My Entry

Ray Comfort of bannana fame has a contest.

I won't be posting for a few days (I will be at the "Deeper" conference in Georgia). So I have a proposal for atheists. Write a 200 words or less article called "Why I don't Believe in God."

The winner will get $100 and get published (I will be the judge), runners up and other thought-provoking articles will also get published, along with my rebuttal. Contest closes Monday 20th, October, 2008.

Two-hundred words ain't a lot! I don't know how many words I have, but here's my entry.

I am an ex-christian. My father is a fundamentalist pastor. I was taught at a young age about Jesus, God, Heaven and Hell. At the age of five, I asked Jesus to come into my heart. Maybe, I did it because I was scared. But, I do know that I was sincere. How can a five-year-old not be sincere? Later in life, I rededicated my life to God. Later still, I rededicated my life again. I was very sincere. Sincere enough to read the bible.

I read the bible. I read every word. The further I got into the book, the less I believed. When I got to Deuteronomy 21:18-21, my belief was out the door, never to return. I still finished the bible, but I read it a little more objectively than I used to.

When I was a teenager, I was coping with a mental illness. Life was a living Hell for my Dad during that period. I didn't listen to him. I was not rational. I was rebellious. When I read Deuteronomy 21:18-21 later in life, I couldn't believe what my holy book was telling me. According to God, my Dad should have had me killed! Stoned to death! All because I had a few neurons misfiring. As long as that verse is in the bible, I will never accept it as the inerrant word of God.

I'm not sure I like the idea that a misogynist literalist will be judging my essay by his own merits, but it's just a few hundred words. If I win, the money ($100! Woo Hoo!) will go the The Fayetteville Freethinkers.