I was introduced to the Christian faith in private schools that I attended in the 3-6 grades. Though my family wasn't devout and we seldom attended church through my youth, I had Bible study classes as part of the curriculum, and we had "chapel" at least once a week. I started playing guitar around this time, and the hymn "I'll Fly Away" was one of the first songs I could play.

I don't blame my parents for putting me in these schools. They were just trying to give me the best possible education available at this time and place where the public schools left a lot to be desired. They weren't (and aren't) particularly religious, and though the schools gave me knowledge of the stories in the Bible, I don't feel that there was any pressure or attempt to make me a Christian.

At the age of 13 my family moved, which ended my early exposure to religion except for what was inherent in living in the South Eastern United States. I finished grade school, got married, and spent a single hitch in the military. Towards the end of my time in the service my son was born, so we moved back home, rather than signing up for a second term, and the likelihood of a remote assignment on the other side of the world.

I got a good job in the same career field for which I was trained in the military, and continued to persue my music in what spare time I could find. The music business is and was a crap shoot, and though I might have been good enough to have made it a career, the breaks never came. This was frustrating for me, but my love of music never waned.

Through the coincidence of geography I was introduced to a pastor who invited me to participate in music at church, and I accepted. After about 2 years, the music director at the time resigned so I filled in as interim. After about a month, I was hired into the part time position of music director. I stayed in that position for about 10 years. During that time I read the Bible at least 3 times, attended Bible studies, helped in planning church services, and only missed 1 or 2 services due to work or sickness. I prayed, I studied, and I believed. I new what was in the Bible, and I believed it to the extent (I'm embarrassed to say) that it colored my politcal views about .... well ..... everything.

When the pastor that had brought me on was moved to a different church, and an even more liberal and very untalented preacher was brought in as a replacement, I decided not to stay and to try to find a place more in line with what I thought I knew as the truth of scripture. I started at another church, and within a few weeks, I was back on stage for every service.

It was during this time that I decided that I was going to commit to the faith to a higher extent than before. I was pondering taking a run at a Masters of Divinity, but as a precurser I thought I would do some study on my own to see if it was something I would enjoy. It was around 2009 when I did some searching online and found 3 courses of lectures by Bart Ehrman put out in audio format by The Teaching Company. They were "The New Testament", "History of the Bible – The Making of the New Testament Canon", and "The Historical Jesus". After about 2 weeks of listening to these back to back to back, I was flabergasted, and more than a little bit pissed. I didn't just take these at face value. I fact checked and sought out refutations. All I found was Christian theologions bending over backwards trying to square the circle and make their illogical conclusions seem logical enough to justify their imature need for an afterlife.

The denomination that I had been a part of is one of the best educated. You don't get to be a lead pastor if you are not credentialed. When I found out the truth about the history of Christianity, and the problems with the Bible, knowing that in a dozen plus years I had heard nothing but certainty and bravado from the pulpit, well lets just say that good old Bart had started the snow ball rolling down hill.

I had trusted the church as an oasis of truth, and even inspired others to believe the same. Then I find that not only are the very tenets of the faith built on dubious content, but those soliciting our trust and tithes are withholding information that they themselves have been taught. When the credulous look at the gospels as if they support each other as independant attestations, the clergy just smile and knod. They teach children about the The Garden of Eden and the murderous flood as if its all happy time with animals, and are pleased for them to believe that it actually happened. It's like a con game propping up a shady business, and the con is most effective and purposefully targeted on the children.

In the 5 years since this difficult realization, I have studied everything I can get my hands on to educate myself about what I feel is one of the most important and life altering pursuits we humans face. I read or listened to apologetics and counter apologetics, and I have yet to find an argument for any of the proposed religions that doesn't amount to special pleading. I have empathy for those that are entrapt in religion for reasons (and potential consequences) that could be catastrophic to their very lives. I am forced to maintain anonymity for fear that if my atheism were common knowledge, my work, my income, and the incomes of those who share the same place of employment could be adversely affected.

I had to do something though. I had to find some outlet, some way to actively rail against the dishonesty. The songs in this project are the result. The wonderful content, and intellectual offerings of my brothers and sisters in the atheist movement have inspired most of this, and have already inspired ideas for more songs that I hope to release in the future. Thanks to all of you, and if you have any ideas for lyrics, or if you are a musician that would like to collaborate, please don't hesitate to contact me.

If you are on the other side of these arguments, and feel that you can provide a serious rebuttal to any of the arguments portrayed in these songs, I would really like to hear from you too. I was once where you are, and seeking the truth is what brought me to atheism. I will follow what is most likely true wherever it leads me. I can't say that I'll worship when I get there, but I will concede to truth.

Stay Reasonable,

Skeptic Muse