De-converting the Christian

Ben B.

The goal of christianity is readily observable to anyone who researches history. Every torturous and bloody crusade and inquisition of old, to the less violent and less deadly missionary incursions of today, always completed with fortunes spent on political lobbying to this effect, is testament to how they seek to assimilate every non-believer by force, law, and fear. What they can not achieve forcefully overnight, they reserve themselves to the subtleness of the serpent they warn against, and proceed with gradualism.

As an atheist having been subjected to this system, I counter with the mission to deconvert christians. I seek to show them they are their own person, and that they can be their best friend or their own worst enemy. I want them to know it is beneficial for them to think for themselves, and adhere to what they think is best for themselves. I do not hate them, nor do I fear their beliefs.

I was once a fundamentalist christian. With the following, I speak from experience.

Nothing about Christianity and the christian must ever be assumed. This is the game they themselves unknowingly are pawns of, calling it belief and faith. If necessary, the Socratic Method, effectively used, will deconstruct any argument when the one employing it defaults to admitting they know not one thing about Christianity. Christianity is adamant with knowing the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let them think they know what they are talking about, as this is what is used against them, in order to set them free.

Christianity is about fear, and nothing more. There is no more foundational aspect than this. To strike at every branch of the tree of fear will accomplish nothing. Countering their doctrines by pointing out the contradictions, absurdities, and falsehoods only works to solidify their beliefs, just as it solidifies your disbelief. To strike at fear itself is the only effective way to set them free of themselves.

Just as the Christian needs belief, scripture, and fellow congregants to sustain their faith, the de-converted will understand that these three things are without merit, and of mankind's creation, and no god, and have no practical use in living one's life. This is why the atheist has no belief, no scripture, and no church.

1. Golden Rule: beliefs effect nothing.

Belief has no power to effect *anything*. The truth is what *is*, and belief cannot change this. If the christian believes you will burn in hell for your lack of belief, leave it at that. You know that they do not really know this, but only believe they do. There is no reason to get upset at them for this, as it is to be expected of them. It is their nature to effect their fears; to counter these claims is to waste one's breath. Truth requires no belief.

2. Christians are controlled by fear.

Christians are mentally chained to belief, and these chains are their fears. This mental chain rules them physically in everything they say and do. The greater their fears envelope them is observable to their adherance to their religious beliefs. These fears always stem from the fear of the unknown. All christians say they do not fear death; yet they all believe they will go to heaven once they die. They fear hell; they do not want to go there when they die. The fanatical christian, under the burden of the greatest of fear, believes he will not even die, but will be miraculously raptured straight to heaven. The evidence of fear is shown by the beliefs they profess to counter them.

3. Their thoughts are not their own.

It must be realized that the whole of christianity is assimilation, and not free-thought. For everything you point out to them, they have read and memorized the response. This is the whole of their indoctrination. They will even tell you they think for themselves, but all their responses to their psychological environment have been long planned out.

4. Christians are easily offended.

This must not be used against them, if you seek to de-convert them. For them, to be offended is all the ground they need to blacklist you and shut you out completely. The more offended they are, the more they are struggling for your help, and offending them will not help them to autonomous awareness and realization.

5. They must be accepted for who they are.

Christianity plays a game where, if you are not with them, you are against them. Nature does not dictate who is to be who's enemy, of even if there should be enemies; only man does this. To the christian, the non-christian is the outcast in desperate need of salvation. Do not play this game; accept them unconditionally. Christians, like most people, build a metaphorical steel-reinforced concrete nuclear bunker that is ever ready for them to retreat into should the nature of their being be pointed out to them. You do not want them to retreat.

How, then, is a Christian de-converted? It takes time for a Christian to de-convert; the deeper they are within christianity, the longer it may take. The secret of de-conversion is that no one can be de-converted by another, they can only de-convert themselves. The Christian can never be forced into de-conversion, nor can they be lead to it. They will always lead themselves, after metaphorically 'having their world stopped' by another.

1. The Christian needs only one thought or experience that is unsatisfactorily answerable by their religion, pastor, and bible.

This is the position that is necessary to enable the christian to force themselves to confront their very existence. It will forever gnaw at their very being until it is answered. When no one else can answer it for them, they are forced to answer for themselves. This is how they are led to confronting their very existance; it pits them at a cross-roads of which no map or guide exists, and they must choose for themselves. This is their awakening; the beginning of their autonomous thinking and realization.

2. You must appeal to their very existence.

For de-conversion, no question about their faith will achieve any other response than that which they already memorized. A christian can never be told otherwise than what they have been indoctrinated with. However, the christian does not spend much time studying their own life. Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living, and nowhere is this more helpfull than in de-conversion. Religious indoctrination is the necessity of the question. The question must appeal to their very self. How the Christian personally should live his life, as nature presents it to him, is found in no book. The question, "What will that do for you?", as simple and unassuming as it reads, has more power than all the scriptural recitation will ever produce. The bible does not appeal to one's existence, only their fears.

3. De-conversion is often a slow process, sometimes taking years.

There is no over-night de-conversion. It does not happen. This does not mean they must be constantly attended to, and helped through their de-conversion. In fact, the christian may never remember your name, and not even remember you until years later, if at all. You only need to plant the seeds of doubt, by appealing to their very existance, and leave, regardless of their reaction. In conversion, constant reassurance, church attendance, worship, sermons, fellowship, religious outtings, revivals, and so on are needed to keep one converted. It is interesting to note that for one to be converted to Christianity can "happen in an instant" when the "holy ghost enters your soul." Christianity needs converts, and they are needed now. For a fundamentalist to de-convert, the appeal to their very existance is equivalent to a tiny hole in the hull of an ocean-liner. Nothing may be apparent for a long time, but eventually, the ship, as their beliefs, will sink. Time is the referee. In this, no supervision is ever necessary for the Christian who will unknowingly undergo de-conversion.

4. In the end, it will be the Christian who has de-converted themselves.

Just as it is falsely thought that one can be converted to Christianity, so to is it false that someone can de-convert a christian. No one has ever wholeheartedly converted to christianity save by choice, so to will no one wholeheartedly de-convert but by the same choice. Whereas fear of the unknown is the vehicle of conversion driven by false pretenses of truth, knowledge of what is not true is the vehicle of de-conversion driven by the de-converted who has found the truth in himself. Once truth is known, there is no need for belief, as it has been successfully subdued, rendered absurd, unnecessary, and without merit.