I became a skeptic when I asked myself the question, "Why do I follow the religion that I do?". The answer was - because my parents follow that religion. From there it was one epiphany after another... Why do we need religion? Is there truth to the religious claims?....

Just learning about our home and about real living things and where it all is in the scheme of things. Just blew my mind one day and I haven't been the same since. I crave any kind of intelligent food I can feed my brain and mind. I can't give any one person credit but nature comes the closest.

Carl Sagan. Cosmos.

My Mother gets the credit for me.. Not only the smartest girl in her mid-western town, she never let any god lick our brains

Richard Dawkins with his book, "The Blind Watchmaker"; Nathaniel Branden with his book, "The Psychology of Self Esteem"; my therapist, Newton; Ayn Rand with all of her writing; many other books; and a period of withdrawal with deep thinking on my own part in conjunction with my existing doubts about religion.

Religious folks helped the most.