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Author Topic:   What is an "Ex Believer", anyway?
sfs
Member (Idle past 2555 days)
Posts: 464
From: Cambridge, MA USA
Joined: 08-27-2003


Message 6 of 123 (193091)
03-21-2005 3:20 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Phat
03-21-2005 10:19 AM


I'm afraid I find your question rather confused. A "believer" is someone who believes in something religious. The belief may be belief about matters of fact (e.g. God exists and Mohammed was his prophet) or a trust placed in something (e.g. trusting in God). An ex-believer is someone who used to believe (in either sense) and no longer does; he either no longer thinks the factual statements are true or no longer is able or willing to place his trust as before.
An experience of having "met God" has no necessary connection to the matter of being a believer. One can believe without ever having such an experience, and one can have an intense experience and still not believe in its reality. Of course, some (many?) believers base their belief on having had such an experience, but lots don't. Of those who do, some will later decide that they misinterpreted an inner psychological experience as an encounter with an external personal being. That you want to deny such people their own understanding of their own experience is kind of obnoxious, but is unlikely to persuade anyone but yourself.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Phat, posted 03-21-2005 10:19 AM Phat has not replied

  
sfs
Member (Idle past 2555 days)
Posts: 464
From: Cambridge, MA USA
Joined: 08-27-2003


Message 23 of 123 (193627)
03-23-2005 6:07 AM
Reply to: Message 15 by Phat
03-23-2005 3:51 AM


Re: I'm not insane, I'm telling you! You've Got to believe me!
quote:
No. A Believer is someone who has actually( at least in their perception) met God...through a spiritual epiphany. My point is that once you meet someone, you can never deny their reality.
And my point is that what you're talking about is not "belief", as native speakers of English usually use the word. It's also not orthodox Christianity, which requires belief in a more conventional sense. The idea that you have to have had some particular sense of meeting God in order to be a Christian is an interesting form of heresy. Are you sure that you really want to advocate it?

This message is a reply to:
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