Avandris

Great to see another counselling student on here (I'm currently Diploma in Counselling at the University of Edinburgh, with plans to go on to do the Masters) and wonderful to see someone doing research into the deconversion process! I'm hoping to do some research in that area myself when dissertation time rolls around (I have another year at least). I'd be willing to be interviewed if you don't mind a Scot being thrown into the mix. Shoot me a message if you are interested and we can sort a time!

@qadeshet Barely, thankfully most of them were busy eating soup, but still I had to bite my lip a little one or two times. @Jeff Yeah, I really wasn't impressed, but my family thought it was 'AMAZING' and 'just so accurate'. I just made a non-committal 'hmm' and hoped the conversation would move elsewhere.

So a print out of this was handed to me this afternoon when I was having lunch with some family members. All of them seemed quite taken with it, in fact the person that was so keen for me to read it was one of the few people I'd been considering telling about my atheism (no longer, I fear). http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/the-flaming-herald/48225-astonishing-1968-prophecy-by-90-year-old-woman Thought I'd share it with you lovely people. Can't say I'm that impressed (though I pretended to be mildly interested during lunch for the sake of peace). Thoughts?

Hi there, It's been a while since I really participated on here. Life got busy and for a while I was happy to leave Christianity in the past and grow comfortable in my new atheist skin. However, now I've started to seriously consider 'coming out' to my family and friends once more, and before I do so I'd like to have a decent about of knowledge to back me up should the need to defend myself arise. I was scrolling through the books I'd collected during my deconversion process, in particular those that discuss who wrote the Bible. I have a load from Ehrman (Jesus Interrupted, the Lost Christianities, Forged, probably more) and one by Richard Friedman (Who wrote the Bible?). Now it's my understanding that some people disagree with some of what Ehrman says and I'm sure some people disagree with Friedman, and I'd like to get a good overall grasp on the topic. So I was wondering if anyone had any other books/authors they could suggest? What are you opinions on these two authors? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Ava

Yeah, just a bit wary in general. Will hopefully summon the courage to go at least once, just to see what it's like. Also @hockeyfan70 - the bug in your signature gets me every time! I'm constantly trying to swat it off my screen.

There is one in my city and I keep meaning to go, but every Sunday I chicken out.

I'm certain there was a very similar incident with a little girl with a piece of ham on her face. Hilarious really, and just goes to show how little these people really care or how much thought goes into responses such as Facebook comments at times. Edit: Yup, here we go

Your Winter Solstice party sounds awesome! :-) I'm taking a similar approach, having my fundy family over for Christmas dinner and I'm in charge of getting the food etc. Granted none of them know about my recent departure from the faith but at least I have my little brother to share eye rolls with during the prayer of thanks, etc.

Beautifully said, Disillusioned!

I think the catalyst that prompted me to really start looking into Christianity was the death of my mum 5 years ago, it's not why I no longer believe but it is why I started to research and read and ask questions. I had prayed and prayed for my mum's healing along with my mum herself, and literally hundreds of other Christians around the world and she still died just the same, in pain and discomfort from the cancer that had spread throughout her body, all the while staying true to her faith. I didn't understand why God had been so silent and when she passed all my friends and family switched their tune from 'we're praying and believing for her healing, God can heal her' to 'she's in a better place, God called her home, He has a plan for all things'. I didn't understand why this God, my God, was so silent and distant. First I threw myself into my faith, praying for hours at a time, reading the Bible, sitting in quiet contemplation before the Lord. I begged and pleaded for his peace, for some understanding or comfort or anything. I got nothing and then the questions that had lingered in the back of my mind became too loud to ignore and for the first time I started to critically examine the Bible, its contents and composition. I've got a lot yet to learn and read and come to a conclusion on, but from what I've read so far....well let's just say I'm no longer a Christian.

Eh, so I guess I'm a pre-scooler

So this just appeared on my Facebook feed with the comment 'Boom! Take that atheists!". Watched it once, laughed. Watched it again and shook my head. Briefly considered commenting, decided it just wasn't worth it.

I am going through a restless period that has lasted the better part of a few months now. There are so many things that I want to be doing with my time and yet more often than not I find myself staring idly at a computer screen, occupying my time with pointless videos or video games that feel like little more than busy work. Another day passes, I go to bed and tell myself that I'm going to do better tomorrow, but the same things happens and the weeks pass. To be fair, I have started a new job. It's part time, I work from home and my hours are flexible, but I suppose it has taken a good portion of my focus and energy. Still I feel that I am wasting time, allowing days and weeks and months to slip by when I could be doing more, achieving more. I have so many books on Christianity and Atheism that are sitting waiting for me to read, and I want to read them. I want to devour that knowledge, to take notes, to build a foundation for what I accept to be true and equip myself with evidence should I need to defend my position. And I expect that I will have to defend my position when I finally come to a decision as to how to break it to my family and friends that I am no longer a believer. Every morning I catch my reflection in the mirror and I despair at the amount of weight that I've allowed myself to gain. I stare back at a face with dark circles under the eyes and complexion that could be a great deal clearer and wonder why I take such little care of myself. At the beginning of every month I promise myself that I'm going to get into a routine, I'm going to exercise regularly and eat better, I'm going to work on being healthier. Yet halfway through the week I find myself gorging on chocolate and drinking soda, my exercise streak petering off after four or five days. I have reading I want to do in preparation for my Masters that I start in September. I've wanted to learn sign language for years now, to teach myself to draw, to expand my social circle. There is so much I want to do and achieve, yet I have achieved none of these things. I'm reminded of a Bible verse: 'I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.' - Romans 7:15 Strange that it would be a Bible verse that comes to me right now, or perhaps it is not so strange. However, the honest truth is that there is no god to save me from this 'body that is subject to death', I'm going to have to haul myself out of this trench myself. One way or another.