Allow me to introduce myself...

...I'm RosieLass, and I'm one of the many, many people who have decided to take it upon themselves to write an atheist blog. I probably don't have anything to say that hasn't been said a thousand times, but I do feel this is one subject that can't be written about enough, so I'll give it a whirl.

I'm a 25-year-old, happily married woman from Tennessee. As you might guess from the birthplace, I was raised Southern Baptist. I spent my entire childhood in church every Sunday, and to be frank never even realized that it was optional. I never put much thought into it, but I think I assumed there weren't really many atheists out there, and those that existed were unhappy, immoral people who would eventually find their way to God. I'm not sure how this tallied with the constant messages to go on mission trips and proselytize to everyone we met, but like I said, I didn't put much thought into it.

When I got to high school, I soon realized that the ultra-conservative lifestyle I saw in my parents was far from the norm. I spent those years wavering between being super Christian, and still believing in God but not caring much. I still didn't know how I could possibly not believe in God. I was so thoroughly indoctrinated that I genuinely believed that science showed evolution was impossible, and I didn't like the idea of no afterlife at all.

I don't want this to turn into a novel, so I'll sum up the next few years quickly. I slowly realized the logical fallacies of Christianity. Still afraid not to believe in something, I turned to paganism, but soon realized it made even less sense. Finally I faced my fears and read Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion. And to be perfectly honest, it was the biggest relief I've ever felt. I no longer had to force myself to believe something that I knew, deep down, just wasn't true.

Every Christian always asks me, and no, I'm not "angry at God," nothing happened to "turn me against God" or church or religion. I have simply studied the facts, from both sides, and decided which one made sense to me. Those facts are what I plan to discuss here, as well as pertinent news stories and even personal anecdotes. I hope people enjoy reading it. At the very least, I know I'll enjoy writing it.