de-conversion

Go ahead. Blow away my free will.

Frequently, when I bring up the fact that God never does any revelation, vision, miracle, visitation, etc, to make his existence obvious, I encounter an apologetic for the do-nothing god that goes something like this.

“God can’t reveal himself with total clarity because it would violate our free will. If He revealed himself with total clarity, we could not possibly choose anything else. And God must respect our free will.”

Well this is just a load of rubbish from every angle. Let’s look at some angles.

First off there’s the whole issue of free will. Do we really have free will? That’s debatable, both from the Bible and from secular philosophies. And if you introduce a deity with perfect foreknowledge, then free will is definitely gone. [But despite this, I’ve actually heard Calvinists use the above apologetic. Go figure.] I’m not going to settle the free will issue for anyone, but an apologetic based on such a highly debated issue is hardly a slam-dunk.

Next we have the problem of “God can’t “. That’s a biggie. The all-powerful God “can’t”???…

Continue Reading 94 comments April 9, 2008

Inconvenient categories: The really real reasons de-cons leave the faith

Recently, with help from several folks around here, I put together a list of the convenient categories that Christians like to come up with to explain why people leave the faith.

Now, with help from several folks around here, I put together a list of the inconvenient categories that amount to the real reasons why we left.

Here are the inconvenient, real reasons that a number of de-cons on this blog have given for their leaving the faith. I’ve edited them a bit for clarity, and I’ve removed some extra or explanatory text that some de-cons included. This was just to get them all down to as concise a set of statements as I could. If any of you feel I’ve overdone it, and messed up your meaning, my apologies. Please post a correction or fuller explanation.

And if you don’t see you’re reason in here, please add it in a response below.

1. God never shows up. Not in visions, miracles, visitations, angelic appearances, or challenge matches (think of Elijah vs. the Baal priests).
2. Prayers are NOT answered.
3. Christians are NOT different from non-Christians.
4. Church disunity.
5. The Bible is contradictory with itself, reality, and morality…

Continue Reading 78 comments April 7, 2008

Convenient categories: The “real reasons” de-cons leave the faith

Often enough, Christians pop in to the de-conversion blog and proceed to enlighten us as to the “real reason” why we left the faith. Sometimes, we shoot down their reasons, thus inconveniencing them with the need to come up with others. So we de-cons have compiled a list from which one can simply select.

We hope this will save wear and tear (on the brain) and time (running to the pastor to hear what to think next) for intellectually indolent, but judgmentally industrious christians (using the lower-case ‘c’ for lower case minds).

So without further ado, we hereby present:

Convenient categories into which Christians can shoehorn or pigeonhole ex-Christians:

1. You’re looking for an excuse not to believe.
2. You’re being manipulated by Satan.
3. You’re indulging your desire to live hedonistically.
4. You want instant gratification.
5. You’re not thinking about the future/afterlife.
6. You never had a true personal relationship with Jesus.
7. You never experienced/received the Holy Spirit.
8. You were “religious” but not born again. (OR, in better church jargon) You had a “said faith, not a real faith.”
9. Your decision is based on other Christians’ behavior, not on Jesus’ teachings.
10. You were hurt by your pastor/other Christians…

Continue Reading 58 comments March 27, 2008

Learning Balance

My icon around here is a yin/yang symbol with a black leopard. (I’ve put a larger version of it in this post, as it’s just too small to see next to my comments.)

There are a number of reasons for my choosing this as my icon. In part, I chose it because black cats are so darn cool. In part, I chose it because it associates well with my long involvement in martial arts. Finally, I chose it because it’s such a great visual summary of balance. Of course balance is what the yin/yang symbol was created to represent.

For any who may not know the yin/yang symbol well, here’s a brief primer on it, along with a simpler symbol.

It is circular to represent the world/globe. It is half black and half white to represent the opposing or complementary categories into which much of the world can be divided. [For instance black and white (opposites) or male and female (complements).] To show that these categories are not always neat or absolute, the black portion bulges over to the white side and likewise the white bulges over to the black side. Lastly, there is a spot of black in the midst of the white field and a spot of white in the midst of the black field to indicate that even in the midst of any division, there may be elements of its opposite or complement…

Continue Reading 23 comments March 15, 2008

You might be a Fundy if…

Someone recently mentioned making some Jeff Foxworthy type one liners about Christian Fundamentalists. I always like a good laugh, so I searched and found that there are quite a few out there. Here’s a selection. Enjoy the grins.

You might be a Fundy if…

• You see nothing wrong with stating “facts” about what God thinks as if you are His personal secretary.
• You complain about Christians not being allowed to practice their religion in foreign countries, yet when someone tries to set up a Hindu temple/Mosque/Pagan or new age bookshop in your town you go ballistic and think it shouldn’t be allowed.
• Your typical prayer uses the phrase “Lord Jesus” or “Lord God” more times than the Bible.
• God regularly opens up convenient parking spaces, JUST FOR YOU.
• You think people who enjoy science fiction and fantasy, especially those who enjoy the Harry Potter novels, are going to be in hell.
• You think that being tortured for all of eternity for any reason is an appropriate punishment.
• You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God…

Continue Reading 48 comments January 6, 2008

The Good of the Church

Among people who have left any belief system there is very often a tendency to demonize that which they formerly adhered to. We see it all the time.

• Former Catholics seem all too happy to point at the abuse scandals and say that’s what they’d expect from the old “whore of Babylon”.
• Former atheists become Christians and then set about declaiming atheists as the spawn of Satan.
• In the Eastern Orthodox Church (EOC) I often heard former Protestants berating Protestantism as stupid, evil, dead, not even Christian, and so on.
• Former political liberals/conservatives will begin to rant about how dumb/evil/wrong/damaging conservatives/liberals are.

Among former Christians the tendency exists too. Christianity, the Church, Christians, religion in general, all too often come to be viewed as the greatest earthly source of evil. Just look around this, or any other, atheist/agnostic/decon forum and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

I think this tendency may arise from anger at abuses seen or suffered in the Church, or from a bit of a personal backlash for feeling like one was duped, and I’m sure there are other sources for it as well. However, regardless of why it happens, I’d like to go on record as saying, “I’m not buying it.”…

Continue Reading 48 comments December 21, 2007