My Creed, Nov 2016

[Insightful]

Hi Everyone,

 

The holidays can be so crazy... especially as ex-Christians with still-Christian extended families.  I found myself much more anxious than usual over the past few days - even though nothing going on right now in my life is *so* bad.

 

Anyway, when I feel unglued, I love to journal.  I found that writing out an updated "creed" was helpful in re-centering myself and finding some calm.

 

A couple of notes: my creeds always seem to end up relative to Christianity.  A creed certainly doesn't have to address issues like inerrancy or other Christian doctrines.  I feel the need to address Christian doctrines in my creed because so much of my life - and so much of my social circle - is steeped in Christianity.  Also, some of you may find me to be too "gentle" toward Christianity, but there are themes and values in Christianity that I still respect (and I'm not saying those values are unique to Christianity)...  here it is:

 

My Creed

November 29, 2016

 

I do not believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God.  I acknowledge (rather than explain away) the problems with the Bible – legendary elements, moral problems, contradictions, etc.

 

I strongly doubt the historicity of the resurrection, the virgin birth, and the miracles.

 

I am unconvinced of both the existence and the non-existence of God.  I believe that the evidence we presently have is insufficient to reach a conclusion either way.

 

I strongly doubt the existence of heaven and hell.  I strongly doubt the existence of a conscious

afterlife.

 

I do not believe that God, if He exists, will judge us based on whether or not we believe in certain (unprovable) propositions and alleged miraculous events.      

 

I do not believe that people, by virtue of simply being born, are inherently evil and worthy of damnation. 

 

I do see in Jesus of Nazareth great wisdom, lofty ethics, and a beautiful heart of compassion

for the poor and the outcast.  They are worthy of great admiration and emulation.

 

I appreciate (and even celebrate) the broader Christian themes of grace, forgiveness, redemption, purpose, and hope.

 

I believe in an ancient earth, evolution, and secular-psychology’s explanations for human

behavior.

 

I believe in living fully, loving sacrificially, and giving compassionately.   I treasure love, justice, truth, and mercy.

 

I believe in working hard, being faithful to my wife, loving my children and raising them to be hard-working, ethical, compassionate people.

 

I believe in science and reason over faith and doctrine. 

 

I believe that actions accomplish more than prayers.

 

I believe that each of us has a responsibility as human beings to create a just world.  

[MOHO]

Nicely done, Insightful!

 

I agree with everything except for the loving the kids thing. Only because I don't have any.

 

It's REALLY hard for me to keep from rolling my eyes and murmring "Oh Boy!" when I hear "I'll prey for this" or "I'll prey for that"

 

"Why don't you fucking DO something instead of preying if you are so concerned!!!" I scream inside...

    - MOHO (Mind Of HIs Own)

[sdelsolray]

Yes, very well thought out and expressed.

[Insightful]

Thanks guys!  

 

MOHO - I'm totally with you.  I think when people offer to pray for a situation it assuages their guilt for not actually helping...  It takes more love and more self-sacrifice to get up and do something!!

 

I have known a few truly remarkable people who pray AND offer real help...  I can respect them.

[TABA]

I agree that setting out a personal Creed is often a good idea, for anybody really, but especially for those who are somewhere in the process of deconverting.  I write out my Creed from time to time and it certainly helps me to focus and to assess the journey I've taken.

 

I think your Creed is very well written and I think your beliefs and priorities would be shared by a great many of us here, certainly shared by me.  I am not as charitable to Jesus as you are, though:  although he is quoted as saying many admirable things, the negatives - the promise to divide families, and most off all his threat of damnation to so many - disqualify him from being anything for me to admire or emulate.  But that's just me - I appreciate you sharing YOUR creed with us.  You seem to have a good handle on your post-Christian life and I'm glad you're a member of our community.

 

All the Best,

TABA

[TABA]

After writing my comments above, it occurred to me that if I had been asked to write out my personal creed maybe ten years ago, I would probably have written an orthodox Christian statement of belief.  But I know I would have squirmed royally as I did so, given the level of doubt that lurked just below the surface.  I'm sure that's not the case for many of our members: you were strong and utterly convinced in your faith.  Not me: although I certainly considered myself a Christian, the problems with Christianity nagged at me regularly.  Now though, when I state my godless creed, it is with a confidence and a comfort level that I never experienced before.  How good that feels!

[Insightful]

Thank you so much, TABA!   It does feel good to get to write a creed that represents one's OWN conclusions and not the conclusions that were handed to us as a package...  

 

Thanks for respectfully honoring what I shared while also giving your perspective too.  I'm thankful for this forum where we can all share freely and find acceptance despite differences in some areas.

 

Take care,

Insightful

[VAmountaineer]

Writing a personal creed appears to be an exercise that a lot of us on here, including myself, would benefit from. Thanks for sharing.

[deno]

I appreciate (and even celebrate) the broader Christian themes of grace, forgiveness, redemption, purpose, and hope.

 

Thanks, Insightful, for your "Creed" You put into words many of my own thoughts. It got me thinking about writing one of my own (I also journal).

 

I was, however, a little puzzled by the words redemption, purpose, and hope in the above line.That's only because in my evangelical / fundamentalist indoctrination the word "redemption" has several uses but in the NT it referred to Christ's redemption (paying the price) for sinners to be set free from the penalty of sin. In a Christian context, the word "purpose" was associated with living one's life for God's purposes. Finally, the word "hope" referred to the hope (assurance) of salvation through Christ. 

 

I hope you don't think I'm trying to pick your creed apart, I'm not. I'm was just wondering what you had in mind when using those terms. If I didn' appreciate so much what you've written I wouldn't care, but I do appreciate it

[Insightful]

Hi Deno!

 

Thanks for the reply. I did have in mind a secular application of those themes. I think that the concept of "redemption" - of making something beautiful and meaningful out of something broken and nearly lost - is fantastic. I see a kind of redemption when an orphan is adopted or when someone's battle with cancer becomes a story about courage and finding a cure... I also sympathize with the sentiment of the doctrine of Redemption (in the narrow sense) even though I don't believe in it literally. By that I mean - If there really were a god and he really did sacrifice something of himself to atone for my wrongdoings then that would be a very beautiful thing. So I can sympathize with the emotion of that and see Beauty in it even though I reject the historicity and actuality of it.

 

With purpose I mean that I appreciate that Christianity infuses people's lives with a deep sense of purpose. In my own life while I reject "purpose" the narrow Christian sense of living a life as God's redeemed children, I think it's worthwhile and beautiful have a purpose and live for a purpose - whether that is pursuing knowledge, finding a cure for a disease,loving others, caring for Orphans Etc.

 

And with hope I mean that in rejecting Christianity I still celebrate hope as a virtue. I think that there are a great many things to hope in and hope for.

 

So in my new way of viewing the world even though I reject the Orthodox doctrines of Christianity I take with me values such as these that I learned in a Christian context. I aldo recognize that Christianity hasn't cornered the market on these values but I did learn them as a Christian and through the Christian faith. So I acknowledge and appreciate the presence of these values and even the prominence of these values in Christianity, even if I don't apply them anymore in a "Christian" way.

[deno]

Insightful,

 

That makes perfect sense. I think it's a virtue to glean whatever benefits we can get from just about any doctrine, whether we agree with the whole or not. A Christian friend of mine, after learning of my de-conversion, asked me this: If you no longer embrace the gospel what hope do you have? I told him that my hope is for science to continue to make this world a better place in which to live (of course, I could expand on that quite a bit with what I know now) However, in his question, I think my friend touched on one of the central reasons for the development of religion in the first place: Man's intrinsic desire to continue his life beyond the grave. That is probably a false hope, but I can see the placebo benefits of it.

 

Have a good day!

[Insightful]

Thanks Deno! Ernest Becker's "The Denial of Death" is a fascinating read about all of the things we do to try to "live" beyond our deaths - attaining hero stats through "immortality projects." Hope you have a great day too.

[deno]

Insightful,

I've downloaded a free sample of that book from Amazon and it looks interesting. Probably buy the book. Thanks.

[Insightful]

Oh awesome! Hope you enjoy it, it's deep, but really helped me understand myself and others...