept the scribes from making
such errors? Could he not have used his power to change the errors
found in the original texts? After all, complete accuracy would make a
phenomenally great case for divine inspiration. Second Peter 3:9 says,
“The Lord is… not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance”. So based on this passage, god wants followers. But
so many people do not believe in him, and if they could have this proof
of divine inspiration, some of them might be willing to follow him.
Again, why did he not remove these errors? After doing more research, I
learned the Book of Mormon and the Qu’raan had similar problems. Their
religious leaders also had a way of finding loopholes to explain
contradictions. The bible had a lot of similarities with other
supposedly inspired books, I realized.
One
evening,
while thinking on these things, I came to a conclusion about why the
idea of god was man-made and irrational. Human beings like to focus on
and imagine extremities. Look at the way people behave toward their
enemies. They exaggerate that person’s bad qualities and make up their
minds that this person is worthless. When people tell stories they
exaggerate certain qualities to make the story more extreme. People
like believing in magic. Just look at best selling book series like
Harry Potter. Look at the millions of dollars Walt Disney made from his
movies involving magic. People like imagining and believing
extremities, even when they know they are not real. Think about the
idea of god. The idea of god might just be the ultimate example of an
extremity. He is all-knowing. He is everywhere. He is all powerful. If
god were real, he would be an extremity. Extremities are very seldom
true in the real world, I have found. I don’t believe anyone is
completely good or completely bad. For this reason, I find the idea of
god irrational and implausible. This is why I am an atheist, rather
than agnostic.
Thus,
with all
this evidence, I have decided not to believe in god. I have also found
atheism to be a beneficial belief in my life. I no longer worry about
eternal punishment for myself or my loved ones. I have experienced true
peace with this belief. I wish to ask everyone to challenge their
beliefs. If you do not, how will you ever know the truth?
Sincerely,
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