Jeff Dissinger

Arizona Secular Leader
Red Rock Rationalists

Jeff Dissinger was not raised in any kind of religious practice. In high school, his main group of friends were Christian. He started going to Campus Life with them and soon found himself enjoying it. He had plenty of questions for the group leader and pastors, who seemed amused with his inquiries but kept assuring him to “believe.” Somewhere in his senior year of high school, he became “born again” and considered himself a Christian.

Jeff continued this way clear into adulthood, marriage, fatherhood and beyond. By the time he reached his late twenties, he was having serious doubts—not so much about the existence of a god, but in his fellow Christians. He remembers thinking: “If this is the best they can do, I’m not sure I want to be a part of this group.”

Always on a journey of discovery and knowledge, Jeff spent most of his 30’s losing his faith and reading voraciously about science and religion, finally arriving at a point at which he didn’t believe in the god of the bible the way most folks did. He had evolved to the point at which he believed there probably was a feller named Jesus, but he certainly wasn’t a god.

By the time Jeff reached 40 years old, he was a full-blown, but not very vocal, agnostic/atheist. His second life partner was already there, and they’ve continued to evolve and move down the path of atheism. Jeff now considers himself a “naturalist” and blames most of the world’s issues on religion and/or wishful thinking in general.