BlindersRemoved Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I have read several testimonies on this site and found many similarities to my own story. I live in the bible belt, so I look forward to interacting with people that can relate to what I've been through. Here's a brief testimony of how I deconverted. My entire life, I was a church going, bible reading, right winger. In my mid 30s, I started questioning things in the bible and started down a road that I never imagined myself going. After a few years of soul searching, I finally concluded that religion is man made and that the bible was bullshit. Once I removed the blinders, it became painfully obvious how irrational, illogical, and absurd it is. I mean, it defies all common sense. When people ask what caused me to I change, I tell them it was the bible. At first, I had a great deal of anger over the fact that what I had spent my entire life believing was nothing but a big lie. It has been four years now and I am at peace with it. I'm the same person I was before, I just no longer believe in fairy tales. Fortunately, my christian friends are still my friends and we are even able to have civil debates on the issue. For a while, I considered myself agnostic, but now identify as atheist. Thanks for having me 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TrueFreedom Posted March 19, 2014 Moderator Share Posted March 19, 2014 Welcome, BR. It's good to hear that you have found peace. It's taken me a bit longer, but I think that I am finally at peace as well. It's nice to be past the resentment, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtify Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Welcome, BlindersRemoved! Your name pretty much sums up what it feels like to escape christian mind control. I'm glad to hear you are over the worst of it. Reading the bible is what did it for me too. If I may ask, what specific passages of the bible caused you to rethink the validity of christianity? I would like to hear more of your story if/when you are ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Welcome to ex-C, BR. Nice to hear from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindersRemoved Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 TR, it is nice to get past the resentment. Unfortunately, I live in the south and still have to deal with people interjecting religion into everything. I've lived here my whole life so I'm used to it. Otherwise, I'd probably be going nuts. xtify, reading the OT had a big influence on me. There had always been things that I found hard to swallow, but chalked it up to god's mysterious ways. We have several instances of god ordained genocide. That sounds more like a general rallying his troops. "God said kill them all. arrrgghhh!!!" The Jews spent a lot of time in slavery, being punished for their disobedience. It became hard to believe that they were god's chosen people. We always took the bible literally, so the flood story, Jonah and the whale, the walls of Jericho, and Samson and Delilah started sounding more like fables. I finally concluded that the god of the OT and NT were not the same god. But I couldn't discount the OT because it is referenced so much in the NT. According to my NIV, the gospels were written decades after christ? Why did it take so long? And Paul's writings were first. It didn't make any sense to me that the disciples wouldn't write this story until a gentile came along preaching christ. I started doing a little research into ancient religions. I'm no expert, but I found enough to convince me that it was quite common for religions to borrow from one another. It doesn't appear that the virgin birth and savior story are unique to christianity. And how is the concept of the holy trinity not polytheism? I could also go on a big rant about how the facts of life and the idea of an omnipotent, omniscient, loving, and perfect god don't gel. But I gotta go for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted March 19, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted March 19, 2014 Welcome to Ex-C! You now have the peace which passeth all misunderstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipVanWinkle Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Living in Tenn. you certainly are in the bible belt. That's where I was born many, many a year ago. Your deconversion story is similar to many here. Your logic is inescapable once you allow yourself to think. Believe it or not Martin Luther wrote that reason and Xtianity are not compatible. You would think that would be enough for him to deconvert, but instead he took the first steps toward the Protestant Reformation. Go figure. Welcome to this site. I would say the main thing that binds us together is belief in reason. bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted March 19, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted March 19, 2014 Welcome from a fellow bible-belter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I wouldn't call Christianity a "lie" per se; it's more along the lines of Plato's Noble Lie. Of course the early intellectual Christians could not empirically demonstrate that the "spirit" of Jesus was entering into the "soul" of the person baptized; but they thought that by pretending to believe it, perhaps it would be true. When you wish upon a star ... Everyone believed in "souls" and the afterlife and heaven in their world, so thinking that secret passwords and rituals were gateways into those realms is what pretty much every religion in every era and culture has taught and believed, then and now. Nothing special about Christianity. What is more embarrassing and infuriating is the way theologians behave in modern times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 You're in the bible belt AND you have friends who are still cool with you even when you deconverted from their religion? Those are good friends, you're one lucky man. Welcome to ex-c, I'm new here myself, it's nice and comfy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 You're in the bible belt AND you have friends who are still cool with you even when you deconverted from their religion? Those are good friends, you're one lucky man. Welcome to ex-c, I'm new here myself, it's nice and comfy. ^^That was my first thought, too! You're very lucky to have decent friends! Welcome, and looking forward to reading more of your posts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jobear Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Welcome! Your name and testimony make me think of "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see." So appropriate a hymn for us now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindersRemoved Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Welcome! Your name and testimony make me think of "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see." So appropriate a hymn for us now! I like it. After reading other testimonies, I am lucky that my friends haven't disowned me. I'm a firefighter so we spend a lot of time together at the firehouse. We had a good debate the other day and afterwards I noticed a piece of paper on the desk titled "how to talk to atheists." I assume they are studying up on how to talk to me. I skimmed the list and it appears that I am rebelling against god because I don't want to be accountable to anyone. Lol. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violetbutterfly Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Here's a brief testimony of how I deconverted. My entire life, I was a church going, bible reading, right winger. In my mid 30s, I started questioning things in the bible and started down a road that I never imagined myself going. After a few years of soul searching, I finally concluded that religion is man made and that the bible was bullshit. I could have written this myself. It's amazing how much sense it doesn't make once you really start to question it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 I live in TN too and my son is also a firefighter. Your reference to blinders being removed is appropriate. Mine were welded on so tight it took me forty years to pry them off, but they eventually did come off. Now I find myself wondering why did that take so long, and how could I ever have believed any of that stuff was true? I have come to realize religions ability to indoctrinate is an enormously powerful tool and has proven to be extremely effective. When obviously intelligent people, with graduate level degrees, are as easily duped as anyone else it becomes evident just how powerful a tool indoctrination really is. I now realize indoctrination must be taken seriously to the point of being fearful of it as well as the people who use it to achieve their goals. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindersRemoved Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 Indoctrination is indeed very powerful. I know a few people that were saved later in life, but most were raised in it and are continuing the tradition with their kids. I cringe as I look back at how I used to drag my son to church and tried to force the gospel down his throat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Welcome to ExC, BlindersRemoved. The Bible did it for me, too. That book is actually Christianity's worst enemy, though Christians refuse to acknowledge that fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Welcome! It's great to see another one breaking free. I'm another one whose path out of the myth began with studying the Bible. Once you see through the sham, the absurdity of it all is overwhelming, isn't it? Anyway, enjoy the journey ahead of you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindersRemoved Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 I've been reading up on the crusades and have been astonished at the atrocities committed. The Christians acted just like the Israelites in the OT. They slaughtered women, children and prisoners, all in the name of god. I brought this up to a Christian and her response was , "those were Catholics." Wow, what a crock of shit. The good news is that I was talking about it with a fundy at work and he wants to read it when I'm done. Maybe it will have an influence on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Welcome BlindersRemoved! I like your name. I often say "they've got those BibleBlinders on". Its really true about fundys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Welcome BR. I'm new here as well, but there are some great people on this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts