Does anyone remember when you became an unbeliever?

[Moostache]

11. Raised in the Catholic Church...cannot remember EVER "believing" any of it...

Sure, when I was little and the nuns used the threats of "hell" and "eternal torment" I was as scared as any child subjected to their insidious form of child abuse...but I never could get past the inanity of Noah's ark story. Ironically, it was visits to the zoo as a child that made the connection for me. The animals in the zoo - especially the large carnivores like lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) - looked miserable and cramped when we saw them...but on TV, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom specifically, they ran, hunted, lolled around and looked so very different.

My child mind of maybe 5 or 6 years old began questioning all of the bible stories after that...and the other big event I remember that made me question the veracity of Biblical stories further was "the 10 Commandments" as it was aired every year around Easter. The parting of the Red Sea and the comical ineptitude of Pharaoh's minions for Yul Brenner just seemed "off". Maybe it was also partly my standing as the first male child in my family too, but the entire "Angel of Death" idea seemed hideously evil to me...why would 'god' need to kill ME to show how much he "loved" everyone else?

While I was forced to go to mass twice a week until I was 16 years old and had finally had enough, I did not believe any of it from about the time I was 6 or 7. Nothing at all has happened since that would change it one iota, in fact, I am more certain in my lack of belief now than I have ever been and that is confirmed daily for me by the actions and statements and further exposures to the "faithful"...hypocrites and fools all.