Posts tagged ‘beliefs’
Neece’s De-Conversion: A Winding Road to Atheism and Skepticism
When I was about 12, my parents suddenly got religious in the church of christ. More fear of god preaching filled my head, including bible study once a week with the minister. I got baptized two more times in two different churches, for good measure, and went to church faithfully. I was terrified of burning in hell. It didn’t help that my parents were crazy… good christians on Sunday morning, screaming and abusive the rest of the week. Of course they both blamed me for their abusiveness, so I felt damned to hell for being so wicked, even though I was exceedingly good most of the time.
Not long after we started bible study, the minister decided he wanted to go bowling instead of teach us about the lord’s word. He said I asked too many questions. This was the first blatant sign I had of the hypocrisy of the church and I wanted no more part of it. My stepfather thoughtfully punished me severely for not wanting to go to church. But after a month of it, he inexplicably stopped trying to make me go, much to my relief…
7 Reasons why Christians de-convert
Kieran Bennett recently completed his series on why Christians de-convert. To answer this question, he considered 94 of the 117 de-conversion stories he read on one of the largest archives of de-conversion stories on the internet.
Here is what he found:
- Dissatisfaction with the answers to simple questions proffered by the religion was the most common reason cited for de-conversion amongst the sample (14.89%).
- The realisation that religious dogma contradicted observable reality was
the second mostan equally common reason for de-conversion cited within the sample (also at 14.89%). - 12.76% of the de-converted Christians in the sample spoke about realising the contradictions within the dogma itself.
- For 10.63% of people in the sample, reading the bible was significant in ending their faith.
- Only 8.51% of people in the sample attributed their de-conversion to the hypocrisy of the church.
- In another 8.51% of the de-conversion stories, people tried to speak to god and they now credit god’s lack of an answer for their de-conversion
- And finally, stumbling across the realisation that many religions were just like theirs caused deep doubts for 8.5% of the sample he read…
Continue Reading June 29, 2008 at 11:29 am deconversion 66 comments
70% of Christians in America believe that Christianity is NOT the only way!
Graphic Source: The Dallas Morning News Full Survey Data: The Pew Forum
“De-conversion is not possible since you were never converted”
Featured Discussion
There’s an interesting discussion taking place on one of our threads relating to whether or not “de-converts” were ever really ever converted in the first place.
… if people were asking questions and not finding their own answers through bible studies and research, how could they have “de-converted”? What did they de-convert from? Uncertainty? Looks to me like they didn’t convert in the first place. I’ve read a few dozen “de-conversion” stories and I have yet to read one where they remembered to include their initial “conversion experience”. - Jim Jordon
Why d-C? – Logical Problems with the Dogma
In my first installment of the series “Why do Christians de-convert?”, Why d-C? (1) Answer the damn question Mr. Priest!, I discused the fact that dissatisfaction with the answers to simple questions proffered by the religion was the most common reason cited for de-conversion amongst the sample of the 117 de-conversion stories I read.
But it’s not just questions about dinosaurs, or the world outside the religious paradigm that can provoke doubt. Many de-converted Christians spoke about realising the contradictions within the dogma itself. De-conversion stories that spoke of a realisation that the religious dogma was internally incoherent amounts to 12.76% of the sample. The most common cause of these doubts appeared to be when the religious dogma contradicted “religious” values (the reason for using scare quotes here will become apparent later).
This example shows conflict between a child’s own belief they have done nothing wrong (sin requires wrongful action), and the idea of original sin:
“When a boy 10 years old in Catholic school Priest pointed at the Cross and said “You put him there. He died for your sins,” I did not accept that statement. I was not old enough to have sinned!”…
Continue Reading May 27, 2008 at 12:08 am deconversion 15 comments
Satan: The Greatest Bible Myth?
We have spent a considerable time on this blog, addressing Biblical myths. HeIsSailing wrote on several myths of the Bible including the Leviathan, the creation story, the tower of Babel, and the origins of languages. I compiled an entry on the Exodus. Richard recently wrote on the Apocalypse. However, I believe one of the greatest myths of the Bible is the existence of the creature we call the devil.
On his personal blog, Gary has a post entitled The Grand Myth of Lucifer in which he describes in detail what the Bible says, or what most evangelicals believe the Bible says, about this mythical creature. In the post, he describes the origins of Lucifer, the part he played in the fall of Adam and Eve, the crucifixion of Jesus, and what he knows of his own destiny.
Even as a Christian, I began to have my doubts in the existence of the devil. I struggled with the story of Job in which Job was a pawn in a great cosmic battle between God and the devil. If God was the great omnipotent being and the devil was simply a fallen angel, why did it seem as if they were somehow on equal terms? What was the devil doing in heaven approaching God?…
Continue Reading April 3, 2008 at 11:09 pm The de-Convert 89 comments
Submit your de-Conversion story
Top Posts
SU Users: StumbleUpon It!!
Just in case you were wondering 
Jersey
Quester
athinkingman
Simen
carriedthecross
confusedchristian
CrimsonMai
deconversion
evanescent
the chaplain
exevangel
Joshua
The Apostate
HeIsSailing
Justin Ferriman
Jeffrey
karen
Laura
lostgirlfound
Lyndon
LeoPardus
mysteryofiniquity
neece
orDover
Phil Stilwell
rfogue
Richard
The de-Convert
stellar1
writerdd
Most Recent Discussions