Journey to atheism

Edit: Unfortunately, LovingDoubt disappeared from YouTube, removing her channel and all of her videos. No one seems to know what happened. Luckily, though, someone else has mirrored her Journey to Atheism playlist, so I embedded the first video from that. Note, however, that the older links, below, may not work for you.

This is the first video, other than the introduction, in a series from LovingDoubt describing her "deconversion from a fundamentalist pentecostal to an atheist." I find it fascinating, not least because my own experiences were so different. I was never a believer, at least as far back as I can remember.

This must take a lot of courage - the courage to throw off an entire belief system, of course, but also the courage to put herself out there with these videos. As I say, I find it fascinating. These videos describe her journey, step by step, from fundamentalism to atheism.

Most people, I suspect, would have stopped half-way. Well, most people wouldn't have started this journey at all. But many do leave their religions, without traveling nearly so far. If they become uncomfortable about something in their current religion - pedophilia in the Catholic Church, for example, or right-wing politics in a fundamentalist sect - they simply find a religion that agrees with what they want to believe.

It's easy to do, at least in America. There are religions everywhere, and even the Christian churches are wildly diverse. If you're uncomfortable in your current church, the usual solution is to find a different one. It's far less common for someone to start questioning this stuff and not stop, to follow reason and evidence to the ultimate conclusion. It happens, but it's not at all common.

I'm sure that's because it does take courage. It's not the easiest thing to do, to drop your security blanket completely, to stand up and walk away. I didn't have to do this, since I could never really believe, myself, despite everything I was told, and I'm impressed at anyone who can. These videos are quite interesting, too. Whether you believe or not, I think you'll find them worthwhile.

Note that this is a journey, and like all journeys, it must start with the first step. The video above is probably not the best of the series, not the most profound or the most enlightening. It's simply the first small step. It's the first of this Journey to Atheism series, except for the introduction. (I thought about embedding the introduction here, but decided to go with the first actual episode, instead.)

Note, too, that the series isn't complete. There are 13 short videos, plus the introduction, so far. But I don't know how many are planned.