My first experience with Christianity began when I started preschool. Every morning we would open up with the Lord's prayer and before snack time we had to pray. Then in elementary school, I remember the first time I had to say the Pledge of Allegiance. The concept of God did not seem strange to me especially since I began my "brainwashing" at a rather young age. I loved the nativity scenes and the pageantries my church would set up as Christmas came and the dining halls would abound with a myriad of fellow "Brothers" and "Sisters." The scene was very warm, especially when we all gathered to a Christmas feast and exchanged presents and let loose a round of "Merry Christmas." It was all very well and jolly, but I never gave a thought to the actual reality of life.

I remember my more recent trips to other regions of the world that are still developing. I remember going to Mexico and seeing a village being run by Christian missionaries who condemned anyone who tried to couple Hispanic religion with the Christian Religion. At that time, I did not think much about what the Christians were doing to the ones "worshipping false idols" since I was taught the 10 commandments. I was brought up on that dogma and did not understand the ideas of another religion. In another words, I was closed-minded.

When I started attending Bible Study at SCAD Atlanta (Savannah College of Art and Design), I began to question what I was reading. Part of the reason was my interest in science and the way it was more accurate in determining the way the world works. I felt compelled to do research on the Christian faith, which led me to read arguments between Christians, Agnostics, and Atheists. All sides presented convincing arguments, but the Christians provided the most unsatisfactory ones. Time and time again, I would find the majority of their arguments either evasive, arguing out of ignorance, or quoting the Bible with no other outside source. I also started familiarizing myself with science and the myths science had to endure from the Christians. One thing led to another and I became interested in philosophy. I started reading ideas proposed by Kant, Sartre, Descartes, Ayn Rand, Paine, Locke, and many others. I also reread the Bible from a neutral point of view and found the book to be rather disturbing (countless tellings of slaughter, incest, hypocrisy). I sought the explanations of the Bible Study teacher and I did not recieve any answers other than "it's all based on faith." I stayed up all night revising my life and finally... I recanted my faith.

There is a myriad of reasons for my rejection of all religions. One of the reasons is because of what religion is. From what I have found, all religions are philosophies claimed to possess divine origins from a creator/creators; rituals are then created to honor the deity/deities. I read countless articles trying to explain God/Gods/Goddess/Goddesses and none of them provided convincing arguments for the existence of such a being. In fact, I find the atheologist's standpoint more consistent than that of theists who can never agree on one subject pertaining to religion.

What I want to do now is explain the reasoning that led me to conclude that there can be no God, contrary to what theists propose. What I am about to present is only a part of the larger argument against theistic beliefs.

When I talked to Theists (yes, I've talked to Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Traditional Chinese Religionists, Shintoists, Wiccans) about how they define their deity, I am often given the answer that he/she is unknowable, indescribable, infinite (basically what it is not). Then they go on to give descriptions of the deity as being omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient, and much more. Now this is where we reach a conceptual problem, especially when viewed objectively. With the law of identity, A=A, which means a chair is a chair even if its name or purpose has been changed; it will always remain the same in essence. If that chair is changed in any way, then it is no longer that chair (2+2=4, not 5). Now, if a theist says that the deity is infinite, then it is non-A in this case. A cannot be non-A (infinite does not mean it is subjected to time but rather it has NO nature/properties). Theists understand this, so they make the deity A by giving it a description, since an object with a nature is describable. So now A=A. However, they forget that their god is also non-A since he is infinite; so this is where the contradiction occurs. If an entity is not describable but can be described anyway, then what theists are trying to propose is that A=A and non-A (2+2= 4 and 5), which is impossible. The Theists counter by saying that the deity is not constricted to time and space, but again, that means the deity is infinite and does not change the contradiction in any way. The Law of Identity is a fundamental concept that no Theist has been able to disprove so far because it is absolute, and to say there is no absolute is to commit a stolen concept fallacy (not semantics, as some try to say to brush off this fact).

I understand that human reasoning is limited, but there is enough to scrutinize every aspect of theistic dogma. From what I have found, reason is the last line of defense against the illogics that men have a tendency to accept without a firm foundation. Remember, faith is a brick house built on sand; it has a tough facade and attempts to endure, but in the end, it will sink.

To counter theistic arguments that atheists are "satanist": Atheism means the absence of "God-belief." That also includes devils, Satan, pixies, anything that defies testable logic and reasoning. Babies are atheists; they do not belong to any theistic organizations until their parents indoctrinate them into their belief systems. There are two types of atheists: weak and strong atheists. Weak atheists are the typical disbelievers who have never been indoctrinated or have any philosophical experience. Strong Atheists are ones who have philosophical backing and experience with religion. I am a strong atheist and I'd like to see a theist convert without their guns (hell, brimstone, eternal damnation, eternal punishment, a beer factory with stale beer and hooker paradise with VD, etc.)

Can't we all be REASONable people? Thank God I'm an Atheist.