About the Authors

Andrew Chalkley:
Then:
I was born in to a moderately religious family going to the Mormon church now and again. I was taught to pray from my earliest years. After brief encounters with the Church of England as a cub scout I wanted to know more about God and religion. At the age of eight I was taught by sister missionaries form the Latter-day Saints, but I didn’t feel ready to get baptised. Just before my eleventh birthday I was baptised after being taught by the elders from the church.

My church callings started at the age of twelve and continued throughout the course of my teenage life, eventually serving a full-time mission for the church for two years. I met my wife on my mission and we were married 2 years after my return home.

Now:
I am a radical atheist; convinced that there is no God. But that’s fine. I know that evolution is a fact and religion is not conducive to mental health and rational and free thought. My transition was quick and hard. My posts to this site will go in to greater detail.

Lauren Chalkley:
Then:
I was born into a ’strong’ LDS family, and we attended church every Sunday together. In my family there is my mum, dad, four sisters and one brother. As a young girl, (about 5-12 years) I was quite mischievous cheeky, a ‘tom boy’ and although I believed the things I had been taught since birth, I didn’t take it completely seriously, in that I never pondered church things in my spare time, and messed around a little in primary and in my classes. I fancied myself as a bit of a joker. I was baptised when I turned eight, with a bit of a struggle, as I just didn’t want to do what I was ‘meant’ to do.

I used to get quite aggravated and frustrated with my dad who always seemed to talk about church things, and bring them in to every day life, relating lots of things to the gospel, which at the time, I thought was stupid and used to tell him, ‘Everything doesn’t revolve around church dad!’ However, when I went into Young women’s, I decided I wanted to grow up a bit and be a little more feminine. I then started taking church very seriously, and became quite respected by the members. They seemed to have forgotten what a menace I had been before, which I was glad about. I gained a ‘testimony’ that the church was the only true church on the earth, that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and that Jesus Christ was my personal saviour, and the saviour of everyone who had lived and would ever live. I was seen as a strong member of the church by everyone who knew me. My school friends thought I was a little odd and so did most of the people I knew from school. I would always distance myself from them somewhat, for example, not spending too much time with my friends out of school. I would always make my beliefs known to everyone and as a result most people were aware of these strong beliefs.

I was a very active member of the church and attended Mutual (Young Men’s Young Women’s) Youth Camp, activities and Fire Sides. I was the ward music directer from the age of about 15 to 18 years, which meant I would conduct the music in sacrament meetings and choose which hymns we sang each week. I also had callings in young women’s, like, Beehives class president or first or second councillor, Mia-maids class president, or first or second councillor, and Laurals class president, or first or second councillor. I enjoyed church and It quickly become the most important thing in my life. I finally saw how being a member of the church meant that everything DID revolve around church. I was convinced that the church was true, even though when I thought about it, I didn’t know why I ‘just knew’ it.

Me and Andrew dated for two years after his mission and then married in the LDS London Temple, which was the HAPPIEST day of my life.

Now:
I am now an atheist/ anti-theist. I know that there is no God. I believe that theism is a very dangerous thing and although there are many lovely religious people in our world, religion, overall, has a detrimental effect on people’s minds which in turn leads them to be judgemental, aggressive, nasty, and irrational. I also feel that theists are more concerned with non-existent problems than the things that really matter.

I am content with myself and my new life style, although it has been a hard transition. I have come to terms with death, the fact that I am not being watched over by a loving God, that no atonement was made for me, because of any ’sins’ I have committed or would ever commit, by a perfect elder brother and that I was deluded for the first 19 years of my life. I feel free now, and not only because I can do things that I couldn’t before without feeling guilty, but finding out the truth has freed my mind and it feels so refreshing that I can think for myself and that I am not under any false illusions any more. I still feel an obligation as a human being to be a good person and I still have morals, but now I know that these morals do not stem from religion, and am happy to know that I want to live a good and kind life because I care, and not because I have been commanded to, and in fear that if I didn’t, I would be missing out on eternal rewards.