StewartP Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 This is the third forum I have posted in. The others are JREF (where I am still active) and Worthy Boards, (A Christian forum where I have just decided to stop posting) The other 2 have a "welcome" section for new members to introduce themselves. I can't find one here so this will have to do. I was born in Zimbabwe and raised in a non-religious household. I went to an Anglican boarding school, and we attended chapel twice a day, every day. But I reckon most of that just washed over me as it it was just a part of school life, like school meals and sports. At age 21 I met my wife at college. She was a boorn again Baptist, and to play ball I went along to church. Well the preaching did its job and 1 day I went to the front after a call for sinners who want to give their lives to Jesus. I spent nigh on 10 years in the Baptist church and was very involved. Taught Sunday school, led the youth group. And I got pretty fundy about the whole thing. Literal Bible, young earth etc. My father converted too, and he went in even deeper than I did. I remeber once he accused my mother of being posessed because she wouldn't agree with what we were saying. "Say 'Jesus is Lord'" he told her. When she wouldn't he said it was she "couldn't" because of evil influence. My wife & I left Zimbabwe for England in 1990, and because we were tired of the amount of effort church required, we didn't seek out a new church in the UK. Slowly, over the years I came to see that life isn't black & white. Difficulty in having children and successful IVF treatment showed me where my loyalties lay when it came to the rub regarding fertilized embryos. For many years I still considered myself christian and would vigorously defend my faith if the topic came up, but it was lip service. I certainly wasn't living the christian life. Exposure to critical thinking and skepticism through james Randi's web sites and the JREF forum set me down the path to agnosticism and finally atheism. Once I started to laugh and mock the psychics and paranormal, I then realised that my Christian beliefs didn't stand much scrutiny either. I have spent the last month debating Christians on the worthy boards. http://www.worthyboards.com. They are a decent bunch there. there are some bright atheists argueing their corner and for a Christian board, I think they are very tolerant. Their replies to my questions, and finally evasion of my questions over the weakness of OT prophesy of Jesus in Isaiah helped to crystalise my thoughts. It will take a long time to rid myself of church habits and guilt. I always give a mental "thank-you God" when things go right as well as a mental "nice-one God" when I see something excellent. My next mission is to get some kind of resolution with my father who is still bombarding me with Josh McDowell and Francis Schaeffer and telling me its crazy that we descended from monkeys! I am trying to get him to understand the basics of evolution. he is a VERY clever man and well capable of getting to grips with Dawkins stuff, but I know he will be reading it from a Christian perpective and wrtiting "bullshit" in the margins! So, no big dramas in my deconversion, no deaths or illnesses or big wake-ups. I hope these forums will help me bridge my Christian mind-set into a freethinking one. regards Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverbank Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 hello there and welcome here. Hope you find what you're looking for. regards Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piprus Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Welcome, Stew... I rather enjoy a visit to JREF myself on occasion. I'm sure you'll find ExC.net a valuable resource. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Welcome Stew! I don't think all of us had dramatic deconversions. The important thing is not how it happened but that it happened. Hmmmm. How's that for a cliché? Oh well..... What is JREF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewartP Posted November 12, 2006 Author Share Posted November 12, 2006 JREF - James Randi Educational Foundation Most famous for thie $1 Million prize for any scientific proof of paranormal phenomena. A very active skeptic forum. www.randi.org The James Randi Educational Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1996. Its aim is to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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