Ok, haven't been here that long- only since June, but I just like the title
Hi, I'm a 20 year old ex-Muslim from Ghana, but have lived in the Greater Toronto Area for the past 5 years. I was born in Saudi Arabia and lived there for 15 years before moving with my mom. My dad still lives there though.
Anyways, I've pretty much always hated being born into this religion, but would never really have the guts to admit it to myself for fear of eternal roasting. I was never a practising Muslim but the fear of hell was ingrained in me like you would bot buh-lieve. Happy to say its almost all gone now
My parents are both believers- they pray 5 times a day and what not, though they drink alcohol- even during Ramadan. Speaking of which, I HATE this time of year. I had mixed feelings about it back in Saudi because the atmosphere was great and there'd be lights everywhere- it was Christmas for Muslims. Plus 80% sales at the mall didnt hurt either lol. The downside was having to pray at school, pretty much faking my through it so no one would know I didn't know a darn thing about Islam *gasp!* But since moving to Canada, it pretty much sucks
Fasting for 15 hours with no water - are you kidding me?! It's inhumane! I just pray we wont be here when it makes its way into June *shudder*. My strategy is to sleep through the entire thing and wake up for iftar. It's workin so far. Only 27 days to go
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One thing my parents are really good is the guilt trip. Me and my brother get the "What are you gonna teach your children?!" or "You should pray-it moves mountains" bit every so often. I hated it- it'd always make me feel guilty and I really did worry about my future kids. *Dear Lawd, they'll grow up to be heathens!* I don't know if I'll ever be able to tell them about my apostasy. I know my father would react worse than my mom would even though he's supposed to be the rational one; he has a degree in physics for the love of God!! Whatever their reaction was, it wouldn't be good.
It's only been 2 months since apostating/apostatizing/apostasizing (what the fuck's the word??), but I feel like I've been researching the Quran and it's blatant fallibility for ages now. I've reached a point of no return. To be religious now I'd have to be a different person and attain levels of cognitive dissonance I've never seen in myself before. How people convince themselves that the Quran is perfect while having read the damn thing will baffle me to the day I die. I'm so grateful for finding this forum. Without it I'd still be a non-practicing Muslim who hated the vice-like grip Islam held on my mind. Oddly, though, also without my formerly born again Christian friend... *Exhale* Sorry for the novel lol.
Topic: Long time reader, first time poster...