79 Years Old, and an Atheist Since Age 8

I spent 3 years, between 5-8 years of age, in a Catholic orphanage during WWII, and very soon came to realize that religion in general, and Catholicism in particular, was all BS. And no, I was not sexually abused. Religion is all about power and control. I had a turbulent adolescence, and was constantly rebelling against authority, but fortunately avoided any serious encounters with the law. Athletics and reading were my safety valves, and the only things that kept me sane. After three years in the Army, and several years driving truck and working construction, I started college. I eventually earned a Masters degree from U.C.L.A., and taught in a community college in CA for 32 years. All this time I was also reading a great deal on religion, particularly the history of religion, and took several college courses on comparative religion, anthropology, evolution and genetics, etc; all of which reinforced my beliefs and my opposition to organized religion. All of this was long before the vigorous contemporary atheist movement started with Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Dennett, etc.There were, of course, atheists going back to the Greeks, and a growing movement during the period of The Enlightenment; but, aside from Robert Ingersoll, the movement in the U.S. was disorganized, and the influence of religion was was much stronger than it is today. I would encourage all you that just starting you journey to sanity and a rational philosophy (i.e., non-supernatural) of life to those authors cited above, as well a Dan Barker, Michael Shermer, etc. Also, check out their excellent videos on YouTube. For an excellent history of Christianity, I recommend “The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and The Fall of Reason,” by Charles Freeman. Good luck to all of you youngsters on your journey. For me, it was, and continues to be, a liberating experience, and one of the best decision I ever made.