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Goodbye Jesus

Story Of An Ex-Pastor


hockeyfan70

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Hi, thanks for sharing your story...I'm sorry about what happened to you...if I had never been to church, I might not ever have started doubting, but it's church people like you're talking about that make you realize something isn't quite right. I hope you find a new career that you like (kudos to you for fighting human trafficking!). Have you thought of being a writer (at least part time blog or something) because you write very well:) 

I do have a blog, I haven't written in it very much in a few years. And it has a lot of Christian stuff in it, but there is a lot of other good stuff in it as well. :D

 

It's at www.psalm63adam.blogspot.com

 

Thanks! I have thought about doing some kind of writing. I might write a book about my exploits as a pastor.

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I read your story.

That's rough but it is not uncommon. If you ever give a shit about people instead of the "ministry" you're fucked. There is no place for you in leadership. They can tell because they see the good ones and they cannot control the good ones. The ones who really will sacrifice for others.

Welcome.

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I'm sure there is a thread about this, but thought I would ask it here:

 

What are the best books you have read about atheism/humanism/whateveryouwanttocallyourself? 

 

I'm reading through "Breaking the Spell" by Daniel Dennett and it is really good. It's basically explaining why some people turn to religion from a naturalistic/evolutionistic approach.

 

Here's a book that probably was the final straw for me: 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian by Guy P. Harrison.  It's not aggressive like Hitchens or Dawkins, but maybe because of that it is probably more powerful.  My faith was already crumbling when I started this, and it did not survive the reading.  I think it would make challenging and uncomfortable reading for even a staunch believer, though I doubt many of those would read it.

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I'm sure there is a thread about this, but thought I would ask it here:

 

What are the best books you have read about atheism/humanism/whateveryouwanttocallyourself? 

 

I'm reading through "Breaking the Spell" by Daniel Dennett and it is really good. It's basically explaining why some people turn to religion from a naturalistic/evolutionistic approach.

 

I forgot to add a link to the book I mentioned.  Here it is: 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian

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I'm sure there is a thread about this, but thought I would ask it here:

 

What are the best books you have read about atheism/humanism/whateveryouwanttocallyourself? 

 

I'm reading through "Breaking the Spell" by Daniel Dennett and it is really good. It's basically explaining why some people turn to religion from a naturalistic/evolutionistic approach.

 

I forgot to add a link to the book I mentioned.  Here it is: 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian

 

Thanks! I'm going to check it out.

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hockeyfan70, I replied to your message.  Took me a while to notice I had a message waiting...

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I'm sure there is a thread about this, but thought I would ask it here:

 

What are the best books you have read about atheism/humanism/whateveryouwanttocallyourself? 

 

I'm reading through "Breaking the Spell" by Daniel Dennett and it is really good. It's basically explaining why some people turn to religion from a naturalistic/evolutionistic approach.

 

I forgot to add a link to the book I mentioned.  Here it is: 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian

 

 

Thanks for book idea, added to Kindle. Damn good reading so far.

 

kL

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HF,

 

Tri-City Americans (Richland, Kennewick, Pasco WA) is the "local" team for ice and puck beating for us. Lots of fun to watch men beating on each other to get fifty cents of polymer into a fruit basket at end of court! :)

 

Welcome to Here amigo. 

 

ExC will help. Your excellent prose will add. Others will also benefit from experiences of a fellow traveler. 

 

kevinL

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Interesting story you wrote. I noticed you like to read books about the subject. I highly recommend "Faith versus Fact" by Jerry Coyne, University of Chicago biologist. In this very interesting book Jerry Coyne repeatedly kills all the moronic religious fantasies including the ridiculous god fantasy.

 

How do you replace what is really a totally worthless career with a real job? Not sure about that. Good luck with it. Perhaps working hard to develop skills that are in demand might solve the problem. In the meantime how do you survive? The government might be able to help you. Not sure about how to do that.

 

Is the Magic Man real? Most people don't realize how simple this is. My explanation requires just a few words. Here it is:

 

God is just another word for magic. Magic is not real. Therefore magical deities are impossible.

 

 

That's it. Notice I don't bother with the obvious fact that science has repeatedly chased the god of the gaps out of its hiding places. Science kills the childish god fantasy but we don't need the science to show god fairies are not real. This is all we need: Magic is not real. Period.

 

One more thing. I believe theism and agnosticism are a mental illness. Even the agnostics are insane. Is magic real or not? Apparently the agnostics can't figure it out. Another thing about agnostics: They are full of it. Their excuses for not being certain about the stupidity of the god fantasy are pathetic.

 

God was the human race's greatest mistake. Here we are in the 21st century and we still have religious stupidity, religious brainwashing, a religious war against science education, and out-of-control religious violence. The time for sucking up to religious scum is over with. Religions must be eradicated. Being nice is not going to get us there.

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One more thing. I believe theism and agnosticism are a mental illness. Even the agnostics are insane. Is magic real or not? Apparently the agnostics can't figure it out. Another thing about agnostics: They are full of it. Their excuses for not being certain about the stupidity of the god fantasy are pathetic.

 

I can't really argue with what you wrote before that, but this is a bit harsh, don't you think? You'll find quite a few agnostics on this site (myself, for starters) as well as a few religious individuals (gasp!), and as far as I've been able to deduce, they qualify as sane and mentally stable.

 

 

Religions must be eradicated.

 

Nothing else than inverted fundamentalism, IMHO. No offense meant, but that's how I see it.

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Worthless career was a little harsh too, but that's ok. I liked what I did for several years. And I felt like I helped people, which is something I like to do.

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Some of the more aggressive atheist types should be reminded of the fact that this is EX-christian.net, not anti-theist.net.

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Worthless career was a little harsh too, but that's ok. I liked what I did for several years. And I felt like I helped people, which is something I like to do.

 

 

There are many occupations that help people which have nothing to do with religion.  I suspect you will find one.

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Thanks, everyone. smile.png

 

And I wanted to post in a topic but it was locked. Does that happen a lot? It was about music to listen to when you are deconversioning from Christianity.

 

So I guess I'll post mine here. I've been listening to David Bazan's "Curse Your Branches" nonstop. If you don't know who that is, he was the frontman for a popular emo-ish band called Pedro the Lion. He was a Christian until a few years ago, and this album is about his struggles with faith. It's so good.

 

I fucking love that album. It came out a bit after I deconverted, but really helped me process a lot of my feelings. 

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Thanks, everyone. smile.png

 

And I wanted to post in a topic but it was locked. Does that happen a lot? It was about music to listen to when you are deconversioning from Christianity.

 

So I guess I'll post mine here. I've been listening to David Bazan's "Curse Your Branches" nonstop. If you don't know who that is, he was the frontman for a popular emo-ish band called Pedro the Lion. He was a Christian until a few years ago, and this album is about his struggles with faith. It's so good.

 

I fucking love that album. It came out a bit after I deconverted, but really helped me process a lot of my feelings. 

 

It's so good. I can still stomach Pedro the Lion as well.

 

Control by PTL is in my top five for best albums of all time (in my opinion). It actually has a lot of meaning to me right now as well, as it kind of is following my life the past two years.

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Some of the more aggressive atheist types should be reminded of the fact that this is EX-christian.net, not anti-theist.net.

 

Fair point but many EX-Christians, such as myself, become staunch anti-theists too. They aren't exclusive domains.

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Really good news today:

 

So, my other brother - I had two, one of them committed suicide in 2014 - lives in our home state and we are pretty close and try to keep up with each other's lives.

 

I was talking to him today and found out that he's been following this same journey that I have been following - away from church and religion.

 

For him, it started with watching the new Cosmos and talking with people at church who believed in a 6-10,000 year old earth. From there he just went further and we both shared today that we are on the same page.

 

That is really good news! :)

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Good to hear about your brother! It's great to have the support of folks here on the forums, but having somebody close that you can now relate to and share with too, that is a big deal! Happy for you...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for sharing.  reading experiences like yours help me to feel less strange as I walked away from Christ.  I stumble across this collection of testimonies that are very good and heartfelt.  You may enjoy reading this

 

http://infidels.org/library/modern/testimonials/

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Thanks for sharing.  reading experiences like yours help me to feel less strange as I walked away from Christ.  I stumble across this collection of testimonies that are very good and heartfelt.  You may enjoy reading this

 

http://infidels.org/library/modern/testimonials/

 

Thanks! That site looks great.

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Excellent post! You have a support system here. There's also a "ministry" for peeps like yourself at http://clergyproject.org/

 

I and others here know all too well how destructive leaving it all behind can be. It's like you look back and see nothing but destruction from your departure. Leaving is desctructive to the faith... But it's constructive to you. It's progress. It's freedom. It's enlightenment.

 

Those people won't pursue you. They might say they will, but you'll find out that Christiantiy is really just tribalism. You're good if you align yourself with their ideologies but once you don't, you're cast out. 

 

Welcome to the family of seekers, pursuers and heathens. :D

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Excellent post! You have a support system here. There's also a "ministry" for peeps like yourself at http://clergyproject.org/

 

I and others here know all too well how destructive leaving it all behind can be. It's like you look back and see nothing but destruction from your departure. Leaving is desctructive to the faith... But it's constructive to you. It's progress. It's freedom. It's enlightenment.

 

Those people won't pursue you. They might say they will, but you'll find out that Christiantiy is really just tribalism. You're good if you align yourself with their ideologies but once you don't, you're cast out. 

 

Welcome to the family of seekers, pursuers and heathens. biggrin.png

Thanks! I appreciate it.

 

I have one last meeting with the church leadership tonight. My wife and I have requested the meeting because the head elder has breached confidence about my departure from the church. This will be the last contact I will have with all of them. I'm informing them I will never attend their church or really any church ever again. Not that they really care. They've proven that over and over again.

 

On a side note - I must try this Fuller's London Porter. My favorite beers are porters. Don't really understand the appeal of IPAs personally. :D

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Welcome, and thank you for sharing your story. The process of leaving your religion can be difficult and overwhelming, and I can’t imagine the extra hurdles for someone who was an actual minister and church leader. I’m sure you’re dealing with a lot of ambiguity right now, and I hope you’re able to find the clarity you need.

 

I’m so happy to hear about your brother! smile.png While I’m grateful for his online community, it’s really nice to have support from someone close to you. It can be a bit lonely to be the only ex-christian you know.

 

I hope your meeting tonight goes well. If I’m reading this right it sounds like your wife is a bit worried about the logistics of a possible career change, what are her feelings about a possible deconversion? 

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Thanks, everyone. smile.png

 

And I wanted to post in a topic but it was locked. Does that happen a lot? It was about music to listen to when you are deconversioning from Christianity.

 

So I guess I'll post mine here. I've been listening to David Bazan's "Curse Your Branches" nonstop. If you don't know who that is, he was the frontman for a popular emo-ish band called Pedro the Lion. He was a Christian until a few years ago, and this album is about his struggles with faith. It's so good.

Just sent you a message. You need to listen to Quiet Company, We Are All Where We Belong, album. 

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I'm sure there is a thread about this, but thought I would ask it here:

 

What are the best books you have read about atheism/humanism/whateveryouwanttocallyourself? 

 

I'm reading through "Breaking the Spell" by Daniel Dennett and it is really good. It's basically explaining why some people turn to religion from a naturalistic/evolutionistic approach.

 

I forgot to add a link to the book I mentioned.  Here it is: 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian

 

 

Thanks for book idea, added to Kindle. Damn good reading so far.

 

kL

 

Yup. I just got that book too!

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