[tpir]

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I'm not sure there's been a single unbeliever who has been convinced otherwise on this forum, despite the abundant wealth of logic which has been offered in refutation. I'm not sure anything can or will be solved in such debates.

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That was probably a wrong statement for me to make. My own mind has been changed on several things concerning religion (if anything, I'm more tolerant). I also think (although I could be wrong), that this forum has made you take a closer look at the accuracy of evolution.

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I was already agnostic when I found this forum. Catholicism has a way of making one a non-believer if they pay enough attention in Sunday School. My favorite moment during CCD training was when a priest told me I would be better off not asking so many questions about my faith. lol, fat chance.

A combination of reading this forum, studying a few books (on *both* sides of the debate) and talking to some friends who were versed in this subject slowly nudged me towards atheism. It was hard at first since I wanted to believe in God (and still do to some degree). If anything, my hardcore evangelical friends put the final nails in the coffin of my theism. When they discovered I was "slipping" they gave me all sorts of reading material and pamphlets. Each one was more ridiculous than the one before it. That my friends actually bought the horrible arguments presented in their material made me scared to be honest.

This forum has made me more tolerant in some ways and less tolerant in others. I am now more understanding of the fact that people use God/Jesus as their "spirituality trigger," and in that way, religion is a necessary and good thing. However, the truth claims of [insert religion/religious book] get no love from me anymore. I used to pretend they weren't that bad since my family and friends believe in them, but I can't keep that charade up any longer in good conscience.