I should clarify that they won't inflict "all they can", but it will certainly feel like it. They won't listen to you. They won't pay attention to any of your objections except to tell you that you are wrong. They will not be open to you emotionally. It is social suicide to join Christianity and leave.

Christians won't intentionally make your life miserable (some of them will) for the most part, but that is where it is so hard to explain the psychological damage that can come from joining the church. It creates a dependency that is not necessary, if that makes sense.

Well, I mean... I'm an atheist and I wrote the article you linked to and I have to confess that I'd prefer cold, harsh reality.

The risks of joining a Christian group are wide and ranging and mostly psychological. If you think about it (and I do realize that the normal jist of faith is to trust something without understanding it completely - hence the mystery and the need to actually trust) there are psychological hooks within Christianity that can cause all sorts of problems.

From my personal experience, being in a Christian home and church increased my OCD, anxiety, fears, depression, and even voices in my head because I firmly believed that demons and angels existed and were co-existing and interacting in our world. The core problem from my experience is that there is no way to keep someone's faith in check and it can lead to dangerous consequences. If you want examples, let me provide. For the most part, I am simply going off of my personal experiences in churches where decisions were made based on faith - with disastrous results. We've all heard of the stories of children dying at the hands of their parents because the parents refused to seek medical treatment for them based on their faith.

My point is that it is risky, not completely flawed. But the same goes for just about anything: moving to a new place, making a new group of friends, getting a new job, taking up tobacco, alcohol, or drugs, finding a new sexual partner, etc. All of these things are tempting and promise a certain reward but have associated risks.

I just personally believe that everyone should avoid Christianity because the faith promises the reward of eternal life. But it is not true. You mentioned that atheism was about facing cold, harsh reality. There is a subtle contentment to be found in facing reality.

Almost all the pain I have experienced in the last year since leaving Christianity has been related to watching my family members and old Christian friends do completely irrational things and make completely wrong assumptions - and then suffer pain because of it. To make things worse, they treat me as if I never was a Christian in the first place (effectively calling me a liar) and either try to convert me back or completely ignore my life now.

I was talking to a friend recently about how Christians are so nice... and he responded with "they save their vitriol for people like you." So, this is just warning. Don't join unless you plan to stick it out forever, because when you leave Christians will make sure they inflict on you all the emotional pain they can.

There is nothing worse to a Christian than a heretic or an apostate. As Peter says, it would have been better for someone to have never understood the truth than to have understood it and turned away. What Peter doesn't say is that a lot of Christians are the ones who will make your life miserable because they suck you in socially, remove other influences so that your only solid friendships are them (you can't be influenced by the 'world'), and then if you decide to leave you are... well... alone.

Getting addicted to something is a thrill.

Christianity promises eternal life, and when you first believe it it is thrilling beyond belief. But then the addiction begins to take control. At some point if you get in too deep you realize you have to get out. Withdrawal is painful.

Thanks for this post as it brings attention to just how awful leaving the Christian faith can truly be. I recommend nobody join unless you understand the risks.