I was also a creationist and hard-core Christian. Although I was
never a believer in the Trinity, nor the idea that Jesus was God.
I was brought up in a very exclusive 'the world is not a nice place, so let's get away from it as much as possible' church, but not as extreme as living with no contact with the outside world. Television and, to a lesser extent computers, were frowned upon.
As usual, our church claimed to believe in the Bible literally. Perhaps the most striking feature is that they believed Acts 17:24 is literal, and so we never had church buildings. They also believed Luke 10:1-9 is literal, and so we always had two preachers, each without salary (only money given for petrol for their cars), houses or unneeded possessions. They would stay overnight in the houses of the 'friends' - fellow members of my church.
So anyway, I still go to this church. But for some reason, though I'm not completely sure why, when I was around 14-15 (I'm 19 now), I started questioning what I had been taught. I think that started to coincide with my interest in the brain, and I was very interested in the neurobiology of belief. The most striking feature was that I could not see any room for the soul - everything I thought the soul did, I discovered that the brain controls those. No soul, meant no chance of an afterlife. And no afterlife, for me at least, caused me to doubt God too.
So for me, atheism actually preceded my belief that evolution was true. I never even bothered to think about evolution vs creationism until I realised that the Bible might not be an accurate account of God.
jar writes:
If you had been brought up in a religious environment that encouraged questioning any and all facets of faith, and one where the leaders had not tried to insist that obvious falsehoods like the Flood or Garden of Eden or the Exodus myth or the Tyre prophecy were fact, would it have made a difference?
It's hard to say, but I don't think so. It may have taken longer for me to realise it, but I think if I had still been as interested in neurobiology as I am, I would have eventually discarded religion.
Edited by Doddy, : wrong verse
Edited by Doddy, : also wrong verse - that's what I get for trying to remember the verses
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