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I admit it. I'm obsessed with religion - Christianity in particular. If I actually believed in God, I'd be bloody dangerous, so maybe it's just as well I don't. My parents are non-religious, although they both grew up with a Church of England background. My first serious encounter with Christianity occurred when I was about 9. My dad was living with the woman who would become my stepmum, and she was (and still is) a devout Christian (Church of England). So for a brief while, as fun pseudo-family thing (!), we started going to Family Service, a monthly service (I used to stay for the weekend at my dad's). It was at this point that I realised I didn't feel anything towards this god-thing, that I had some kind of blockage that wouldn't quite allow me to believe in God. (I realise now that it probably was common sense!!). But I did try, I really did. Anyhow, this Family Service project didn't last long. But the seed was sown, the damage done, so to speak, and I became interested in this god stuff. (I'm now 25, and still not dead). But it wasn't until I was 13, however, that things came to a head. It was 1989, and perhaps British readers will remember that the 1988 Education Act came into force at this time. This required schools, as of that September 1989, to hold a daily "morning worship" thing that was supposed to be broadly Christian in its orientation. I lasted 3 weeks. 4 at the most. By then, I'd discovered the get out clause - you could get a parent to withdraw you. So I got my mum to do just that. The first person to withdraw in the school, I point out. And they didn't know what to do with me. But later, the Jehovah's Witnesses joined me, as well, and we had classroom to go to. I would say that, during these early years, I was an (interested) agnostic. By the time I was 16, however, I was firmly convinced that if there was a god, it wasn't the Christian god, and eventually, by 20, I was a confirmed atheist. I would now describe myself as a Humanist, on the basis that I am a) a member of the British Humanist Association and b) agree wholeheartedly with their aims. I also belong to the National Secular Society and Rationalist Press Association. If in the unlikely event there is a god, s/he and I are going to have a seriously long chat! But, as I tell religious friends in particular, I am prepared to wager nothing less than the salvation of my soul, and the possibility of eternal torment, etc., that there is no god. As that bumper sticker says, God is Santa Claus for adults! Keep smiling!! Paul Deacon |