Hi all, I'm a 23 year old from Australia and am glad to have joined CEMB! This site was referred to me by a fellow atheist whom I met on Youtube during a religious
debate It's a vicious cycle to break out of a belief, as many of you may already know, but I am proud to call myself an ex-muslim.
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Since grade 3 I have been learning about religions. I've found that I actually enjoy studying religions. By my early teens I realised religions were man-made. But unfortunately having facts laid out in front of you isn't always enough when you were brought up to believe in something so strongly and fear some deity to the point where you would deny anything which disproved it.
I remember sitting in my Uni tutorial over 2 yrs ago learning about mythology. My tutor literally changed my life. All he did was draw a simple diagram on the board showing how the world once was enchanted, and is now not. Obviously this was something I was already aware of, but his little diagram made me walk out of that class and declare myself an atheist. Guess you can say I had an "epiphany"
Some would think, being in Australia, "deconverting" from Islam might not have much impact, but unfortunately I grew up in a community where the number of ethnic muslims are UNBELIEVABLY high So even though my family aren't strict muslims, I felt the pressure to be a muslim from everyone else around me. Over the years, I've lost "friends", lost the respect of a lot of people, been accused of being an enemy of Islam - questioned about WHY I want to destroy such a "peaceful and beautiful religion" *gag* - and have been called the devil's spawn. Lol.
I could laugh it off though, because nothing compares to the pain and hurt that comes from trying to break free of the chains of religions. It's psychologically and emotionally exhausting, and I felt like I could finally BREATHE when I had the courage to declare myself an atheist.
Anyway I think that's enough essay writing, I'm just glad to have been introduced to such an awesome website and wish I knew more like-minded people who live where I do. :(
Thank you for your time
Topic: Another new member =]