People frequently ask me what instigated my departure from religious faith. Here it is in a nutshell:🧵 My mom died a painful death and my pastor at the time took advantage of my vulnerability to prey on me. Luckily I saw thru the manipulation and got myself to safety. 1/7

I decided to never go to church again. However, I still believed in Jesus and spent hours per day in bible study, taking notes, writing essays, topical research and even spreadsheets. I began to notice inconsistencies, making it obvious to me 2/7

that the bible had been tampered with. Paul's teachings in particular contradict and add to Jesus' teachings, notably the path to salvation. Paul preached grace and faith while Jesus preached repentance. Slavery was upheld, "Do not rape" didn't appear in the 3/7

10 commandments. Jesus threatened his own people with hell if they didn't forgive others. I found all of this immoral. Simultaneously I was reading about history and genocide, in which I recognized patterns where the powerful used religion to control conquered peoples. 4/7

I did not know when I left church that I was on the path to atheism. But my curious brain went into overdrive addressing all the harmful falsehoods and purging them one by one. I'm angry about my childhood indoctrination and I hate to see it happen to others. 6/7

So I speak out publicly now to connect with others of similar experiences, to be a source of help to those with doubts, and to expose evil deeds done in the name of Christianity. 7/7

@WhyRWeHere99 If people of faith, who I do not despise, were made too present evidence in court too justify why believe as they do any idea what they would present as evidence?

@BullHorns69 Personally conceived experiences and cherry picked scripture. Not enough to convince the rest of us.

@WhyRWeHere99 Sounds like a book I need to find. TY for that.

@KoroninK It's Demon-Haunted World (I forgot "World" in the original tweet).

@WhyRWeHere99 Pseudoscience - the basis of the anti-vaxers and cookers.

@WhyRWeHere99 Great book

@WhyRWeHere99 There isn't evidence, or it's just not evidence that you are willing to take heed of?

@WhyRWeHere99 Sorry to hear about your experience with the church, unfortunately human beings are flawed, yet, we can’t blame God for that. This article might change your mind about intelligent design, which isn’t the same thing as organised religion:

@WhyRWeHere99 "Tricked" is a loaded term. I don't believe those people were trying to trick you. I think they believed every single religious thing they forced upon you. I'm happy you were able to see through their charade.

@WhyRWeHere99 Demon haunted world is one of my favorite books. Sagan was amazing.

@WhyRWeHere99 no earthly evidence of Jesus Christ the son of God. that is a lie.