I do understand your side of the coin as I have been there.  I also understand the other side(s) of the coin you haven't seen.

It's not that I don't get it--it's that you aren't able to understand what those other experiences are.

Slapping on generic labels and pulling out "authoritative videos" doesn't equal understanding.

I cited my childhood experience not as an example of normal--but to point out that having additional experiences that can be used comparatively might get you some understanding into those things that presently "can't be true" to you.

I'm not one of "you guys" nor have I ever said or implied that religion makes one "better" or people within a faith should get a pass for doing wrong things.  We are all humans--for good and ill--which is something I have repeatedly tried to focus on.

The "us-them" mentality is an obstacle to really looking for truth.  It's a sign of an already made up mind--i.e., one that is closed.

I've been reading for comprehension since I was six years old--starting with world history, dictionaries, encyclopedias and college textbooks.  I comprehend fairly well.  I also am able to experience and think for myself and don't have to read a book or watch a video to know what's real or not.

I'm not threatened by being confronted with ideas outside of those I have already accepted--I find it challenging.  I also don't feel any compulsion to be angry with people who disagree with me.

David, you have no idea what I have seen and experienced beyond the little discussed, and you would do well to remember that. If you call your childhood experience normal, then you still need help. I don't GAS how one feel about god; there is nothing normal about what you described so far. In all of my 60 years and 4 days, the only people I wanted to 'murder' were people who grievously affronted me or my family (3 people, all cops) but I awakened and limited it to hate till time did it'd job for me. I don't know much about you either but you have had what I consider oddly unique experiences and because of that, I do not wish to experience anything you think you did. Regardless, there is nothing whatsoever that obliges me to believe anything just because someone else believes it, nothing at all … let alone just on faith. If you want to entertain the possibility of magical nonsense like unicorns, fairy tales, witches or even mind readers … well I don’t, I think it a waste of time. If entertaining the unfounded beliefs of others makes it easier for you to hold on to your own, well lots of luck there. The Age of Aquarius is upon us so your Christian time is running out, hahaha. People can only remember their gods for so long and then they just go away. I hope we are smart enough not to invent anymore because we have better things to do. If you cannot talk to me without all the ”us’s and them’s” nonsense, why bother? Your honesty is appreciated but your beliefs are your own and your feelings are all under your control. You had no idea at all what comprehension was at 6 years old or you wouldn’t have contemplated cold blooded murder. If you just want to continue to blow smoke, go back and talk with the atheists who misinformed you so well in the past, or was that the church too? We all have a story David and none are privy to anyone else’s. Try talking to me not at or about me.

I am certain that a lot of experiences I've had you haven't as you don't believe in many of them and deny the possibility of many being possible as well.  So I'm not trying to paint you with a broad brush there--just making an observational point

Just to repeat, no--I didn't call the experience a normal one.  Quite the opposite.  There are some studies and cases of children who had the same experiences which usually comes as a result of violent trauma at a very early age (near infancy and after)--which would be my case.  I also was quite intelligent at that age--reading novels and by seven even some college course books.

Just for detail--I wasn't motivated by hate at that time.  It was strictly a (to myself) practical decision to remove something I saw as a problem for me.  No emotional fueling  involved at all.

The reason to speak here (or anywhere) as a believer is to rebut attempts to categorize most/all Christians as "the same" and use that as a device to dismiss any and every Christian experience from biblical times to the present.

As I have said before, my best friends for years were atheists and agnostics and we had no problem talking at length as the only references we could get for one another was by sharing our thoughts and experiences face to face and making personal assessments of what we heard.

Now anyone can just watch a video, buy a book or go to the internet for their thinking with no thought required, become an expert and then select a convenient meme to validate their new brilliance and to continue repeating to snare others.

So my interjections are just to say, "the stereotype isn't truth".

As to the pragmatism of eliminating all religious belief and practice.  Take an honest look around and see what would go with it.  Remove every Christian soup kitchen and charity and mission organization and counseling line and see what crater is left where they used to be.

I guarantee you it would redefine any metropolitan business district and throw hundreds of thousands into poverty and starvation simply by the absence alone.

So it's a n ice theory to "imagine" with John Lennon but the reality has ramifications beyond, "all you guys are atavistic throwbacks to a superstitious day and need to evaporate away in the light of modern science and thought.".

A final thought to think on is EVERY society that has dethroned and removed social acceptance of religion always has created a new religion to take it's place--a religion of state or personality or political decree.  Tyrants that have risen from or created such systems delight in the absence of any sort of strong spiritual belief because it leaves the field open to redefine everything from morality to what it means to be human and free.

Most of what you present is a view that "if we weren't around" things would be better and that's never proven to be the case.  They would more to the point simply be "different".