Converts' Corner

Sept 18th 2007 - Richard Dawkins writes: I just received, through the British Humanist Association, the following appeal from Isobel Cook of Channel Four. If any of our readers would like to share their story of how they escaped from religion, please contact Isobel Cook directly, at the e-mail address given.

Richard

I'm a television director developing a documentary for Channel 4. The programme will follow one or more people as they take the brave step of leaving their religion. I'm keen to talk to people who've been through or are going through this difficult process. It would be a very sensitive programme - led by the people who take part - and will, I hope, not only help those involved but be an inspiration to others going through 'deconversion'. I would really like to hear your story. Please be assured that you will be contacting me in complete confidence and by doing so you will in no way be committing yourself to take part in the programme. Please contact me at leavingmyreligion@yahoo.co.uk.

Isobel Cook

“And I thought and thought and thought. But I just didn’t have enough to go on, so I didn’t really come to any resolution. I was extremely doubtful about the idea of god, but I just didn’t know enough about anything to have a good working model of any other explanation for, well, life, the universe, and everything to put in its place. But I kept at it, and I kept reading and I kept thinking. Sometime around my early thirties I stumbled upon evolutionary biology, particularly in the form of Richard Dawkins’s books The Selfish Gene and then The Blind Watchmaker, and suddenly (on, I think the second reading of The Selfish Gene) it all fell into place. It was a concept of such stunning simplicity, but it gave rise, naturally, to all of the infinite and baffling complexity of life. The awe it inspired in me made the awe that people talk about in respect of religious experience seem, frankly, silly beside it. I’d take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.”

Douglas Adams The Salmon of Doubt, p 99.

“Douglas, I miss you. You are my cleverest, funniest, most open-minded, wittiest, tallest, and possibly only convert. I hope this book might have made you laugh – though not as much as you made me. . . Douglas’s conversion by my earlier books – which did not set out to convert anyone – inspired me to dedicate to his memory this book – which does!”

Richard Dawkins The God Delusion, p 117

Is Douglas Adams Richard’s only convert? Or is he just the first of many? Please write in to Converts' Corner if you have lost your religion (or have been encouraged to come out of the closet) as a result of reading The God Delusion or other Dawkins books.

Email

51

I am 31 years old and, like almost every other Irish lad, was raised as a Catholic. As ludicrous as it sounds, I fully de-converted from Catholicism after around 100 pages of The God Delusion. I have always been sceptical of all religion for as long as I can remember. I always found religion too vague and contradictory and it never offered satisfactory answers. But Catholic guilt can be very hard to shake off (I was also an altar boy for 5 years).

Thank you Richard for this newfound clarity and, corny as it may sound, peace of mind.

Michael

52

Richard, I have always held a secular world view and I have always loved science. I own all of your books and love your writing.

This conversion is not about me, but a friend of mine. My friend is the same age as me (18), but we have radically different lifestyles. He is reckless, he smokes, he drinks regularly, he dropped out of school, he takes drugs, he is unemployed and living off government welfare. He's also a wonderful guy and fun to be around!

Four months ago I left him in my room while I got ready for a night of drinking. When I returned I found him reading the preface of your book The God Delusion. It was quite a shock to see him with a book, but even more astonishing when he asked to borrow it.

I didn't expect much when I lent him the book. A few days later on a trip to the East Coast, I was shocked when Daniel brought your book with him to read.

He later began a discussion on a range of topics including the existence of god and speculation about evolution. He asked me lots of questions and claimed that he had never read something as inspiring as The God Delusion.

To my aghast over successive weeks Daniel returned the God Delusion and asked if he could borrow more of your books. So I lent him The Ancestor's Tale, The Devil's Chaplin, The Selfish Gene, Unweaving the Rainbow, River Out of Eden, The Blind Watchmaker and also Root of All Evil? I was so surprised but he has now read all of them and watched the DVD.

Daniel is of course, the same old Daniel. His primary motivation is still sensory and his lifestyle has hardly changed, except that now he seems inspired! Daniel continues to talk to me about your books and he has claimed that they have put his life into perspective. Daniel has become inquisitive about Science and is always discussing it, clearly excited by the explanations Science provides.

Recently he has contemplated studying Biology and finishing his secondary education.

We often hear stories in the media about religion inspiring young people. It's the story of a street kid coming to grasp a 'greater truth'. Richard, I think you have achieved the very same outcome, only this time it was through books of science and not faith.

Alex

53

Mr. Dawkins,

Recently I decided to finally investigate the issue of religion, and my position concerning religious belief as a whole. I was raised in a fundamentalist, bible-thumping home in the south-eastern region of the United States. I am sure you cringed at that last sentence, but you will be happy to know I have delivered myself from the ignorant religious views I was raised to believe. My grandfather was actually a Southern-Baptist minister for 50 years, so Agnostic/Atheist ideals were truly in for an uphill climb when it came to me being convinced that my family and I were all wrong. They were, and I was, and I will be trying to convince them of this fact for the rest of my life I'm sure. I have even put myself at odds with my wife (she cried at the thought of me going to hell when I told her of my enlightenment), and I state all this simply to fortify the decimating strength of being confronted with actual truth. The truth in your book "The God Delusion" was life-altering for me, and I just wanted to say thanks. I have started shoring up my intellectual defenses against what I know will be an onslaught of horror and anger coming from my family and wife, but I am now armed with the truth which is much more reassuring than the armor of lies I had embraced for so long. I think every intelligent adult goes through a point somewhere between 20 and 35 years old when they question their belief system, and my choice became clear. I could either bow my head and live a lie for the rest of my life, or I could accept the challenges that living a truthful, dogma-free, intellectually strong life would demand. In this area of the country especially, one is judged by the church to which he/she belongs. Mr. Dawkins, your work has given me the strength to step out and be who I want to be without being scared of the social persecution I will surely endure. Once again, THANK YOU SIR.

Sincerely,

Mark Steven Anderson II

54

Professor Dawkins

I was raised in a very strict single parent home on the east coast of the United States. My mom, out of genuine love for us and concern for our spiritual well being, saw to it that religion would be the foundation of the lives of my two sisters and I. We were heavily involved with the activities of our local African Methodist Episcopal church. We routinely attended both 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM church services, Sunday school, church socials, Monday night choir practice, Wednesday night bible study, Friday night teen ministry, the schedule of reinforcement was endless and exhausting. I was never able to fully swallow all the scriptures, the concept of the trinity has always been slippery to say the least. Suspicions crept into my mind around the 9th grade, i began to notice a terrible disparity. In contrast to such miracles as the parting of the Red sea, and the reanimation of the dead described in the bible, modern miracles tend to be as subtle as a weeping statue of the Madonna, or as nuanced as getting a parking spot close to the supermarket entrance. Anyways, I moved away to go to college where i fell into orbit with a diverse group of kids from many different backgrounds, some of whom had some very radical ideas with regards to religion. This past January i came across your book "The God Delusion" my roommate was reading it, and i was instantly struck by the title. I read it over the course of a holiday weekend, and was blown away by the candor and veracity of your writing. Your arguments are like a flurry of carpet bombs shattering the sanctuary of my own ignorance, but at the same time liberating me from dogmatic thinking, an unreason. Your book has given me a much clearer view of reality, and a greater appreciation of life. i have sense read "The Blind Watchmaker", "The Ends of Faith", "Letter to a Christian Nation", "Breaking the Spell", "Infidel" and "god is not Great". Thank You for giving me the strength to ask questions, and to think more rationally. It has truly made a difference in my life, and my experience. I only wish that your books had a larger audience in the religious black community that my mom and sisters still belong to.

Andrew Okehi

55

I am an ex-fundamentalist Christian from the Bible Belt. Yes... I did indeed used to be a fundamentalist Christian... I have danced in the aisles of churches. I have met Jim and Tammy Faye Baker on outings to their "PTL" (Praise the Lord) retreat. I have been a missionary to Venezuela (pre-Chavez days), encouraging others to "see the light". I have read the Bible from cover to cover many times. I have taught Sunday School. I have been "healed". I stopped just shy of speaking in tongues (I never "felt" the Holy Spirit trying to make me talk... and I didn't want to be false by pretending... something that I suspect a lot of people do because of the pressure from others). I have held all night prayer vigils. I have even preached a sermon. Yes... I have done all of these things. All before my 18th birthday.

I wish I could say that I am an atheist now because of Mr. Dawkins' book, but my transformation has been a long time coming. I think it began when I was still under the influence of my parents. Around age 14 or 15, I had a very vivid dream (perhaps the doubts of my unconscious mind finally forced themselves through and made themselves known). I dreamt that I was in a room with three doors. Jesus stood by one and said, "This is the only way to eternal life." Mohammed stood by another and said the same thing. And Buddha stood by the third and also said the same thing. While trying to make my decision, I was suddenly tranported to a higher plane above the room, and I could see that all the doors led to the same place! Surrounding this room was the vastness of the universe, and no matter which door you went through you would find yourself in this universe, not in some mythical heaven or paradise.

I buried this dream for a long time (goodness knows I couldn't tell my family about it). But I began to harbor doubts. In secret, I would research other religions. I would look for answers (I was tired of always being told that things were the way they were because 'God wanted it that way'). Meanwhile, I was on a path that would lead to my attendance at a Christian college called Evangel College (in Missouri). I wanted to study chemistry or biology (I loved science), but at this college, classes would be interspersed with chapel and there would be no mention of evolution or natural selection. (Let me digress by telling you that I never learned about evolution in high school, either. My biology teacher was a Christian, and she refused to teach it to us. So at this point in my life I knew very little about evolution except that it was an "evil" idea perpetuated by Satan.)

I finally rebelled. I had so many doubts and unanswered questions. So I refused to go to college. My family greatly protested. I instead moved in with my grandmother (herself a devout Christian lady) and entered the workforce. The one benefit is that my grandmother did not insist that I go to church every Sunday as my parents had done (although she did make me feel guilty when I didn't go). So I was able to distance myself somewhat from the constantly reinforced brainwashing. I continued to search for answers on my own... But I would lie awake many nights thinking about my religion and my doubts and wracked with uncertainty and guilt.

Eventually I got married and was no longer living with my grandmother. And I also remembered my long-ago dream to become a scientist. With the tremendous support of my husband (he's from England and was never a very religious person), I quit my job and returned to college, eleven years after leaving high school. It was at my undergraduate institution that I was first exposed to natural selection in a very real way. Suddenly everything made sense! It was like the curtains had been pulled back from my mind. I felt like I could finally understand the world and why things are the way they are. I would no longer have to depend on the idea that some invisible god willy-nilly decided to make some things perfect and some things imperfect and who left behind more questions than answers. It was a beautiful moment of awakening.

I am now in graduate school working towards a Ph.D. in neuroscience at Emory University in Atlanta. As anyone who has ever been to graduate school knows, there is not much time for personal reading. But I have managed to start reading The God Delusion. It is a wonderful book, and it beautifully summarizes the struggles I have been going through with issues of science vs. religion for so long. I am even considering a lab rotation in a lab that looks at the evolution of the human brain. And I am looking forward to reading Richard Dawkins' other books.

The problem is that my entire family is still very much fundamentalist Christians. To say it makes for unpleasant Thanksgivings and Christmases is an understament. They all feel that I am going to hell and they must save me. It's very emotionally challenging to have your mother cry in front of you because she thinks that she will never see you again in eternity. It's a struggle that I am constantly facing. I am constantly getting e-mails telling me how science is wrong. (My dad has a bachelor's degree in biology which makes him think he understands science better than anyone.) I am just so thankful that I have my husband as a support (oddly enough, my family aren't as concerned with trying to "save" him). The one thing that keeps me sane in the middle of this whirlwind of religious family members is the fact that I feel at peace for the first time. It is as if everything finally makes sense. There are no more nights lying awake wracked with uncertainty and doubt. Whereas I used to try to "convert" people to the Christian faith, now I wish I could share this inner peace with everyone. I am truly sorry for anyone I did "convert" during my younger years.... I hope I did not lead too many people down a path of guilt, doubt, and uncertainty. Now I hope to live by example and show others that atheism is not the same as immorality.

Thank you, Mr. Dawkins, for infusing me with courage to share my story with others. I no longer feel compelled to hide my atheism.

Nikki

56

I just finished reading The God Delusion, the first book I've read by Mr. Dawkins. I LOVE HIM . . . and his book!!

I've identified myself as a fundamentalist Christian all my life, because I didn't know I had a choice, but now I'm FREE! I always knew I didn't believe it, but I just didn't know what I could do about it. This book made me feel okay about what I've always believed, and I'm so thankful. I'm not quite "out of the closet" to my family and friends, but I'm working on it. (I'm from Arkansas, part of the Bible Belt - tears will be shed, prayers will be said, gossip will be exchanged!)

It is truly wonderful to be honest with myself.

Donna

57

Dear Professor,

I was 15 years old when my journey with skepticism of my religion Islam started when I asked the Muslim sheik this question

-God says," I used to be a lost treasure so I created man to be known(or realised)". How can a perfect God express a need or desire which is inconsistent with Islam?

Ever since, I kept finding inconsistencies in Islam till I reached the age of almost 17. After moving to the US, I read the bible and started researching Christianity but found its doctrines unsatisfactory as well. The huge step was your book, the greatest book I ever read, The Selfish Gene. Evolution and Darwinism were the missing piece of the puzzle. The Blind Watchmaker followed, another masterpiece by our genius professor. At 20, I "converted" to atheism. Thanks a lot for the great work you are doing along with the rest of our secular heroes Sam Harris,Chris Hitchens, Daniel Dennett and the brave Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ayaan Hirsi Ali was asked at AAI conference if there are atheists in the Muslim world. As a person who grew up in the Middle East I know what kind of intimidation, harassment and hatred any person who criticizes Islam suffers from and that is why people never declare their disbelief or skepticism.

Thanks Professor Dawkins,

Best Regards

An Ex-Muslim

58

Dear Mr. Dawkins,

Thank you very much for writing your book, The God Delusion. In an act of (admittedly childish) "sacrilege", I have been reading two chapters every Sunday, finishing today. You've managed to turn me into an avowed atheist, and I can't tell you how much I thank you for it. Mind you, I've never been a real Christian. I believe that I was first introduced to the concept of atheism in sixth grade and declared myself an atheist in seventh. I continued to consider myself an atheist through the summer after my freshman year of high school, but I was not a happy atheist. It wasn't enough for me to just know that I am above the influence of this all-powerful "drug", religion. I felt like I was constantly on the warpath against religion, and I was extremely discontented. This discontent lasted until the end of the summer, when, for the first time, I got in a philosophical mood. It was actually somewhat bizarre; it felt like a wall fell down between me and the truth. I would stay up at night, sitting on my bedroom floor at 2 in the morning and thinking through my own philosophical truths and proofs that I had figured out (at this point, this was all mine. I had never even read any philosophy). Much of what I thought of had to do with religion. My greatest philosophical truth that I discovered was that the idea of a god is illogical.

I can't explain how what I discovered that night made me feel. It put me at peace. My atheism ceased to be a struggle for me. Despite my wonderful, peaceful feeling, during my sophomore year, as more and more of my friends began to turn away from religion, I moved in the other direction. My hatred (yes, I really do hate it) of religion deepened, since as a human rights activist and someone who is extremely interested in international politics, I was seeing more and more of exactly how horrible religion was. I became vehemently anti-religion, but less anti-god. Although I did not care if there was a god, and I wouldn't live my life any differently if there was, I became less inclined to say that there was no god. Sophomore year I became an agnostic. I just didn't know. There were strange things that happened in the world, and maybe god did cause them. Maybe god helped me get an A in chemistry. I was less happy being an agnostic than I was as an atheist, but I just couldn't justify being an atheist. It was during sophomore year that I picked up your book for the first time. Although I was engrossed, for some reason, I only got through the first six chapters. All through your probability argument, there was a little voice in my head whispering, but what if….

Perhaps it was my study of thermodynamics that made me more receptive to your probability argument the second time around. I learned in physics class sophomore year that all of thermodynamics is based on probability. It is theoretically quite possible for a lake to spontaneously freeze in ninety degree weather, but the odds of that are astronomical. We don't take into account the fact that lakes could spontaneously freeze when we build hydroelectric power plants. Your probability argument, the second time around, convinced me, and I am once again a happy and firm atheist. As a budding scientist (although I intend to become an honest politician when I grow up, I go to a science school and take biology, physics, and chemistry every year and I have also read several of Stephen Hawking's books), I am compelled to follow the evidence. The evidence suggests that there is no god, and I would be contrary to my own scientific spirit to believe otherwise. Thank you.

As I have already stated, I enjoyed you book very much. That being said, I did not agree with everything you said, especially regarding absolutism, consequentialism, relativism, and exactly how much we can and should regulate what parents teach their children (with more emphasis on the can than the should). I also find the multiverse theory rather off-the-wall, but all that is rather irrelevant. I'm sure we could have a wonderful, reason-based debate on our respective philosophies and the physical theories we subscribe to. What really struck me in your book is the beginning of chapter 9, where you discussed how damaging childhood indoctrination of the concept of hell can be. Surprisingly, this struck a chord with me.

My mother's side of the family (the one which I am close to, and consider my family), is atheist or nonreligious all the way up the tree. Even my great-grandmother was not religious and a feminist, both things which were extremely difficult for a woman born in super-Christian Armenia in 1900. My grandmother is an atheist and my mother is somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist. (The men in the family don't seem to have much to say on the matter!) Nevertheless, the family has maintained some connection with the church for social reasons. As a result, I attended an Episcopal school in nursery school and kindergarten, since the quality of education was much better there than in other schools. I want to make it clear that I was not the victim, here, of any sort of the abuse that you documented in your book. The nursery school was indistinguishable from any secular nursery school. Religion was never brought up, and the nursery school was completely unaffiliated with the church with which the primary school was affiliated. As I recall, not everyone there was even children of Christians. Kindergarten was nearly the same. Upon moving to the primary school, the only changes were that everyone recited the Lord's Prayer in the morning and we had a religion class. This religion class did not teach us to fear anyone or anything, it mostly taught us about the stories in the Bible, and was taught by a delightfully kind old woman named Mother Baker. The school encouraged learning of all sorts, especially scientific, and the religious aspect of the school, such as it was, in no way interfered with the curriculum. These were fairly enlightened people who did not take the Bible literally at all. The stories in the Bible were taught to us like fairy tales, or fables, so we could get a moral point out of them, not as though they actually happened. Even then I was interested in science, and the school librarian took great joy in providing me with all the geology books I could handle, books that surely would have been labeled as blasphemous at most Christian schools. As a result, I left kindergarten with a knowledge of geology to rival that of many eighth-graders and a love of God and Jesus, since they inspired such nice people to create such nice schools. Even then it was a casual love. I didn't see the point of ritual, and we only went to church on Christmas and Easter.

All this changed when my family moved to New Jersey as a result of my father's job. I am 100% Armenian, a culture which is extremely, extremely tied to the Armenian Orthodox (or Apostlistic, the terms are interchangeable) Church. However, no one in my family had ever attended the Armenian Church, for reasons I would later discover, namely that this church is misogynistic, backwards, and in an ancient dialect of Armenian that even Armenian speakers can't understand. Even when my grandmother and great-grandmother were bringing up my mother and aunt, they attended an Episcopal church, when they attended at all. But there was a fairly well-known Armenian church in our area, so my mother and father decided to go there in order to put me in touch with my culture. I can't remember how long this lasted. I quit Sunday school after a year, since I just didn't like it, but we continued to be affiliated with the church for a while afterwards. I can't remember the thing that caused us to split, but my mother does, and she told me the story. One Easter, some high-up Armenian Church official held a special Easter sermon for children. Rather than tell us about how Jesus loved us, he proceeded to tell us that we are all terrible sinners destined for hell. Remember, he was talking to children younger than ten. My parents were completely horrified, and we never went back to that church. The experience stayed with me, however. One night I went down to my mother in tears. I was scared that the Devil was going to come and take me to hell. My mother was upset over my distress and furious at any organization that would cause little children to think like this. Thus began my liberation: my mother told me that there is no hell and no Devil, and that the priests just told me about it to scare me.

It is with some sense of shame that I recount this story, since I consider myself to be an enlightened person. Even when I was very young and believed in God, I was never religious and hardly ever went to church. But I cannot be blamed for being young and impressionable. I am extremely grateful for having enlightened parents who would have never enrolled in the church were it not for cultural heritage. I worry about those less fortunate, such as two good friends of mine, whose family we met through the Church and whose parents are extremely religious and extremely conservative. I can only hope that they may one day hear your message as well.

I really hope you have read this, although I recognize that, due to the sheer amount of mail you get, you will probably not. In any case, thank you very much for making me a proud atheist.

Sincerely,

Janine

59

I would like to add my name to this long list. Having read The God Delusion a second time around, things just clicked - it all seems so simple & logical. Living in 21st century America is a bit scary because of the fierce & strong views so many folks have in this country (living in the bible belt of the south doesn't help). A book like this is extremely refreshing to say the least - it also had the unexpected side effect of getting me interested in science all over again. A big thank you for "enlighting" us - hope you get to spread this light of reason & logic to more amongst us.

-S. Rao

60

Dear Dr. Dawkins.

I come from a small country called the Faroe Islands. The population is under 50.000 and Christianity is very dominant. In fact, it is so dominant that because of it homosexuals were not protected by law from discrimination until 2006. This should give you an idea of our country with so called freedom of religion.

I was raised in a Christian Protestant home and always felt as though it was my duty to believe in God, even though neiter of my parents practice their religion at all. I went to a Christian camp were I feel i was indoctrinatet and only now, 6 years later at the age of 22, I have finally admitted to myself that I do not believe in God and even if he did exist I certainly would not follow the God of the old testament.

You have put so many things in perspective and I am much happier now that I have shed my religious "beliefs"

Thank you for your work with enlightening people.


- An atheist from the Faroe Islands

61

Dear Dawkins,

I'm a 34 years old Brazilian and been deconverted for about 10 years. I would like to say that it happened because of your actions in the field, but it really wasn't. At 15 years old, deluded of living in a world of uncareness, I joined orthodox monastery in Portugal, where I expended 7 years of my life living out of the uncaring world, but well in a fantasy one. I'm very serious about what to accept as true, so I did what I could to stay there, even if after 3 years the "magic" was gone. But just on the year #7, I gve up. I just couldn't live one second more constantly denning Life to my life. Maybe I have to thank my superior, for one particular preach he've give me at some moment: "the only way out is up". And I know he didn't mean the deep space.

After leaving, I still been a "good" orthodox christian, but one years after, I was just a Christian. The powerful God certainly wans't bound only to some human-made organization. Another year and I had no patient about so many people being sure about the same God and decided that I could workship this God without actually being tied to some cult. Another year and this God became a god, that became god, that became god-like. In less than another year, I was agnostic. Then I discovered Sagan. Then I discovered you. Then I realize that the best definition for God I could give is "The Big Waste of Time". I'm atheist. It wasn't a "snap", but surely the decision of assuming somethig that I already fell and live come from reading your and Sagan's books.

Now I see live with another eyes. Sure is not always good, but I'm trying to have my best time on the unknown and short time of life we have. It's a privilege to be alive and since happens to have a brain, I might well use it for other than thinking about allusive wills and deeds from some... thing. So, I decide to use my "alive time" to keep me alive and see where I'm alive. Not very success at both goals, but I don't give up.

Thank you for working on the issue. I hope more and more people wake up from the God Dream.

The unherded cat,

Hendrik

62

Dear Dr Dawkins

Like all others who have written before me here, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for guiding me to light. I am a 27 year old Software Engineer from Chennai, India. I was raised in a very orthodox Hindu family. I think I had my doubts about religion very early on -- like there are too many religions and they can't all be true. But being raised in a secular, culturally diverse country like India has this serious disadvantage. The idea that all religions are equal and each one of them is just a "different path" leading to the "same god" is ingrained early on. While that is a good thing, it does seriously undermine the too many religions argument. Of course, I think only Hindu children buy it, because Hinduism is already a (pesudo)polytheistic religion. Our educational system did not help much either. I never took the "evolution theory" seriously. Anyway, so I carried on struggling with my beliefs, unbelievably till the age of 26 -- just a year ago-- when I met a brilliant atheist friend who calmly dispelled every argument of mine favouring the possibility of the existence of god. He also introduced me to your works. I searched the Internet and read every article of yours and watched every video of yours. I can't describe in words the wonderful feeling of being liberated that every interview of yours brought. They answered every single question (about morality, personal experiences, and many others) I had.

Dr. Dawkins, please continue your good work. I can imagine how frustrating it must be for you, countering stupid believer after stupid believer in every debate of yours. (I've watched and heard many, frankly it frustrates me so much that I want to scream in your support). I am really grateful that you are doing this, because that is how you have managed to reach people like me. I think you might be pleased to know that I already have 3 converts in my one year of being an atheist and another two are seriously thinking about their beliefs too.

I am halfway through The God Delusion and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Your written word is a treat to the reader and so is your speech . Thanks for everything.

Sharada N.

63

Hello

My name is jack i am from Australia and i was brought up in a roman catholic family and in the past 5 years i have read Richard Dawkins books and doing thus made me study on the reasoning and logic behind my religion. I never had thought much about it because it seemed to be a normal part of life but i have come to realize that it is not rational at all. Thanks to Richard i am free from the mass amounts of fear and anxiety i once had about hell and many parts of the bible. Upon dismissing this religion and all religious figures much happiness has been restored to me, So i started talking to my mother and 3 sisters. I was quite aware that they were also in a great deal of fear about hell and such things (My mother in particular) and i had started to talk to her about how illogical it all really is and that she had nothing to fear. It took about 2 years to finally convince her that the roman catholic religion is just to ridiculous to hold any kind of worry about and while she still believes in god she no longer holds any religious beliefs. My family is a much happier than previously as we have had a somewhat rocky road in the past and religion seemed to make matters allot worse. I just wanted to thank Richard and the atheist community for helping me and my family cleanse our selfs of this fairy tail.

-Jack :-D

64

Dr. Dawkins,

I first saw your book when I was debating between Islam and Christianity. Little did I know that your books, lectures and interviews would make me the atheist I am today. How constrained my worldview by religion. You have been, and you have succeeded in promoting the true and reasoned world of science. You magnified the similarities between fairy tales and religion. I realised how pathetic I was try to debate between two religions that turned out to be plagiarisms. I realised that stars in the night sky are the reason for our existence, and not just the reflection of God's engineering capabilities. You rhetorically answered all the gaps in the universe without having to surrender to 'God'. You enriched my curiosity in life by flooding me with the mysteries of the universe. You are of the very few people that have something honest to say about God, and that he ('close to definitely') doesn't exist. And in the highly improbable event that he does, you will be the first to go to heaven, because you are honest about it. You are willing to face your beliefs.

The 'God Delusion' is a masterpiece. It is the loudest wake up call and will be referred to for coming generations. There will be posters of Richard Dawkins before Che Guevara and Marilyn Monroe.

The first time I read 'The God Delusion', you swept my ideas in a personal God. You exposed me to the fairytales I believed for all my life. I learnt that my belief systems were cultural derivatives. Getting over hell and heaven, and the other - as you properly claim them to be - forms of psychological child abuse were too hard to get over, so I became a deist. I read 'The Selfish Gene', and that made me an atheist. I was inspired by the simplicity and cumulative complexity of evolution that I pitied myself for believing in hell.

Referring back to when I thought that religion should be immune from criticism, now I believe that religion should get all the criticism that it deserves. You are a scientist and you have to be a sceptic. And your approach to religion is how any reasoned or sceptical person would approach it.

Canada wants you! We'd love for you to give a lecture here.

Moustafa

65

Dr. Dawkins,

I'm a 41-year-old white male from Salt Lake City , Utah . I was raised in the Mormon church, though I've always been a deep thinker. I rejected the nonsense fairy tales and outright silliness this church taught at the age I received the "priesthood." That was in 1978, the year the exaulted old farts up in their granite temple bowed to social pressures and finally let blacks hold that same priesthood (lucky fellas).

So I became an agnostic for 30 years, never having the courage to call myself what I really was, an atheist. I would tell people "I believe there may be some intelligence out there, but I reject the Judeo-Christian god with his long white beard and penchant for lightning bolts as a behavior modification tool." After reading The God Delusion, I really felt free from having to keep throwing people the bone about "some intelligence." I am a trained engineer and never really bought any part of the argument from design, but felt kind of obligated to massage the egos of religionists.

So, you have freed me to embrace my non-theism and more importantly, to proudly declare it and explain it to anyone who asks. You are my hero.

Jeff Johnson

66

The God Delusion is truly liberating, as so many of the posts here say.

I haven't properly believed in God since I was about nine, despite belonging to a church-going (Church of England) family. I can remember doubts starting when I heard a priest give a sermon in which he described hell as not being the eternal fires of Biblical and Sunday School legend, but being merely 'separation from God' . I recall thinking 'oh, that doesn't sound too bad at all! ' and wondering what else in the Bible might be not be 'really' true.

But as I grew up it took a long time to be able to throw off the faint doubts that God, or something like God, might still exist after all - at least not without feeling uncomfortable about it.

Now, Richard Dawkins has made me feel comfortable about it! Atheism is the only respectable intellectual position to have, and as I prefer to think rationally about other areas of my life, why would I not want to do so in matters of religion?

What is scary, though, is the hold that religion has on other people's minds and behaviours. The lecture about suicide terrorists linked to on the home page is well worth listening to, for an accessible account of this.

Heather Welford

67

I am 21 years old and my father, a Baptist minister for 30 years, raised my brothers and I to be the most devout Christians he could imagine. All my life I had attended nothing but sectarian Christian schools, attended church services four times a week, sang hymns to the god I was told was watching me, and listened to the incessant drilling into my head of Christian dogma. I remember, even as a toddler of four, thinking to myself "something doesn't feel right". Throughout my years growing up, I held numerous doubts as to the veracity of this belief, but they were quickly silenced by the fear of eternal damnation for doubting "Big Brother", who was apparently caring and loving enough to send me to unthinkable torment for the rest of eternity for using the reasoning skills that he himself chose to give me.

It wasn't until I reached university that I realized that I didn't have to believe these things, or rather act as though I believed them, as true belief is something that I do not see as a conscious choice (you can't truly choose to believe anything anymore than you can choose to enjoy the taste of a food that you despise).

After about a year of reading up on the subject (two books in particular, The End of Faith by Sam Harris and your book, The God Delusion), I finally made the "big step", and came to the realization that I am and always have been an atheist.

Such a transition was not without a great deal of emotional torment, however. I was, after all, completely restructuring my perception of reality. It would be, if I may attempt to convey the idea to you, rather like a young child learning to swim. The child is carried out to the deep end of the water and held in place by a loving, trusted adult while the child kicks in the water. The child becomes excited that he is staying afloat, turns to the adult to share his joy, and realized that he is no longer there, and the child has been left floating miles out in the ocean, with nothing but water in sight.

That feeling of dread and panic was exactly what washed over me when I truly realized the implications of this conversion. Over time, however, I learned that when you are perfectly capable of swimming, there is no need to be afraid of the ocean. I am now completely confident in my decision, and the internal conflict I experienced is gone.

That is, unfortunately, anything but the case for my external conflict. My friends, family, and loved ones are still the ardent Christians. My mother wept for hours when I told her, claiming that I was a monster for leaving this on her soul before she died (my mother has been diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer and is not expected to live past six months). My father is always trying to convince me of the "logic" of religion. My brothers have completely ostracized me; I no longer feel like a genuine member of the family, I am all but ignored at family events.

Don't expend any pity on my behalf, however. I am far happier as an atheist than I ever could imagine as a Christian. I was always told that without God, there is a hole in your being, and emptiness that can't be filled. I suppose that God wasn't big enough for me, and it took science and reasoning to do the trick. I suppose there are times I wish I could have continued as a Christian, living in the ignorant bliss that is the belief of an almighty protector. These longings for the days of old are fleeting, however, as from an evolutionary standpoint, the ignorant die young.

You have transformed my life from bleak ignorance to blissful enlightenment, and there is no way I can begin to thank you. I can only hope that you realize the profound effect you have had on my life. If I can do for only one other human being what you have done for millions, I will consider my life worth living. The feeling they have must be indescribable...

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can never fully convey my full gratitude for what you've done for me.

Jesse MacDonald

68

I cannot compete with the great men and women who have done so much to honor Douglas Adams, but I want the world to know that he rescued me.

This is the testimony of my conversion. My parents were Assemblies of God missionaries in Africa. I grew up in total isolation from the world outside of faith. The only English speakers I encountered were other missionaries, the only education available was an oppressive missionary run school. The only books were owned by other missionaries or the school. The school censors made sure that there was little available to challenge belief. Family times were dovotional. These devotions could last for hours. And they were daily. Everyone I knew was really sure (a requirement for missionaries). And yet, I could never believe there was a god. It was a question of expirience. All arround me people would describe empirical intiraction with god. Was I just being ignored by god, because when I closed my eyes there was me. Supposedly, I had asked Jesus into my heart when I was five. Looking back, I can finally begin to realise what kind of child abuse that is. But somehow the school censors hadn't paid close attention to fiction books other than to mark out curse words with white out (can you imagine). I wont list them but there were scince fiction book that presented worlds of unbelief and science and The Hitchhickers Guide. Like sunshine after you've been stuck inside studying for final exams. I drank metaphorically speaking every single book in that tiny library. When we finally left the country, with a lay over @ Heathrow I found a copy of the Salmon of Doubt. We had been so isolated that I hadn't even known that Adams had passed. Posthumously he recommened the Blind Watchmaker, and that book rocked my world. I wasn't crazy and I wasn't alone and there are answers and they make sense and I didn't have to have an imaginary friend. Thank you so much Richard for quoting Adams in the God Delusion. That passage is the most important single life changing thing I have ever read and because of it I met you.

Finally, now that I have internet access, I realise that I am not alone and I am part of a somewhat large and very fun community and I am very interested in meeting some aethists in person.

Jonathan Kraus

69

Esteemed Professor Dawkins:

After reading some of your letters in Converts' Corner, I felt the need to share my story.

I am 32 and was raised in a very Catholic country (Dominican Republic) by my paternal grandparents. They did a fine job and they never tortured me (as far as I can remember) with eerie images of Hell. I was, however, compelled to attend many religious meetings. These meetings, at their peak volume, consisted of a Thursday night group prayer session for young adults, a Friday night group prayer session for seniors, Saturday Catechism, and, of course, Sunday Mass. I also had to sit through a daily recitation of the Holy Rosary heard on national radio (they still broadcast it nationally at 1830 hours).

I was baptized as a baby, and then confirmed, and—by the age of seven—completed my first Holy Communion. Despite these aggressive attempts at indoctrination, I had my doubts. I was being told such fantastical things about God at the time that I wondered why there was so much misery, murder and mayhem in the world? Why was I so poor and others so rich? Why where people born with diseases and imperfections? And, what the heck were all those prayers for anyway? If this God was omnipotent, why would He let that happen? I heard excuses from different people, and they boiled down to, "This is part of His plan." Well, that seems like a very cynical and wicked "plan" from such a "benevolent" god.

At the age of eight, I emigrated from Dominican Republic to the United States of America, where I completed my elementary schooling and eventually attained a bachelor's degree in Management. Fortunately for me, I moved to New York City where the environment is more conducive to freethinking than in my native country. Living in Queens, the most diverse county in the world, I was able to learn about different cultures by simple observation.

Heretofore, I did not know about other religions. In the Fall of 1997, I took a college course in world religions which piqued my interest, and I have since been exploring the field of theology sporadically. I have read the following (in that order):

Why Atheism? (George Smith);

Atheism: The Case Against God (George Smith);

Freethinkers (Susan Jacoby);

The Age of Reason (Thomas Paine);

The Origin of Species (Charles Darwin);

The Portable Voltaire (Edited by Ben Ray Redman);

The End of Faith (Sam Harris);

The God Delusion (Richard Dawkins);

Letter to a Christian Nation (Sam Harris);

Breaking the Spell (Daniel C. Dennett);

Kingdom Coming (Michelle Goldberg)

and am looking forward to reading other great literary works, specifically about biology and evolution.

I wish to learn more about science since I have not read nearly enough to feel satisfied, but I have to balance my time with family responsibilities and my full-time job. It would be great if I could make a living out of enlightening people in evolutionary biology and ethics. I already engage in refuting my delusional family and friends. I strive to show them that religion is not the panacea they think it is, not by a long shot. In my family there are Catholics, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, but only one atheist—me. Ever since reading your book (TGD) and Sam Harris' The End of Faith, I have become very vocal about my lack of belief.

Professor Dawkins, thank you for working as hard as you have to enlighten the world and for stirring up the inquisitive nature in people.

Sincerely,

Francisco J. Rodríguez

A proud atheist in NYC

70

I do not know if I was ever a "true believer". Authors such as Gould, Sagan and Dawkins gave me the courage to call myself a rationalist an by virtue an atheist. I am gradually "coming out" to those in my life. It will be gradual for me. But now I can look myself in the mirror and know for what I stand.

Rick

71

Dear Richard,

I wish to thank you deeply, as I'm sure many others have, regarding The God Delusion. It was first book I had read of yours, (reading of it in Derren Brown's "Tricks of the Mind") and I was subsequently spellbound whilst reading Unweaving The Rainbow and Climbing Mount Improbable, and bowled over by logic in The Blind Watchmaker.

I have always been astounded with the lack of evidence regarding the organised religions' views of a personified god, but had never the eloquence nor ideas to support my claim against. Your book has not only supplied me with the knowledge and confidence to take on these pro-god arguments and dispel them (as best I can), but given me conviction enough in my belief of no 'god' to tell others and come out of the proverbial closet.

I recently watched the Q&A session at Lynchburg Virginia and felt an affinity with those who mention being 'in the closet' as I have certain religious family members (though fortunately not my parents). For reasons of not wishing to "rock the boat", I had always held my tongue when we were to leave family occasions and such where I was to be subjected to a well-meant but personally offensive "good night and God bless."

Being subjected to Christian beliefs during my primary schooling only fuelled the resentment I felt towards the idea of a god, but at such a young age I was lacking the vocabulary to say what I felt, or more importantly WHY I felt it. this was eased slightly in secondary school where I was fascinated with ethics, but not with it's counterpart (why?)... religious education.

I felt cheated by the fact that fellow students were exempt from R.E. because of their beliefs (I wish to add the named people were Jehovah's Witnesses), and I was not, despite my beliefs, meaning that I had to sit and listen to fables akin to that which one may be read at bedtime... aged 5.

The numerous times I challenged my lecturer on belief systems and god, or ethics and how people are able to arrive at sensible moral judgements without god telling them to, I was hounded for 'disrupting the lesson' often being ejected from the remainder of that session (which I might add was my secondary objective).

Not wanting to go on and bore you or your crack team of email readers, I shall end with the note that your books have not only helped me find the arguments I could never vocalise, but also enchanted me with the genuine beauty and complexity of life and the universe, expanding my vocabulary, and coming to the conclusion that there is not enough goodness and love in the world for us to go off posting it to imaginary friends.


So it's a thank you in order...

Thank you and please keep the RDFRT tirelessly hunting for truth worldwide.

Chris Mason

72

Dear Richard,

I had never fully believed in my upbringing faith of Christianity. Nor did my parents but yet I was still taught to hold the ''morals'' of this faith as a guide on to how to live ones life.

One freezing cold day walking down the West End just before Christmas a red and black book cover caught my eye. Wandering into that book shop changed my life forever.

Your book has given me the explanations & facts to prove what I had already suspected. It took me months to read your work, as much as I couldn't put the book down every 2 or 3 pages I was totally astounded by what I was reading & had to go research the information given myself. Time and time again I was drawn deeper in the glorious mindset that is Atheism.

You have given me the courage and determination to do everything within my being to ensure that the world stands up and takes notice of the facts! Not non truths that have been circulating for thousands of years.

The only chance of a stable future this world stands is Atheism.

Lisa Crundwell

73

Mr. Dawkins,

As a result of listening to your many speeches online and from reading The God Delusion I deconverted from my old faith of Roman Catholicism. When I read your book I finally got the courage to be an Atheist and resolve all the doubts of religion that I had had since learning Darwins theory of evolution when I was 12. I have finally worked up the courage to tell my parents that I am not going to be confirmed in the Catholic church. Thank you Mr. Dawkins for giving me the courage to say that I am an Atheist in a society that treats them like terrorists.

A freethinker in The USA,

Terence

74

I was raised Lutheran. While I actually have many fond memories of church, I am most definitely an atheist. I never gave it too much thought until graduate school, where I was surrounded by scientific thought and reason. It became part of who I am. I wouldn't believe anything without evidence in science, and I began to apply this to my whole life. It started out as a small flicker of light in my head. "As a scientist, I cannot say there is a god." It grew over the weeks and months, until I finally admitted it to myself, there really is no evidence for a god, so how can I say god exists? This is how it started for me. It was this realization that actually led me to yours and others' books, and since then I have become more comfortable and proud and excited about being an atheist.

All my life I had this nagging in the back of my head about god. I would go to church, I'd pray. I was never extremely involved in it or anything. I guess you could say I was a casual christian. I don't think I ever really did believe in god, and that was what was nagging me. It was such a wonderful relief to finally admit to myself that I am an atheist and that there is no god, it was like a burden had been lifted from my conscious. I had been lying my entire life about god, and 25 years worth of lies were suddenly gone. That feels great.

Thank you all,

Warren Hammond

75

I have recently within the last month or so 'discovered' Richard Dawkins and others of his ilk, and I must say I am truely relieved that there are people like him and others in this world. For my 30 yrs of life so far have been one of inquisition of religion and mysticism. I have experienced many different things in my life, from military service in foreign lands after high school to experimenting with controlled substances etc..., but reading and listening to his lectures are a true breath of fresh air. Growing up with a religious family (my mother is a fairly devout brainwashed christian, and my father is a retired Army chaplain but is fairly moderate in his beliefs oddly enough..) I came to consider myself an agnostic yrs ago (when I relized what it meant) but Dawkins and others have eloquently argued the notion of the improbability of a 'god' of any sort, and I have to agree. Having an interest in science of varying forms from biology to cosmology, I respect the discipline and how it operates. I am always shocked with how many people in the modern world do not realize the progress in which science has made and what it has done for the world. I also applaud Dawkins & Harris for bringing out the totally irrational and ugly sides of religion and what it has done and continues to do to the world. I have always thought the exact same things but never has anyone expressed them so clear and concisely. Im not sure of what else to say excpet If there were more people like him & Harris in the world there would probably be a lot less problems.

Aaron Perkins

76

Dear R. Dawkins,

First and foremost, thank you. I was never a Christian, but studying in a Christian boarding school (I'm 16) suddenly gave me lots of existential questions that I couldn't answer, at first. But then my consciousness slowly raised and now I'm well aware of how to defeat the same old religious arguments, repeated ad nauseam in the Church (we're forced to go there all Saturdays and have at least some collective prayer all days).

Recently, I've bought a Portuguese translation of your book, printed recently (August 2007). That definetely made my mind better than anything religious, so much that previously I was an "agnostic/deist", and now I'm completely skeptical. Religion is not better than fairies on the garden.

What impresses me, and you defined well, is the respect they force us to show for Religion. You know, to smoke marijuana is bad, unless it is for some kind of wacko religious doctrine out there; then, we just "can't criticise". Why? Why does the chaplain still hold a better authority than the scientist?

It's incredible how the same old Creationist arguments were repeated, even by my biology teacher. He's a bit more sophisticated than others, but all his "Evolution is faith" talk was easily beaten thanks to you, Dawkins, and to many others. Once I was reading Aristotle in my room, and that says a lot about how Religion still invades and pervades the modern world... As I said, I left the book near a Bible. One of my room mates came, put the Aristotle book on the shelf, and then pointed to the Bible: "This is all you need for your life... These 'philosophers', out there, they all thought hopelessly and uselessly".

Thank you, Dawkins. You're brave and direct, and that's why so many hate you. Discussing Religion is a very delicate taboo, but you broke it; I'll summarise the Religious answer here: "you know, atheists are doomed. I believe in eternal doom, and all those who question it are all doomed". I saw this in a site, and I wonder why humans still carry the worst mental plague with them.

Sincerely,

Rodrigo Mendes

77

Dear Mr Dawkins

I would like to thank you for opening my eyes to the word, i was never really religious but i did have my beleifs, and i did think human morals came from religion so it had some use, however after much thought and insight from your books i can now see religion has no use in the world, are morals are there for the same reason herded animals do not kill eachother, simply for the good of the species, you have helped me to shake off my supernatural beliefs and i can now clearly see them for what they trully are, i am only glad to have shaken them off at the age of 17 so i can now trully live life to its fulllest

Thank you so very much

Atheist in England

78

I want to thank you, Mr. Dawkins, for your dedication to bringing reason to a world shackled by the chains of superstition and illogical thinking. After reading The God Delusion, for the first time in my life, I feel something akin to peace.

For much of my elementary school education, I attended a "Christian" school in the Bible Belt of Virginia. Here I was slapped by teachers and told that "if I had a brain, I'd be dangerous". Every Wednesday, we were sent into Chapel, where we were told that the day of judgment was coming, and if we were not saved, we would burn in hellfire forever. After being subjected to this nonsense for years, I was understandably scared silly. At the age of seven, I began to exhibit symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). What began as constant hand washing and checking also branched into a fear of displeasing the wrathful God I'd been brainwashed to worship. I began praying almost constantly, hundreds of times a day. This continued even after my parents saw the damage the school was causing to my sister and me and placed us in public school. For years, I was tortured by the fear that I was not saved after all, and that when I died, I'd be thrown into the fiery pit of hell. How could I really trust a God who seemed so vicious and subject to change his mind on a whim?

These questions nagged at me until I was 13, when I decided I could not worship a God who would throw his children into hell for eternity. I began exploring other religions like Wicca and Buddhism, but none seemed to "ring true" to me. I wanted to find a measure of peace, and tried to believe what a kindly professor at college told me, that the answer is in the search itself. However, I feel like I have the answer now, after reading your book. And I can't help but laugh when I think that this answer was there, right in front of me, all my life. But you gave me the key to understanding it and accepting it. For that I can't thank you enough. I see the world with new eyes, and with a new understanding of my place in it.

I still suffer from OCD, and will for the rest of my life, I'm sure. But now, when I'm tempted to check the lock on the door for the tenth time, I tell myself that my belief that the door will magically come unlocked after my repeated checking is just as silly as believing that there is an angry god in the sky waiting to inflict his wrath on sinful humans. And I'm able to walk away from the door. It's amazing what reason and logic can do for all of us.

Thanks again for all you do,

Miranda

79

I was raised Jewish (in terms of tradition; my whole family is more or less agnostic) and I was always on the fence about whether to believe in a god (not necessarily the Jewish god, but any god or gods), but reading "The Blind Watchmaker" has gotten me down from that fence. At this point I have gone from being agnostic to atheist. However, I still enjoy the Jewish traditions I grew up with. My family and I never did them "in the name of God," but more to build a sense of community. I would say that I have now and always identified as a Jew culturally because I value the traditions. I would liken my identity to being part of a tribe (for lack of a better word). And why not? You can have fun and meaningful celebrations that originated in religious tradition, but still be an atheist. It makes me think of when you interviewed a religious Jew and asked him why he couldn't still have his traditions while accepting science. Your work and speeches have made me think outside the box and see the world as never before. I hope you will influence more people in this regard; we need more people to start thinking logically!

Regards,

Julie

80

Dr. Dawkins,

I am a scientist/engineer, and I want to thank you for describing what has been gnawing at me since college, when I had a couple of evangelical classmates who were studying the same subject - physics. Even then, when I thought that maybe god did exist, I couldn't help but get annoyed at these evangelicals (the first I had ever met) when they discussed god. It seemed that every time they opened their mouths and spouted something about the young age of the universe, I would look back down at my physics book and think 1. why are they discussing this here, and 2. Are they reading the same book I AM? It didn't matter. 6 years went by and they never seemed to change, even as the subjects got more complex - Thermodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity. None of these things seemed to turn a key in their heads. I began university with the idea that god probably existed, and left university thinking there's only a 50/50 change at best.

Since I never had a religious upbringing it was hardly surprising that I developed an agnostic position on life; however it was simply the "I'll find out when I die" approach. Although I am not a true convert in the sense that I went from being "highly religious" to the "complete atheist", I am one that went from 50/50 to the "highly-unlikely-god-exists-and-leaning-toward-atheist" person.

I'm a New England Yankee that now lives in Texas. Let me say that if someone is ever on the fence about believing in the existence of god, then moving to Texas will turn them into an atheist. I come from a secular part of the country, and I have never in my life seen billboards advertising for churches before I moved here, yet there they are - right up there with the other billboard ads for beer, radio stations, laundry detergent, automobiles, and of course - gentleman's clubs. The hundreds of church billboards I have seen since I move here make me think that religion is just another thing people go shopping for - equivalent to shampoo, or a new car. I thought how counter productive is was to bring that which they seem to cherish so much down to such a common level. Then I thought that it was productive for something else - money. People want convenience, and religion in this part of the country seems to be no exception. But 5000-seat megachurches don't get built on prayers, do they? It somehow seems to contradict their own beliefs. These con-artists with a flair for motivational speaking are scamming a lot of decent people down here. However, looking online I can safely say that even Houston has a healthy atheist population, so not all is lost!

Dave

81

The short story is that I grew up a Presbyterian, very heavy into religion and very sure of my faith. I went to college, started meeting people with different beliefs then started questioning mine as well. There were always certain questions that I couldn't figure out, but in good theist fashion I was trained to suppress them as much as possible and pray to have stronger faith. I then stopped going to church, but for years was not able to admit any of my beliefs or doubts to myself because of the whole guilt thing and fear of eternal damnation. Religion became quiescent in me for a long, long time. I then had a son 2 1/2 years ago which prompted a heavy soul searching experience along with many trips to different churches. I felt that I needed to give my son some religious structure and that my confusion would be very detrimental to him. I travelled up and down "church row" visiting all of the various sects of Christianity, but I still was not comfortable with any of these places and clearly all of those doubts and questions remained just below the surface of my brain. But then a funny thing happened...

I saw this guy named Richard Dawkins (maybe you've heard of him :)) on the Colbert Report. I know it sounds like a ridiculous cliché, but that little questioning voice in the back of my head was tazered that day. I mean, I knew that there were people out there who didn't believe in god, but they were either 1) confused, 2) crazy, or 3) both. Could I indeed be one of them??? I immediately bought and read the God Delusion, found that I agreed with almost everything this guy said, and then set out on a quest to learn more. For the next several months I still could not bring myself to use "atheist" as a self-descriptor...you know, that whole religious thing that I grew up with saying that atheists were good for nothing devil worshippers who were all going to hell. So I started describing myself as "an agnostic who is trying to find the strength to be an atheist." Finally someone asked me if I was an atheist during a debate and I said "yes." Holy crap, I think I just came out of the closet!

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to Professor Dawkins since he really gave me the strength to say what I already believed.

Thanks,

Dave

82

Dear Dr. Dawkins and Converts' Corner

It seems that I too have recently come to the conclusion I have always been an Atheist. Much to the dismay of my parents and teachers I have always questioned anything that was not back with fact. This could have been a family trait however a Sunday school teacher during the 1950's fuelled my inquisitive nature by accident. This gentleman was a chemical salesman who began each Sunday lesson with a chemical experiment which caused intrigue to develop. The stories he related after each experiment seemed to be fairy tales and not based on fact.

To appease my mother I was confirmed in the Presbyterian Church at the age of 14. My father displayed no interest in religion except for cutting the church lawn every Saturday. I believe he adopted this secular position after his participation in WWII. Upon being confirmed I joined my father and performed our token religious obligation with a lawn mower. After my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness he never sought any form of help from the church.

During the early 1960's the term Atheist had a connotation that left a great deal to be desired. As a teenager I just chose to avoid religion and became invisible. My profession as a locomotive engineer afforded me the luxury of avoiding religious contact by working on Sundays and religious holidays. Sadly during my career I was involved in many accidents that resulted in loss of life. Numerous times the grieving would say it was gods will their family member was gone.

Shortly after retirement I suffered a serious medical dilemma with the prognosis leaving me a matter of weeks to live. At no time during the regular evening seizures did I ever request any religious intervention. I might have hoped for the end to occur quickly as I tired of the pain and all that followed. Almost like clockwork every evening representatives of different religions would come into the hospital to comfort the dying and trolling for possible conversions. For eight years I have evaded the initial prognosis and managed to avoid those religious salespersons.

In the following years I have managed to read a number of books on cosmology, astrology, and string theory, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism plus TGD. It seems that retirement has given me an appetite for knowledge as well as an open mind. My secular lifestyle compounded by facts and empirical evidence I have read and watched were adequate evidence to accept Atheism.

Mr. Dawkins your book The God Delusion (I look forward to reading your other books) and video speeches are the reason I have now embraced Atheism.

Thank you

Fraser Montrose

83

Brought up Catholic, with all the usual rituals. At 14 realised 'Religion' was causing problems between my parents; my father was staunch Catholic, my mother rejecting Catholicism in favour of a more bible-centred evangelical approach (and horror of horror, into creationism). Realised for myself that if this was what religion could cause between otherwise loving people, I wanted no part of it. However, held on to for some years ideas of God, which slowly became ideas of consciousness (still at a supernatural level) and then finally, enlightenment this year (aged 30) with The God Delusion. Of course there are things we can't explain, or don't yet understand... (anything with the word quantum in front of it perhaps!). That's what's exciting about the world. I no longer need to think 'but that must mean something supernatural...' I live as a happy atheist, and know that every day, science is striving to unravel these and other mysteries for us.

So thank you from the bottom of my heart Prof Dawkins, and good on you. You, and those like you, are so needed.

Rebecca Hodgson

84

Dr. Dawkins - Richard

I just turned 70 while I read The God Delusion. It is never too late to be sensible is it.

Thank You

David

85

Dear Professor Dawkins,

Thank you for your wonderful books and your enlightenment. After 30 years as a pious Anglican I converted to Roman Catholicism - all the usual reasons. Often I even considered going forward for the priesthood. And for another 30 years or so I followed my chosen brand of Christianity seriously. The sacraments, the devotion to Mary, saying the rosary etc. Then a catholic colleague lately told me that he was reading The God Delusion and was finding it hard to counter any of the arguments. So I bought a copy. And almost over night, my blind faith dissolved. I saw it all as an act of fiction: colourful, consoling, historic and popular - but fiction nevertheless. Did this cause me awful traumas? Not in the least. I have woken up from a long, drugged dream. It's rather like finding out at last how a brilliant conjuring trick is done: the lady is not really sawn in half, a rabbit does not really live at the bottom of the top hat, the watch was not really smashed by the conjuror's hammer. And once I can forget wondering at imaginary supernatural beings, I can find out so much about the real wonders of life. I have read many more books, especially your own, which have opened my eyes further to science and objective reality. I am free at last and I can look forward to ending my days with head held high and vision clear.

Bruce McCrae

86

Richard,

Your book has put into words, far better than I could, my thoughts on religion and this bizzare belief in a god. Frustration is a word I use to describe my feelings toward those who have been indoctrinated with, and continue to live with, a belief in a religion or a god. I have no concept of religion or a god - and it is with a confused look that I see those who do. We live in a strange world.

GD Smith

87

Dear Dr. Dawkins,

I feel that I am a well-read atheist, but your books have instilled in me more passion and reason than any other book I have read. Great scientists, philosophers and skeptics from Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Bertrand Russell, Spinoza and others have not made the type of impact that you have. You are truly someone I look up to and I hope you continue writing about atheism.

A true fan of everything you stand for.

Jeremy Benishek

88

Richard Dawkins,

Yes, I am one (of many I suspect) that follows on from Douglas Adams after reading Richard's book The God Delusion. It was an enlightening and encouraging discussion/lecture/explanation (& more). I understand so much more that has puzzled me for fifty odd years. Roman Catholic by birth (a bit lapsed and lazy), born again through Pentecostal AOG, disillusioned by other 'meanings of life', I now count myself as an atheist with some conviction on a scientific basis with constructive arguments and clear reasoning. Thank you Richard! (by the way, some dictionaries add the word 'wickedness' to its description of 'atheist' which may help to explain for Richard why some people have the 'negative' view of 'atheists').

I have appreciated that Richard comes over in his TV programmes and book as a free-thinker free from emotional overtures. It has helped me to understand my past. Not yet sure about where this will take me, but I feel free'r than I have before).

My only concern is that what keeps the free-thinking going is the individual free thought, and although group action is needed to promote this (as Richard discusses in his book), any organisation of 'members/associates/etc etc' tends (from human nature -darwin ?) to start 'being organised' with rules and regulations that start to limit the free thought to 'what is acceptable for the organsiation' - and there we have the thin end of the wedge!? I know its negative of me, so I'll try to be positive about it all.

Thanks for all the books and TV.

Alan [Devout Atheist ? / Born again Free-thinker ? / Enabled Bright ? Ooops, maybe too close to religious language!] (One has to have some fun in this)

89

I was born and raised under Christian doctrine. I had a firm unwavering belief that there was a God. I felt I was old enough at 18 to make the choice of choosing my own religion and was thus confirmed into the Christian faith. Then I went away to university and the world opened up before me. I spent two and a half years studying evolutionary biology and geology. You never had to convince me that Natural Selection was a fact, for never had anything been explained with such rationality and simplicity. I understood evolution on a scale that (sadly) few people do. But as to my faith, I was torn. Everything I had been taught to believe and everything I had chosen to believe was falling apart, as it did not fit into the new model of life I was creating for myself, by opening my eyes to the world. For the past couple years I have been trying to discover where I lie in the grand spectrum of beliefs and I haven't really found anything that suits me. Then I read The God Delusion, and it seemed clear as day that finally I had found an option that fit what I truly believed. There simply is no God. My scientific mind was able rest after being reassured by your arguments that what I knew to be true could be true after all.

I felt deeply saddened by the passage where I read of a scientist throwing out science because of his belief in the Bible, instead of the other way round. After clearly studying the biological and geological evidence, and coming to understand them so well after years of university study, I could never throw them away in place of a hypocritical, self contradicting, malicious work of literature.

You may add my name to the list of converts. I think the most important thing I have learned is that people must educate and learn to think for themselves. I am still asking questions and encouraging others to do so.

Steph

90

I was brought up with the (non-supernatural)spirit of questioning everything. I was born with an intense hope that there was more than just the empirical world, and I have always had a well-developed imagination. I explored many, many woo-woo versions of the supernatural. In my teens, I was talked into converting to Christianity, by my boyfriend's argument that "You already behave like a Christian, and all you really need is to be baptized." The testimonies of how great things became after people found Christ at the huge church convention a few months later, sounded so appealing that I just had to try it out. I was baptized and continued on with the youth Bible studies. I read The Bible that year and found myself unimpressed. Once my relationship with the Christian who talked me into going to church ended, my brief and disillusioning affair with that Church of Christ ended. However, still armed with insufficient information, I continued to explore with the hopes of finding something *else* that could possibly be out there.

My few and very temporary epiphanies never seemed to change my life, and the things other people had to say about faith in anything and everything supernatural left me with more questions than I had at the start of my search.

I want to offer thanks to those in the fields of science for daring to explore beyond a defeatist "God did it" angle. I feel privileged to live in a time when the phenomena that have been found in the brain, which left me with so many questions and false hopes - wishful thinking - are beginning to be understood.

From a purely emotional angle, it has freed me of an underlying self-hatred. One that was the double edge to believing there was any purpose behind our existence. Though this idea may comfort many, it was a major cause of distress for me. After all, when you're good, and do things the "right" way, God is supposed to reward you. All the actors and writers and athletes who thank God for winning awards, getting rich, and having such wonderful families, for instance. Well, what about those of us who have not been so "gifted" with easy and rewarding lives from extremely young ages, and instead have been buffeted rather viciously, in life? My life may not have been the most horrible one on earth, but it was far from good. If I looked to reincarnation or any form of a God who is paying attention to us humans, then it would seem that my suffering was a result of being somehow born and/or living in a way that is wrong to this divine character. This leads to having to consider billions of very young, innocent children in the world suffering because they are somehow not good enough. But here I was, not indoctrinated to believe there was any specific God controlling my morality, and I could feel compassion and concern for my own childhood and the billions of others who are in even worse conditions. How could a divine entity of any sort that we humans are supposed to be a part of, or even based on, not feel the sort of compassion that I, a mere human, could feel? Letting go of any version of something Divine has freed me of the anger toward this something that is just not there. It has freed me of feeling that I must have been or have done something horrible that I apparently could never atone for, properly.

The facts that science is uncovering about the brain and human experience of the world has freed me from thinking the phenomena that kept my mind a little too open *watching my brain bounce away from me* might actually indicate there is some supernatural purpose to the world. This has been a major relief.

Reading The God Delusion as well as the articles that are linked on the foundation's site and forum has removed all the hassle of the struggles with agnosticism I had for about 30 years, on and off, give or take some months exploring one extreme or another.

I'm amazed with the universe as we discover it, and I feel a great appreciation for the fact that I am able to think about the universe as it empirically is, and not worried about what it was that I was missing by not being able to embrace a supernatural world beneath this one. I will raise my kids to appreciate and value evidence-based worldviews. As I hear people around me attacking science, because of my close proximity to the infamous Creation Museum, I feel an even greater need to instill this freedom of being able to learn more and more about our world and universe, as it really is, and not how some may wish it is.

Thanks for this site and the articles as well as the years of learning and teaching that have brought about an awareness of the importance of science. It has reached many more people than I suspect anyone could have predicted.

Pyra A.

91

Dear Dr Dawkins,

Many thanks for your excellent books - so far have read both the God Delusion and Unweaving The Rainbow.

Although my "conversion" has been a very long process, I have you to thank for giving me everything I needed to finally take the last step from agnostic to Atheist.

I was raised a Roman Catholic, my mum was from a strict Irish Roman Catholic family. This resulted in many long years of angst and guilt - even long after I began to doubt my faith, aged 15, when my dad died from cancer and I realised there really was no one to listen to my prayers.

Although I've spent years being staunchly ex-Catholic, even anti-Catholic, I've struggled to shake off that need for a comfort blanket, reading all sorts of religious and spiritual texts - everything from "new-age Christianity" a-la Neale Donald Walsch's "Conversations With God" series, through vague spiritualism like Deepak Chopra, to alternative belief systems like Buddhism and Taoism.

Although many of these spiritual texts tell me that others experience the sense of wonder I do in the universe we live in, none of them provided any evidence that they had the answers I wanted.

After many years of reading my beliefs have gradually over time migrated from wishful thinking pantheism, to a more abstract deism to more recently agnosticism. Like many ex-Christians I shied away from full atheism, believing this was akin to nihilism.

Then I read the God Delusion recently, and was able to define myself more accurately as a "de-facto atheist" on your handy seven point scale.
I also then immediately read "Unweaving The Rainbow" which confirmed for me that your interpretation of atheism is the antithesis to the type of nihilism that I feared. I found in your discussion of the universe that same wonder I have sought in so many wrong places.

Also your assertion that "freedom of religion" is costing our society really rings true with me, having wasted so much of my life hunting for answers that weren't there, and seeing nothing but hypocrisy, self-delusion and closed-mindedness along the way.

I spent many years frustrated by Christian fanatics who blithely ignore the glaring contradictions inherent in the bible. That there is a merciful God, a loving God, a forgiving God but that he has a place of eternal punishment lines up for unbelievers. Even unbelievers who may simply be guilty of being born in the wrong place with a different prevailing religion.

Someone suffering from normal human frailty does not need to be told they will burn in hell if they make a mistake. They need to learn to deal with their issues in a realistic way, and not rely upon an imaginary friend to provide support. As someone who, as a Christian, asked for that help and support from god for many years, and who never once felt it, I feel very strongly that relying on religion is a poor substitute for self-reliance.

Interestingly, both methods requires a leap of faith - self-reliance relies on you believing that no matter how tough life gets, you can deal with it. People who have that reliance will weather the toughest storms in their lives with calm and compassion. The difference is that self-reliance is faith in something real, tangible and provable - that is yourself!

That type of faith is entirely self-perpetuating and empowering, as opposed to faith in something unreal, invisible and outside of yourself which is dis-empowering. Religion is a crutch and a cage discouraging development of both the mind and free will.

Finally, a very scary facet of modern life is the way that religious faith is used as a tool used by interested parties to manipulate public opinion - you only have to look at George W Bush and the "Christian Empire" he is building in the good ol' US of A to see what I mean.

This is so very disturbing because religious people are trained from a young age not to think for themselves but to look for authority from a higher power. Regimes like this can portray themselves as being inspired by god and use that authority to their own ends.

I am sure none of us need to be reminded of the Muslims who - seeking their personal heaven - flew two aeroplane's into the World Trade Centre killing nearly 3,000 innocent people.

But we only have to travel a little further back into history to Nazi Germany, where 66% of the population was Christian. Based on their religious distrust of Jews who they held responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus these good Christians engaged in an unprecedented campaign of ethnic cleansing. In that holocaust, German Christians - ordinary citizens, not extremists, or fundamentalists - wearing belts with the legend "God is With Us" took great delight in their "duty" of ethnic cleansing.

If I may quote - "Men never commit evil so fully and joyfuly as when they do it for religious convictions" -- Blaise Pascal

So I thank you, Dr Dawkins, for your clarity, and for having the courage to speak loud and proud of your convictions. In doing so I hope you remind the rest of us that we should not stand idly by and let reason be replaced by superstition.

I hope your book gives others the courage to open their eyes and see the truth for themselves, to challenge these delusions that hold us back as a species, and that one day we can all enjoy a world with "freedom from religion".

Ken Clark

--

"It was Christians, you know, not Pagans, who were responsible for the Holocaust. It was Christians, not Pagans, who lynched people here in the South, who burned people at the stake, frequently in the name of this Jesus Christ" - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

92

Dear Professor Dawkins,

I want to thank you for writing The God Delusion. I was raised a very liberal Roman Catholic, but I come from a family of scientists. Actually I never gave much thought to my beliefs: neither in favor of them, nor in the form of real doubts.

Being interested in the world's cultures however, I've spent time in Buddhist monasteries, Hindu mandirs, visited Maya temples and the sacred places of the Greek, Romans, Incas and the Bön. While respecting their heritage from an aesthetic and historical angle, I never once felt the slightest bit of actual belief in any of these religions or philosophies (although I have a soft spot for the 'middle way' doctrine of the Buddha).

After reading your book, it occurred to me. The God Delusion told me what I've known all along: I don't belief in "my own" religion anymore, either. Things make sense to me all of a sudden: you've helped me take away the second last blind spot in my eyes (not the one that developed there through evolution, but the one that was put there by my ancestors).

All the best,

Bram

93

Dear Professor Dawkins,

I am writing to you (or rather to your webmaster) on behalf of me and my fiancé who just spent a rainy weekend reading The God Delusion. We were both atheists before we read it, but nevertheless your book contained some very important messages that we have both taken on board.

First, a confession — without having read any of your work, I used to sneer at what I perceived to be a war between militant atheists (you, Christopher Hitchens et al) and militant religionists that I wanted no part of. I have since realised, of course, that there is nothing militant or strident about your work: indeed I have been deeply moved to see how well you articulate your arguments, deeply gratified that someone as intelligent, lucid and witty as you is on the side of the Enlightenment.

As good, Guardian-reading liberals, my fiancé and I have both fallen into the ethical trap of being 'respectful' to moderate religionists — never quite bringing ourselves to question why religion has such a privileged place in public life. I even went as far as to find myself defending, on a message board, alleged plans for the London super-mosque despite my strong view on the reprehensible treatment of women in Islam. After all, freedom of religion is something every good liberal should defend, isn't it?

Of course, since reading The God Delusion I have come to realise that no, defending freedom of religion is a waste of my time and intelligence. Without being in any way 'militant' (you won't find my baying for blood or waving placards saying 'Behead all religionists'), I see now that it is vital for atheists to stand up and be counted. If even I can spend years kow-towing to various religions that I actively despise, what hope for people living in religious societies who yearn to be free? From now on my privately held views will be publicly held, and publicly defended. I wish to join others in creating a space for atheists in society, so that wavering religionists see there is a good and happy refuge from a priest/imam-ridden existence.

A further consequence of reading The God Delusion was a crystallization of something I have been feeling for some time. Namely, that the gaps in my education are simply shocking for someone who considers herself intelligent. It saddens me that other 'educated' people don't even seem to care that they know nothing of critical thinking or basic scientific method, and so leave themselves vulnerable to 'persuasive' arguments from people who have an agenda. I too have been called 'nineteenth century', which I find flattering: it seems to me that the nineteenth century was the last time educated people were expected to be well-rounded, to take an educated interest in many fields.

Today, people blame the advance of technology and the proliferation of specializations for their ignorance — they "don't have time to learn." Well, perhaps not. But anyone interested in the world around them should be able to engage with scientific arguments at a basic level, should at least be able to tell if a conclusion really does flow from a stated premise.

All else being equal, I had planned in about 2 years from now to launch a literary review to promote new writers. I reviewed this plan over the weekend and saw that what I needed to do instead, for people like me (with enquiring minds but inadequate educations) was to bring together writers (not necessarily previously published) from scientific, technological, philosophical, historical and socio-political backgrounds — to help people like me gain more of an understanding of issues that affect us — to broaden our educations — to be truly 'nineteenth century!' It won't be happening for a while yet, but I hope you won't mind that when the first issue appears it will be dedicated to you.

Yours,

Pinda

94

I am in the process of reading The God Delusion and find that I breathe a sigh of relief. I am not a convert to Richard's views - I have held very similar views since, at the age of about 15, I rebelled against the regime of church and church choir membership imposed on me by my parents and began to enjoy cycle touring, which I found far more meaningful and pleasurable. I attended a Church of England College, where several well-meaning souls tried unsuccessfully to herd me back into the fold; my wife and I agreed to be married in church to keep our parents quiet (our fondest memory of the wedding was escaping relatively unscathed and leaving behing the assembled horde to continue the party for which we simply provided the excuse). Since then I have often been involved on the periphery of the Church due to my activities conducting and singing with various choirs, often performing sacred (for want of a better word) music - one of my favourite works is the Requiem Mass by Mozart, though with more emphasis on 'Mozart' than the Mass, having a brother who is a skilled church organist, and because of an interest in fine architecture. Because of this I have come across many people who simply presume that I agree with their superstitions; whenever I have tried to put forward an alternative point of view I have met with a variety of responses from pity and patronising tolerance through to accusations of being offensive and basphemous.

Through the years (I'm now 58) my attitude has gradually changed from indifference to my present position of being positively anti religion.
Over the years I have often felt quite alone, or at least greatly outnumbered when taking a logical approach in the face of well-meant but ill-conceived superstition and all its attendant ceremonial. I would, therefore, like to thank Richard Dawkins for being so outspoken in the cause of common sense. He has managed efficiently and eloquently to express the opinions I have held and the annoyances I have suffered far better than I could hope to do myself.

Thank You Richard Dawkins, and long may you continue to batter the bull....!

(At this point many of the people I've argued with in the past would place their head on one side, give a sickly sweet smile and say 'God Bless ...!'

Excuse me while I speak into the large white telephone.

Andy Boden

95

My name is Dylan and I am a 21 year old Atheist. Through early childhood I was exposed to Christianity as more of a moral backbone rather than a requirement, even so, as expected, I considered myself to be a believer in god. It was about the age of 13 that I started having my doubts on this subject. I was unsure in my own mind and went through times in high school believing that there was in fact a religion meant for me. I read books on several different extremes (Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, etc.) to find what I had been searching for. It wasn't until my first year of college that I was convinced that their may not be something out there meant for me, or anyone else for that matter. I had gone through several biology/history classes being taught (and self-taught) much about evolution and how earth began, more in depth than I had delved before. I came to the conclusion that religion is a "crutch" merely used to create a sense of comfort in the ultimately weak minded. The world is an amazing and intricate place, far too complex to be masterminded from a divine creator. I have come to terms with my "belief" in evidence and could not be more satisfied than I am with that. I have read The God Delusion, read many articles by Richard Dawkins, and seen a few documentaries. Everything brought to my attention in these has left me more concrete on my personal convictions. Thank you for not standing down.

Dylan

96

Hi,

I've read the God Delusion twice now and have to admit that it has given me the confidence, and comfort, to admit that I am an athiest. For most of my life I have believed that there was no such thing as a god (or gods) but often, for family reasons, pretended there was as I hid my true belief. Now, I am not afraid to admit my long held belief and I am anxious to gain further support for the fact of evolution.

Thanks.

James Tindle

97

Dear Dr. Dawkins,

I have no idea if you yourself will read this, but I wanted to share my story with you anyway because you are such an important figure in my life. I can never thank you enough for the ways that your work has set me free and enhanced my life. This isn't so much a story of how your work has converted me to atheism as it is a story of how your work has made me confident and secure in my atheism.

I was born into a strange family. On the surface we were Mormons, but our lives moved with a deeper current of Evangelical Christianity. When I was six years old, my parents divorced - the greatest scandal my family has ever seen - and my mother moved my sister and me out of rural Idaho and into the more open-minded "blue state" of Washington. I shudder to think how I would have turned out if I'd stayed solely under the influence of my patriarchal, bible-thumping Idaho family. My mother still felt that it was important for our development to know our father and his side of the family, and to spend time with them. We spent every summer in Idaho. I am certain that if I'd had the skills and the courage to tell my mother what my father and his side of the family were doing to us, or even if I had the understanding to recognize how wrong it was, that I never would have been subjected to such abuse again. But I believed that was I was being told was right and good - such is the power of religious indoctrination.

Nurturing mental illness seemed to be the hobby of my father's side of the family. My father himself was incorrectly diagnosed and treated as a paranoid schizophrenic (much later in his life, he received the correct diagnosis of severe bipolar disorder). Part of his delusion was a belief that he was the true prophet of God - or perhaps that he was Jesus himself, come again - it was never entirely clear. He was a charismatic man, and he convinced his family that it was true. Of course, they were already primed and ready to believe anything that came to light by means of "revelation" - if Dad said that Jesus had revealed his divine prophecy to him, then damn it, it had to be so. My father could even point to passages in the Bible that seemed to support him specifically as the prophet that would herald in the End Times and Jesus' return to Earth. The passages seemed convincing to me, but I was only a little girl - what logical processes could I really apply to such a story?

Every summer, I was surrounded by Evangelical beliefs and was immersed in this strange culture of listening with reverence to any "prophecy" that my father made. The pastime of my family was looking for signs of the Second Coming and discussing the Trepidation to follow. I had not yet been baptized, but I was too scared to ask that it be done for fear that I would reveal myself as a sinner, in need of cleansing, and that the Holy Family would cast me out.

Every single moment of my young life became a constant, fearful watch for signs of Christ's imminent return. Every lunar eclipse was the moon turning to blood; every hint of war or negotiations to avoid war was the Last Battle; Schoemaker-Levy 9 smashing into Jupiter, an event that should have thrilled me, was the "stars falling from the sky," an even that instead filled me with dread of what was surely to come. I fancied seeing Jesus' face in benign cloud formations and was sure that it meant He would show up to smite me tomorrow. I must have played and had friends, but I literally have no recollection of anything occupying my time other than worrying about my destruction at the hands of an angry Christ. I was constantly afraid, and constantly depressed. I remember having no solace from my fears of the Second Coming, and every moment I was around my father's side of the family, my fears were compounded. My childhood was a complete wasteland of family-imposed terror and religious lunacy. I was too afraid to do anything that normal children do. How could I find it fun or safe to ride a roller coaster or a horse when God, who loved me and wanted the best for me, was so much more dangerous and unpredictable? I did nothing; I went nowhere; I made no friends. My life was devoted entirely to listening to anything my insane father spouted and trying to find some way to fit it into current events.

Strangely, this knack I developed of finding correlations between "prophecy" and current events was the only thing that provided me some comfort. It gave my life an air of predictability and security. If I could see what this all meant, then surely I could avoid the worst of the disasters to come. The closer I grew to my father and the more I paid attention to his prophecies, the safer I felt. After all, what better place to be when Christ came back to smite the world than next to His divine prophet?

Unfortunately, my worldview was shaken yet again when one of my uncles decided that he wanted a stake of the attention my father was getting from the family. My uncle was better than a mere prophet - he decided that he was actually Jesus Christ himself. And he, too, had all the revelation and scripture to prove it. My family became even more unstable and weird. Soon somebody had decided that they both couldn't be Jesus - clearly one was really Jesus, and the other was the Antichrist.

Well. Now who to choose? Suddenly it was no longer safe to be my father's little handmaid - what if I'd chosen wrongly, and he was the Antichrist? I lost my taste for interpreting world events and descended deeper into depression and fear.

Around the time I was 15, my mother caught onto the way my depression seemed to wax with my trips to Idaho and decided that I needed to stay in Seattle during the summers and spend time with my happy, normal, teenage friends. I didn't go back to Idaho again until my grandfather's funeral a couple of years later. Two years' distance from the craziness gave me marvelous perspective. Suddenly, my entire family looked pathetic. It made me sad on their behalf, that they'd led themselves so far into insanity. My fear of the Second Coming became less pervasive, but it still persisted in the back of my mind whenever there was a threat of violence in Israel or whenever a lunar eclipse reared its head.

Throughout my teenage years, I felt that I needed some kind of spiritual polestar in my life and I began learning about varying religions, trying to find where I fit. I liked the idea of a loving, kind God rather than the wrathful bogeyman I'd been raised with. I soon discovered that the Mormon church didn't teach the kind of wacky End-Times prediction games that my family had ascribed to it, and that it was in fact a kind, caring, supportive community that believed in a "user-friendly" Jesus. I had myself baptized at the age of 19 and felt happy and secure with faith for the first time in my life.

Alas for my faith, it was not to last. I decided around the same time I was baptized that I wanted to be a biologist and work to conserve habitats and animal populations. I had very little money and, being white, qualified for disturbingly little aid from the state even though I was living ridiculously below the poverty line. I saved my money for several months and then enrolled in a single biology class to begin my education, planning to continue working and applying for aid until I could afford a full quarter of classes at a time.

My biology class utterly changed my life when we began learning about evolution.

I knew "the basics" of evolution - animals change over time in response to changes in their environment, and over time new species arise. I understood that we evolved from apes, but I believed that God guided evolution according to His plan. But learning about it on a college level completely opened my mind to the awesome power of biology and genetics. I was hooked and when my money ran out I continued to eat up every book I could find on the subject, including The Selfish Gene.

It was about this time that I began to realize that God's hand wasn't necessary in guiding evolution at all. It guided itself most ably. But surely God was necessary to have started the universe. This led me to a couple of years' worth of self-education in cosmology, astronomy, and chemistry. It wasn't long before I'd formed a clear picture of the universe existing quite well on its own without God, thank you very much.

But I still held that kernel of fear of God. What if it was all true anyway? Couldn't God be testing me with this knowledge of the universe? Couldn't he be setting me up for damnation, backing me into this corner of atheism so that he could ride out of the heavens on a white horse and spear me some day soon? Maybe after the next lunar eclipse? The "god box" in my brain was in an all-out war with my reason, and it was most uncomfortable. I began to have panic attacks and was even hospitalized with one especially severe one. I was put on anti-anxiety medication, which did calm me down enough to learn how to beat the god box into silence and let my peaceful reason control my thoughts...most of the time.

Around this time, I read an essay on the internet written by a young Airman. It was a to-the-point debriefing for the religious, telling them was atheism was and was not, explaining why one becomes an atheist, and what an atheist's world view is like. I was so enchanted by this simple logic and clear thinking. I'd never seen atheism described so eloquently and simply before. I thought, "I would like to be an atheist. But what if God wouldn't approve?" I began writing to the young man and we soon developed a strong friendship. He helped me slowly shed religion in favor of rationality. Our friendship intensified and soon we were visiting each other during his military leaves. When he was finally released from service, incredibly getting out at the height of the Iraq war, he told me that he had no home to return to. I invited him to come live with me. He accepted, and soon we were planning our wedding, which, I am pleased to say, was completely non-religious.

On a recent vacation, though, I realized that my religious indoctrination still had some hold over my mind. We were both a little bit drunk in our hotel room, and a news story came on about some stupid political event or other. I think the alcohol allowed the god box to spring back to life. It just triggered something primal in me - I began to panic and cry in total terror. My husband tried to comfort me and tried to understand what I was so upset over. I couldn't even identify it myself. What was it about this news story that made me fall completely apart? After much careful thought, I decided that I'd been trying to use it to predict the Second Coming again, and that had in turn brought up the old terrors of my childhood. How stupid, to worry about something I didn't even believe in - and I truly did not believe in the existence of God any longer - not one little bit.

This episode made me realize how deeply my brain had been wounded at such a young age. I could still have psychological relapses into fear that were so strong that I would cry over a fictional character's wrath. I was so angry that I could barely enjoy the rest of our vacation - and when we got home, I headed to the local book store and perused the atheism section (which is sadly tiny, by the way). I found The God Delusion and read the whole thing during a two-day power outage with a flash light. I went through many batteries during those two days.

In The God Delusion, I found the answers to my questions about why and how my brain could continue to have this deep-seated, primal reaction to something that I knew to be false. I was so relieved to know that I wasn't crazy that I cried all over again, but this time it was a wonderful release of all the pent-up fear and tension. After reading the book, particularly the parts about your discussion with Jill Mytton, I felt NORMAL for the first time in my life. And I felt secure for the first time in my life, too. I understood that God was a fantasy, and I understood why and how my brain continued to fear that fantasy. Once I had that knowledge in my hands, I was able to master my fear and completely tamp it out.

I feel so free and happy now, and I feel like I have you to thank for it. Thank you so very much, from the bottom of my heart - your work is amazing, inspiring, and enlightening, and it has saved my sanity. I feel that I owe you so much. I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life.

Libbie M.

98

Dear Mr. Dawkins,

Throughout my life I was raised a Catholic. I wouldn't say I had religion shoved down my throat, per se, but it was a major part of my life. My grandmother had always talked to my cousins and I about God and his benevolence, didn't really speak about hell, only mentioning it's where bad little boys go and it being "unpleasant". All of my family is Catholic (Exception on my father's side, apparently Catholicism wasn't enough and are now Evangelicals.), but nonetheless they seem to be nit-pickers when it comes to the bible. When I went to Sunday school for my first communion I would drive the teachers crazy with my questions of, "what, where, how, and why" and rather infuriating them by making a comment about the biblical flood, "WOW! GOD IS P****D!" Of course, I was ten at the time and knew about hell, (learned it about six, VERY terrified at just imagining burning alive in eternal hellfire) but never been told and SHOWN how graphic it COULD be. I asked about what heaven was like, thinking, "If it's that bad in hell, heaven MUST be wonderful!" All I got was, "It's a great place in the sky, where you can be with God in everlasting bliss." I asked for SPECIFICS, I just got a vague description. Now, I kept thinking, what can you do in heaven? They give such scary pictures of hell but almost nothing about heaven!

As I got older my doubts became prevalent. I just couldn't understand some things about religion, I read the bible but was confused apparent contradictions that I've never noticed! One minute Jesus states to love your neighbor the next that he didn't come here for peace but bringing a sword? (I let that one pass at first because frankly any theologian can state it's more a figure a speech, still, quite a head scratcher). The Old Testament was by far WORSE but slightly, only slightly, more consistent than the total bumblings of timeline in the new testament. These questions and self revelations haunted me, I was frightened that if I was wrong I'd pay the ultimate price, later on I had a neutral view on religion. A sort of agnostic leaning towards Catholicism. I knew I couldn't share my opinion about religion to my family (I live in the U.S. and since all of my family is Hispanic and all catholics out of sheer conviction, with the exception of my sister who was about to be a nun, which I helped prevent and is now happily married and with child, you can see how my view is quite a predicament.) they'd literally crucify me on the lawn. Even some of my friends criticized me, even utilizing guilt to prove their point (This guy I know said, "HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH THINGS! COME ON, YOU THINK YOUR DAD ISN'T IN HEAVEN RIGHT NOW? YOU THINK HE'S JUST DEAD AND ROTTING? WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH YOU!?")

Today, I can proudly say, albeit to myself and close friends, "I am an atheist!" After reading a combination of books such as Thus Spoke Zarathustra, God is Not Great, and, of course, The God Delusion, I felt enlightened. I felt, as if all my thoughts just poured out of my mind and into the paper, words I have thought but could never speak or formulate into such eloquent and mind opening prose! Just saying, "I am atheist" feels magnificent! I actually feel HAPPIER! I don't feel pitiful, weak, or pathetic, I feel enlightened and happy. I feel as though I had broken free from the chains of servitude to an imaginary God who is just as barbaric as any racist, blood thirsty, jealous, zealot of a man. I feel like my life has more purpose than just being another puppet in some perverse puppet show. I still carry the shackles to remind me of what I had broken free, soon I will gain the courage to say, that I have become an atheist and not be afraid. I am happy and I realize that I only live once and intend to live my life. My purpose in life is just to live and enjoy it. Thank you, thank you so very much.

Sincerely,

Christian

P.S. Yes my real name IS Christian. Figures, eh?

99

Professor Dawkins,

I would sincerely like to give you my profound thanks for writing the books that you have. I am 17 years old and recently became a fervent atheist after reading "The God Delusion".

Since middle school I've been accelerated in science and math courses. As I enter my senior year of high school this fall, I'll be taking a vector calculus course at my local university. I scored a 35 composite on the ACT. Despite this love of science, however, I was a confident Methodist up until the last couple months.

I've since realized that I simply hadn't thought about the religion which I was brought up in. I credulously accepted the spurious claims of my parents without more than a second thought. Nevertheless, "The God Delusion" struck a chord with me. I read it immediately after having read "The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan. Since this awakening, my life has change dramatically. Last week I saw a creationist booth on the pedestrian mall of my city. I challenged the spokesperson immediately in front of roughly 20 people on the subject of radioactive dating, and I'm proud to say that after the discourse a bystander approached me and said that they were interested in learning more about atheism. I can't thank you enough for opening my eyes and my mind. I'll do my best to spread your -- our -- message.

Jared Stewart

100

From the day I was born, until this day I have never belonged to a religion, however I attended a Church of England Primary school as a child, and was brought up reading the bible in school, being told to live my life with accordance to what Jesus taught us and to live not in sin but in the vision of Jesus.

As a child I prayed, sang hymns, attended church with the school, this was a normal way of life as far as I was concerned though I always did feel put out of place by the others at the shcool because they also attended the church on Sundays with their families whereas I didn't.
Then it came time for me to move onto Secondary school where I was in classes with people from all different religions that I had never heard of. We didn't pray or read the bible, didn't sign hymns, It felt strange, but it was exciting in its own way and I became doubtful of what I had been taught from the age of five by my teachers.

I questioned my parents and discovered that my Dad was an Atheist, my mum was a Catholic, but had been since she was a child and hadn't been a practising catholic since she left school over thirty years ago, she lost her belief. Apparently when I was born they decided to not christen or Baptise me as they felt my religion was my decision to make when I grew older (If only more people thought this way.)

I became open minded about the existence of a God, drinking in every word my Religious Education teachers would spill, reading everything about religion that I could, trying to make my mind up, but by the time I left school at 16 I hadn't really been able to come to a conclusion.

My religious relatives would tell me of how I would one day find God and I would ask them how they could be so sure there was a God, their answer was that they just knew.

It was around the age of Eighteen that I became Atheist - finally deciding what I beleived in and what I couldn't believe in, yet I didn't want to let anyone know because most of my family are religious, so I kept my beliefs secret, calling myself open-minded and undecided.

Just before I turned 20 I read The God Delusion and, to put it plainly, I came out as an Atheist and I have never felt better, none of my family disowned me as I thought they would, infact they have been great about it. If there was one thing I could say to Richard Dawkins it would be Thank you so much, your work is so very important to a lot of people.

Thank you.

Hayley S.