jblueep

You can not rely on stories about near death experiences (NDEs). NDEs are fairly well explained by science as heightened brain activity as a physiological response to the circumstances, i.e. they are not spiritual experiences. Generally speaking, people have NDE experiences that relate directly to their culture...Christians "see" Jesus/Satan, Buddist "see" Buddha, and so forth.

Ummm...Slavery and misogyny are reaffirmed in the new testament. There are instructions for slaves and masters and instructions for women to be silent, not cut their hair, etc.

Welcome to the community!

In my opinion, atheism is not a choice. It's a realization. There's nothing hardcore about a realization other than accepting the reality of it. If going to UU is going to impede your acceptance, then I wouldn't do it. The point is that you can face life honestly now, with no imaginary overseer or helper. The best and worst of what you experienced in xianity was not "god". It was you and other people being human. So, I say hold on to the good stuff...namely love. I don't think there's any joy in being an anti-theist. There's plenty of fulfillment in taking on life rationally and re

Thanks Eli for finishing the series. My wife and I deconverted just over a year ago after more than 30 years of sincere belief. Your videos were a very important part of the healing process. We related strongly to this last video as we are seeing the beauty of life in greater ways each day.

Hi BDP and welcome to the EX-C site. I can relate very much to a lot of your post...saved at 5 years old, sincere believer for more than 30 years, leading small groups, etc. Seeing the contradictions in the bible also played a role in my deconversion, but more than that I was simply willing to ask questions like "Does any of this exist outside of my own mind?". I was lucky enough to deconvert with my wife. There are many husbands on this site who are married to fundy wives. You will find a lot of support here in that area. I'm glad you are here. Stick around and make some friends

I was recently reflecting on how I felt during my deconversion last year and this short poem was the result: looking for proof for your truth? if what you teach is beyond your reach and what you find is in your mind and only there then please beware that what you thought and you were taught is just a ruse but there were clues that it's not real even though you feel what you were told when you were sold

hugs

I say that "good news" is "good news". If I talk about my disbelief, it's only to help someone out of their cognitive dissonance. I have no reservations about that.

Welcome McMike. My wife and I deconverted together just over a year ago. We were also believers for more than thirty years and very active in the church, leading small groups, etc. We have no regrets. You are on the right track

Man. I thought about unfriending some church members for that very reason. If they don't know me well enough to see thats not the case I dont want to be close enough to them to hear the foolish comments. Yeah, I've unfriended almost all of them, including this guy before this incident. We only interacted because of our mutual friend (a questioning xian), and I only commented on the mutual friend's status because he texted me asking me to participate in the discussion because he was facing a one on several situation.

When one fundy from our former church found out I was an atheist (by reading a facebook post in which I was supporting the questioning of another fundy from our former church), he said something along the lines of "I always thought there was something fishy about about you and now my suspicions are confirmed. This was your plan all along. I bet you did this in previous churches." This was from a guy that I showed nothing but love, compassion, and generosity. I showed him acceptance when almost every other church member wouldn't go near him. I replied sarcastically, "Yes, you're righ

TW, I haven't had that happen to me, but I can certainly understand why. There's a huge emotional connection. Even though it's with a fictional character, it is still a very real thing. Don't beat yourself up Just stay with the logical process and work your way out of these emotions. Jason

2honest and I made our deconversion official one year ago today when we joined this site. Thank you EX-C community for your wisdom, support, and love

Welcome DrNo Congratulations for reasoning into the truth. Unfortunately, you should know that your xian friends will likely not remain part of your life. Some will outright reject you. Most will just pull away simply because they don't know what to do or say. This is one of the hardest parts to deal with. Make some new friends here Jason