I "borrowed" this from another forum I frequent. In a topic pertaining to what lead atheists to their disbelief, one poster replied with this story:

i had an salient event occur when i was about 12 years old.

i'll set this up as best as i can.

clarksville tennessee. there were 3 kids my age that lived on my block. this kid jeremy was a bit of a "redneck" if you will, not meaning to be disrespectful but giving context. we had a very heavy spring rain and there was flooding all over, nothing serious but far too much rain.

anyway. jeremys backyard had a "pond" as a result of the rain, because his backyard a dip in it. me and another friend of mine we walking down by the railroad tracks not too far from our neighborhood which was flooded as well as it was right by a river. just to goof around. there were lots of dead carp fish scattered around on the dry spots of land where the water had obviously gone done. fr whatever reason, just being kids perhaps, we took two of the fish back to my house to "dissect" it. of course, after we cut one open we were so grossed out and bored we just stopped. so we threw the 2 fish in jeremys pond in his backyard.

a couple days later we were all playing basketball and we invited him out to play with us. it was then that we discovered, that he discovered. as the water dried up, he found the fish. confused for sure. but somehow he got the notion that this was a divine sign. he went on an on about how god is reaching out to him, by creating life in his backyard. and not just life, but the symbolism of the fish. so not just god, but christianity.

ever since then, he became this uber "born again"(even though he did go to church already) christian. and i dont mean just devout christian. i mean he carried a bible with him everywhere preaching to pre-teens about their sins and quoted very obscure and arcane scripture. he was really out there. i dont think his parents were supportive of him. and i dont think we ever told him we put the fish in his pond, but i did mention that maybe god didnt put it there. he then went of on me. and did tell me i was on a path to hell for not recognizing the divine presence that occured...in his backyard.

now. its not his scolding that turned me off. its the events. heres this guy who had an life-altering experience. this guy surrended himself. he became a true beleive....because of a lie. what he beleive to be God, was just 2 kids who threw a fish in his pond. i knew the truth and he wrongly believed he did. and he became, apology in advance, bat**** crazy.

that one experience has become a metaphor for why i have never been able to consider myself religious or spiritual. when i have someone try to talk me one-on-one into becoming christian, every time i see a tract, every time ive gone to a sermon, i cant help but think about that time in tennessee. i cant help but think that maybe they are fools, they are jeremy thinking god created life in their backyard, when in reality it was just some humans messing around.

but all but one of my friends are christian.