From fundamentalist to atheist

I post a lot of these videos, because I'm really impressed with people like this - people who grew up in a strongly-religious environment and who really, really believed it, yet were willing and able to change their mind later when they realized the problems.

As I've said before, that wasn't my experience. Sure, I grew up in a Christian family, surrounded by no one but Christians of one type or another, but it wasn't intensely religious. And, more to the point, I don't ever remember believing it, not really. So I never had to make a wrenching change like this.

And it's not the same to just switch religions, even when it's a significant change and not just picking another Christian sect that matches your personality more closely. Even then, you're not giving up anything, you're just exchanging one mythology, one superstition, for one you prefer a bit more.

No, this is a real change, and it must be really difficult. (And note that he'd converted his wife to evangelical Christianity, too! How difficult must that have been?) I'm so impressed with people like this! So I'll continue to post their stories.

Well, OK, it's also because I find them fascinating. These stories are all a little different, especially the beginning. What is it that makes you start questioning what you've been taught all your life?

When you really start looking into it, you'll find all sorts of problems. But very few people question at all, and most of them get scared before they get very far. They don't want to lose their faith, and they're just not willing to follow the truth wherever it leads.

So the people who do value the truth, value it enough to keep questioning, are really admirable people,... which brings me back full-circle. As I've already said, I love videos like this.