|
Register | Sign In |
|
QuickSearch
EvC Forum active members: 65 (9164 total) |
| |
ChatGPT | |
Total: 916,913 Year: 4,170/9,624 Month: 1,041/974 Week: 368/286 Day: 11/13 Hour: 0/0 |
Thread ▼ Details |
Member (Idle past 4838 days) Posts: 400 From: Colorado, USA Joined: |
|
Thread Info
|
|
|
Author | Topic: Deconversion experiences | |||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
I'm curious whether anyone else here who has gone through a deconversion recognizes any of this.
There are probably many different ways of going through this. For me, it was several decades ago. I never thought there was a conflict between science and religion. I thought it obvious that the Bible was not a science text book, and that the Adam and Eve story was a fable, that the Noah's Ark story was either a fable or about a local flood and farmyard animals. There was always the problem that prayer seemed to be like talking to a brick wall. But I managed to put that to one side. What really bothered me were:
Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
Meldinoor writes: Until you tell me what you mean by "god(s)" I will have to remain non-committal. RAZD writes:
It is not the agnostic position as you defined that in Message 24. For you defined it as a question on evidence, while Meldinoor is saying that it is a conceptual question, a question of meaning.And this is the agnostic position - that until there is sufficient information on which to base a decision, the logical conclusion is that we don't know. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
Meldinoor writes:
That makes a lot of sense to me.I think the technical term for my stance on the issue of gods in general would be Ignosticism. Since the truth value of an undefined concept can not be determined (or even speculated upon), it doesn't really make sense to place oneself on RAZD's scale, even as an agnostic. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
Meldinoor writes:
That's my take on it, too. And the more I study it, the clearer it becomes that it is not designed.Actually, I'm standing here, looking at the world and claiming that it does not even appear to be designed. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
GDR writes:
I think that understates the problem.I think that many of the deconversion experiences happen because people find the Bible contradictory and inaccurate. As I see it, the problem is this:
Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
GDR writes:
I was fine with the teachings of Jesus. But too much of Christian theology seemed inconsistent those teachings.Christianity makes sense of this world in ways that nothing else does. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
Apothecus writes:
That's part of what sustains religion. It is really just group psychology. We evolved as social creatures, and our way of life is dependent on some degree of social cooperation. So, quite naturally, we are influenced by others in the group. Your discomfort is because you have moved in a direction that is inconsistent with the expectations of the group.
And yet, and yet, it still feels uncomfortable. Apothecus writes:
That "not meant to understand" doesn't work very well with people who have an interest in science and in asking the hard questions.
Creation never made sense to me back then, but the 'rents just told me there are things which we were not meant to understand. Apothecus writes:
I don't consider that cowardly. It is part of our responsibility, as social beings, that we should not unduly burden others with facts that are mostly personal in nature. That's a situation that calls for thoughtful judgment, and you do seem to have thought it through.I'm in the same boat as you are: my family knows nothing of this. Call it cowardly, but believe me when I say that it would crush my wife. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
articulett writes:
I have sometimes said, "I prefer to keep my religious views to myself, and I would prefer that others do the same." This turns out to work well with those who come knocking on the door in their evangelism attempts. They usually don't come back.When the conversation turns religious, sometimes I just say, "I wish there was just some good evidence for the existence of souls"-- but mostly I stay quiet. Rocking the boat is often not worth it. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
articulett writes:
If I understand him correctly, jar is just saying that we should behave better, and not concern ourselves about whether someone is watching over us.Sorry for the confusion on pedophiliac priests. I was just pointing out that believing you have someone watching over you, doesn't necessarily make people behave any better. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
Dawn Bertot writes:
Just post your own deconversion experience here.I took the time to read each one of these articles and they are what I expected, sloppy, inefficient examples of why anyone should abandon faith in God or the Bible What's that? You haven't deconverted yet? Then this is not the thread for you. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
Kairyu writes: Is there anybody who has a reaction on my story? I would like to talk a bit more about it. GDR writes:
What he is rejecting, is 2,000 years of made up bullshit, held together by only the glue of tradition and by group psychology.All I can say is to think through what it is that you are rejecting. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
nwr Member Posts: 6412 From: Geneva, Illinois Joined: Member Rating: 5.3 |
Kairyu writes:
There was no personal insult in my post. I actually have a lot of respect for GDR.He did not insult me, so there's no need to insult him. I don't doubt that GDR disagrees with my characterization of religion, but that does not make my post a personal insult. Jesus was a liberal hippie
|
|
|
Do Nothing Button
Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved
Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024