I was referring to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Old Testament is part of all of these faiths.

I grew up Catholic. I was really religious; I even wanted to be a nun when I grew up. When I got older I learned more about other religions and found some of the ideas interesting. It started with the comparative mythology studies of Joseph Campbell; for the first time, I saw parallels in different religions and thought that they were all aiming toward deeper truths, each in its own way. I couldn't join a single religion myself now because I would find its dogma and world view too limiting.

Having previously known nothing about other religions, I didn't know there were many ancient flood stories. I learned about the epic of Gilgamesh. That was one of the points where I began to question the Bible's monopoly on the truth. I saw the flood story as a myth that had been shared by other cultures, probably as a way of documenting a real event -- a local flood -- that had happened in the past. I saw the myth of the hero, and the the typical conventions of that (such as the descent to the underworld and rebirth in the world above) enacted in many religious stories. Campbell was particularly intrigued by the hero-myth and I can see why: it's very powerful, and it says something about what it is to be a human being. I don't use the term "myth" lightly, as a synonym with "lie"; myths are wonderful ways of getting to deeper truths through resonating with the collective unconscious and human experience.

It wasn't hard for me to radically shift my views like this. I'm not sure why. It sure upset my parents, and it upset me in a way too, because for quite a while afterwards I was quite atheistic in my thinking, and I found it an empty place to be. I've got some different ideas now, like I stated earlier.

This is probably horrific reading for the Christians here but I dont' see any reason not to be totally honest with you, since you asked. In a way, I think this makes me pretty tolerant. Like I said, religion is fine by me as long as it teaches people to love each other and do other good things. I'm not so keen when someone who thinks that their religion is the one and only true one tries to force it on me.