This is beautiful! Thankyou for sharing!

I think I met that same dog tag lady at Fort Bliss...when I refused to accept anything short of Atheist, I finally got my dog tags with Atheist as my religious preference. You just had to be as adamant as they are!

Been there done that is pretty cliched but covers it for me. Enjoyed your tale and glad you're here.

Excellent post! I recall the look & comment I got from the woman who made the dog tags when I was in boot. I wasn't "active" at the time so I just went with "NP" (No Preference). The lady was like, "Are you sure?" & I don't think she got too many of those. Now, this was back in '73, but things have probably not changed that much in the military.

I heard Krauss lecture at the CSI Conference this summer and he was just plain GREAT! Easy to understand even when talking about 'something out of nothing'...and he was so funny! Who knew! I would go to a lecture from him anytime!

I followed somewhat the same path as you. Raised Southern Baptist, forced to go to church nearly every time the doors were open. Rebelling when I went away to college and changing to a different church that was more formal, The Episcopal, but which still espoused the same belief it all still just didn't answer my questions. But when I married, I changed churches again so that my husband and our children would be together in a 'faith'. One day my young daughter said to me after Sunday School, "This just doesn't make any sense at all". I began to read, listen to lectures, and study, study study! My husband and son suddenly died within months of each other - one from cancer, the other from a car accident - Those were the tipping points for my life. I no longer accepted the dogmas, sweet consolations that my son and his father were now in Heaven waiting for me, or prayers that God had a purpose or the worse, that they were better off now. What garbage! I expanded my research into agnosticism and felt comfortable for a while, but finally decided that in my own mind I was a Humanist --- Good Without God. I didn't see any sign of a heavenly father who cared for me or anyone else. Things happen - for good when everything works out properly, for bad when we violate a universal law. When you turn lose of a glass you are holding up, it will drop. Law of gravity...etc, etc. So I am Humanist now, along with my daughter. We belong to groups and attend conferences, gaining friends, information and confidence.
I recommend it.

I've never believed, either. I was very lucky to be born into a household where religion didn't figure at all. When I tried to believe in my teens, my mother took me to a catholic church, but we burst into fits of giggles when she said "oh look, his handbag's on fire" (the incense burner). I knew then that my lovely mum was all I needed to understand the world. So we left.

Raised catholic and started questioning it at 12..but the time I was 30 or so realized science makes more sense to me..am I an atheist nope... Agnostic do not know one way or another and do not care...thanks for sharing !

I have never believed. Although once, when my beloved Nanny was dying, I tried.

I do not know where you are from, but I also see ( not using the race card either and am not trying to sound ignorant) is that most black people I know ( including my cousins) are much more religious than I would expect. even in Canada, most black people I know are religious, much my so that the white people I know. I am thinking it is cultural, with many not wanting to "be different"

I am not sure if I ever believed or not. I did not have a big attachment to the church and quit going when I was about 12. I did not feel a loss or betrayal that I see so many here express.
NIce summation of your experience

Scott Adams is another person who never believed. You might like some of the stuff he does on blog.dilbert.com or his Twitter handle @ScottAdamsSays.

You certainly are not alone. I have a pretty similar story, since childhood. I learned to pretend along with everyone else. But there came I time when I needed to authentic. I met a priest and later a nun, who confessed they were atheists, but went along with their religion, minus magical beings because it was a career choice in which they could make a positive difference in peoples lives. They tired hard not to be exposed and felt fraudulent. What kept them going was doing good deeds.

pretty much the same experiences as mine .I read a lot as a child wildly exciting books with all the fanfare of life in them.. Sunday school classes were stories with no good hooks or storylines so they never involved me and it was a poor story compared to Black Beauty etc. My parents were sceptics but didnt talk about it - I opted for the personal growth, counselling, creative expressive therapy, route which is about as free and real as it gets these days I am old and just go my own way.

sounds like me

Thank you for sharing. It's great that you found your way here too! I really like Hitchens and Dawkins but need to look into Krauss, thanks for the references.