i guess i was lucky. i was raised a secular jew, never heard bible stories, only read what i have read of the bible as an adult, sort of in self-defense when nonjews look at the christian translations and say stuff that actually isn't in there (there's enough weird stuff that IS in there!) so i didn't have a conflict. when i discovered at age 15 that there was extremely little chance there was a god, or any gods, it was kind of saddening but not traumatic, and it didn't explain any inconsistencies or anything, because i just hadn't encountered any yet. as i read about christians' pre-atheist experiences i realize how difficult it all must have been!

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