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Well my beliefs radically began to change after I was about 11 years old. Before then I was a devout Christian and would even go as far as to read the Bible during lunch. I was labeled as the "Jesus Freak". I never claimed to know everything but was sure that was what was right.

That all changed, however, after an atheist friend of mine and I had a discussion about the subject. He asked me "Why do you believe in Jesus?" and I said "Well I suppose because my parents do". So he replied with another question,"Why do your parents believe in Jesus?" and I said "Well because their parents did of course". I then asked him "Why don't you believe in Jesus?" and he quickly replied "Because my parents do of course!".

After a good laugh, the questions started pouring into my head. You know the ones. Why am I here. If God is perfect and he made us, why are we blighted with sin? Because we ate from the tree that God himself created? And if God does exist who made God?
Of course every Christian believes there is an answer to these questions but suddenly I felt cheated. I felt like this whole time I had been lied to and suddenly proclaimed my faith in God right there.

The next day I felt refreshed, as if before I had 20 layers of clothes on and now I was in shorts and a T. From then on I started looking at the world as though I was agnostic. I began to think about the kind of subjects I had previously pondered in my early childhood. Except this time I wasn't confined by the monotheistic beliefs. Instead a whole new world awaited me. This is also when I began to consider psychedelics as a means of opening my mind.

To those who think I was converted by peer pressure, think again. I had many arguments and discussions with this friend before and I don't think it was what he said that made me start to think differently. It just kind of happened. As if a brick had been chucked at my face.

To this day I am still unsure of what I believe. How could I? I'm still reading the pages of life. However, I have come a long way and my perception of the world has changed dramatically and it changes more every passing day.

O and btw Spartan I'm a Hoosier. Thanks for the warm welcome!

<blockquote data-quote="XoDys" data-source="post: 3503939" data-attributes="member: 12564">Well my beliefs radically began to change after I was about 11 years old. Before then I was a devout Christian and would even go as far as to read the Bible during lunch. I was labeled as the &quot;Jesus Freak&quot;. I never claimed to know everything but was sure that was what was right. That all changed, however, after an atheist friend of mine and I had a discussion about the subject. He asked me &quot;Why do you believe in Jesus?&quot; and I said &quot;Well I suppose because my parents do&quot;. So he replied with another question,&quot;Why do your parents believe in Jesus?&quot; and I said &quot;Well because their parents did of course&quot;. I then asked him &quot;Why don&#039;t you believe in Jesus?&quot; and he quickly replied &quot;Because my parents do of course!&quot;. After a good laugh, the questions started pouring into my head. You know the ones. Why am I here. If God is perfect and he made us, why are we blighted with sin? Because we ate from the tree that God himself created? And if God does exist who made God?Of course every Christian believes there is an answer to these questions but suddenly I felt cheated. I felt like this whole time I had been lied to and suddenly proclaimed my faith in God right there. The next day I felt refreshed, as if before I had 20 layers of clothes on and now I was in shorts and a T. From then on I started looking at the world as though I was agnostic. I began to think about the kind of subjects I had previously pondered in my early childhood. Except this time I wasn&#039;t confined by the monotheistic beliefs. Instead a whole new world awaited me. This is also when I began to consider psychedelics as a means of opening my mind. To those who think I was converted by peer pressure, think again. I had many arguments and discussions with this friend before and I don&#039;t think it was what he said that made me start to think differently. It just kind of happened. As if a brick had been chucked at my face. To this day I am still unsure of what I believe. How could I? I&#039;m still reading the pages of life. However, I have come a long way and my perception of the world has changed dramatically and it changes more every passing day.O and btw Spartan I&#039;m a Hoosier. Thanks for the warm welcome!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="XoDys, post: 3503939, member: 12564"] Well my beliefs radically began to change after I was about 11 years old. Before then I was a devout Christian and would even go as far as to read the Bible during lunch. I was labeled as the "Jesus Freak". I never claimed to know everything but was sure that was what was right. That all changed, however, after an atheist friend of mine and I had a discussion about the subject. He asked me "Why do you believe in Jesus?" and I said "Well I suppose because my parents do". So he replied with another question,"Why do your parents believe in Jesus?" and I said "Well because their parents did of course". I then asked him "Why don't you believe in Jesus?" and he quickly replied "Because my parents do of course!". After a good laugh, the questions started pouring into my head. You know the ones. Why am I here. If God is perfect and he made us, why are we blighted with sin? Because we ate from the tree that God himself created? And if God does exist who made God? Of course every Christian believes there is an answer to these questions but suddenly I felt cheated. I felt like this whole time I had been lied to and suddenly proclaimed my faith in God right there. The next day I felt refreshed, as if before I had 20 layers of clothes on and now I was in shorts and a T. From then on I started looking at the world as though I was agnostic. I began to think about the kind of subjects I had previously pondered in my early childhood. Except this time I wasn't confined by the monotheistic beliefs. Instead a whole new world awaited me. This is also when I began to consider psychedelics as a means of opening my mind. To those who think I was converted by peer pressure, think again. I had many arguments and discussions with this friend before and I don't think it was what he said that made me start to think differently. It just kind of happened. As if a brick had been chucked at my face. To this day I am still unsure of what I believe. How could I? I'm still reading the pages of life. However, I have come a long way and my perception of the world has changed dramatically and it changes more every passing day. O and btw Spartan I'm a Hoosier. Thanks for the warm welcome! [/QUOTE]