Why I Am No Longer Christian

Introduction, Part 5

All I ask of those of you who are Christian is to listen to me with an open heart and mind, and to not immediately dismiss my deconversion as a lack of faith or a trick of Satan. As I hope I have shown, it wasn't an easy process. I have struggled for years to salvage my faith and find the truth, but I achieved only one of those. It has been an emotional journey, one of deep intellectual and spiritual change, and a complete revision of life as I know it.

It was the exact opposite of a hasty or uneducated decision. Ironically, I am here because I had a burning passion for God. I wanted to know as much about his creation as possible. I wanted to know how Christianity came to be, how its sacred texts were chosen, when they were written and by whom. I spent hours studying the Bible, taking notes and underlining passages. I scrolled through online sources in the early morning and devoured books on every topic known to humankind. Any time that I wasn't working on school work (and even times I should've been), I threw myself into research.

After all, if Christianity was true, there was nothing to worry about. It wouldn't matter how much knowledge I gained, because I would still be led back to it. And if it wasn't true — if I had been wrong all these years — well, I wanted to know. Isn't it better to know the truth, however painful it is, than to willfully live a lie?

So, here I am. Was the truth painful to swallow? Was it difficult to admit that I was wrong and that Christianity is just another man-made religion among many? For sure. Nobody said it would be easy. But the clarity with which I now see the world has no comparison.

I feared that life would lose its meaning or that there would be nothing left to live for without religion. How wrong I was! Life is far more beautiful now than it ever was when it had to fit my preconceived notions! It is as if I was fishing in a pond all my life, and then somebody showed me the ocean — or as if I thought the Earth was all there is, and then somebody showed me the Universe. It's like waking up from a vivid dream. While you're dreaming, you think it is really happening, but after you wake up, you can't believe that you had thought it was real.

How happy I am to have escaped from the shackles of religion! I am happy, and free, and more educated than I ever was before. I want to shout it from the rooftops! To embrace life at its fullest; to immerse myself in music, art, fiction, science, carnal pleasures, and all the knowledge humanity can offer... It is beyond compare.

Life is so short. To waste it caught up in the iron jaws of organized religion and hypocrisy is a crime. Wake up from your dream, step out of your bubble, and see the world with clear eyes.

It may be frightening at first, but it is worth it. Hopefully, this book will be your first step into the light of truth, and an adequate explanation for why I am no longer Christian.