[Titus Templeton]

The 'Punch Atheists' trend, and people saying 'no don't do that', lately has brought up one of the most shameful aspects of my life.
Once upon a time, many years ago, I was an atheist. As a teenager, I got involved with a guy who also considered himself an atheist and I wound up with an atheist symbol scratched into my leg that fortunately has left virtually no scar. Unsurprisingly, this was a horribly unhealthy relationship for 17yr old me to be in and it didn't last long. A few years later I met another guy, and his girlfriend. He was an atheist, and his girlfriend was Jewish, and he got off on having a Jewish girl willing to basically pull a 'Night Porter' with him. That too, unsurprisingly, was a very unhealthy relationship and was over very fast.

But how, why did I get sucked into that life? Quite simply, I was raised by parents who hated religion. Parents who, though they've much improved in their views since my younger years, instilled in me the same racism and prejudices against religion they held. No matter how rebellious I was in everything from religion to sub-culture to music to w/e, I never felt a need to rebel against that because it had been a part of my life on such a passive, natural level. As I became an adult and became more aware of the world around me and actually STUDIED (after some help) and educated myself, I began to see that what I was buying into, or at that point at least NOT rebelling against, was piffleed up. Yet it was still hard to overcome, because hatred and pride are so, so easy to get sucked into. 'Misery loves company' and there is a lot of misery in the world of atheism, so there's plenty of people to pull you down while making it seem like they're holding you up.
Ultimately I met Pastor Ezekiel who was willing to challenge me on absolutely everything and force me to think for myself. Every view I presented was questioned harshly, meanly, and time and time again my views that aligned with liberalism and atheism were demolished with logic. Soon this logic enabled me to realize 'Holy piffle, I have been a huge idiot, this is wrong' (to say the least). In that moment I swore I would not be party to those views again.
Looking back on it, were it not for the fact that I am A: Rebellious, B: Open to learning new things, and C: had someone willing to be patient with my stubborn bigotry, there is a chance that even now I would not have overcome those viewpoints. Shy of someone literally punching me in the face, of someone blatantly and rudely standing up to me, I'd have carried on like I was right to hold those prejudices and ideologies.

And from what I knew/know of people who identify as 'atheists' or 'alt-left' or 'liberals' or whatever piffleing label they're trying to put on their idiocy... they're terrible people. The vast majority of whom are completely unwilling to entertain the idea they're wrong. It doesn't matter how eloquent you are, how patient you are, how peaceful you are, probably 98% of them will not listen and will not change their minds. There is something about the comradery of that hatred and pride that is more addictive than heroine. And that 2% that might be willing? They'll branch out on their own, secretly, and entertain those ideas. But that 2% isn't worth holding back.
Now we have the trend of punching atheists. And I love it. I love the fact that I love it, because a decade ago, I'd have been offended because I'd be a target. And yeah, punching their lights out may only serve to close their minds further, but, it does in fact teach them to keep their nonsense to themselves and not spout it publicly, and that they aren't safe if they do. So, I just can't get behind the idea of 'no, you can't do that, it's just more violence!' because I've been there and know that's the language they speak, that I once spoke; it was the language I best understood at the time.

If I met 17 year old atheist-me today, I'd punch myself in the face. And I'd have deserved it.
Thanks for reading, Brothers and sisters. And also, to everyone who has ever been persecuted by these people... I'm sorry. I can't apologize for them, but I still apologize for anything and everything I ever did to add to that grief.



Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exodus 22:20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

[Johny Joe Hold]

Brother Titus--Thank you for that testimony. It will surely bring many atheists to Jesus.

It saddens me to think of how many young people today are waltzing their way through life believing they can make do without Jesus Christ. They, too, will wake up one way knowing they should have been punched out for their mistaken life.

[Elijah Mee, PhD]

We all have regrets, Brother Titus.

I personally wish I could go back 12 years and extricate my 16-year-old penis from my overly-persuasive best friend's butthole. Heck, if I had known then what I know now, I would've castrated myself on the spot.

But I repented instead. Nowadays, the only extrication I perform is that of my wife from my house during her monthly curse. It's not as bad as it sounds. I put up a shed in the garden:



Anyway, I love a good story of redemption. Stories like yours demonstrate to those little contrarians out there that they don't have to be dicks all their lives. I imagine that your testimony will inspire many kids to punch themselves in the face. Praise Jesus!