Growing up in two heavily religious countries, the concept of not having a religion was something demonic and unacceptable.
It’s not that atheists don’t exist in heavily religious countries, but most atheists hide their beliefs in fear of persecution.
From a very young age, I was exposed to the idea of God. I was told that there was a man in the sky who was watching over me and I had to be at my best behaviour at all times in order to have good things happen to me.
When I had to go through obstacles in life, I was told it was because “God” was “testing my faith” and that I had to accept everything and not question anything.
My abusive, alcoholic father and my never-present mother were all “tests from God” but nobody ever said that I had shitty parents. I had to respect them no matter what so that God wouldn’t punish me.
Back in the day, my father used to be what some call a religious fanatic who would never accept any negative comments about his religion and was ready to kill and die for it.
In fact, he had killed for it when he had to fight against religious persecution during a dark period for our people. They called him a hero, my mother and I knew…
