Yet Another "I'm New" Thread

[orangeitis]

Hi there. I am a 30-year-old bipolar NEET atheist raised in a Mormon household. I committed apostasy, uncloseted, at around 15 years old when I started being skeptical about Mormonism, and by extent, religion in general. It was a non-issue in my household, and my friends at the time didn't really care about my sudden atheism.

My Mormon grandmother lives with me currently, and as the one that raised me, she encouraged me to be skeptical and read the Bible while drawing my own conclusions from it, even though she's a believer. I also currently have a few Mormon friends from her Church.

The longest friendship I've ever held was with a Pentecostal for 17 years, since I was about 12. He claimed he was saved at around 17, when he felt his endorphin level raise for the first time, and attributed it to being touched by the Holy Spirit. He and I have been getting into long religious, scientific, and philosophical discussions since then. Though around April of '11, our friendship died due to an event unrelated to our religious differences.

Anyway, I've recently felt the urge to discuss my views, as well as read about other's views. I'm a big fan of The Atheist Experience, in particular one of it's hosts, Matt Dillahunty. My main goal is to spread awareness of how atheism isn't innately evil, and to find common ground with theists.

Nice to find this board