nightflight Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 These people trip me up, Christians who accept evolution, that the bible is not perfect, etc. Christians like Keith Ward, John Polkinghorne and Kenneth Miller. These accept science, yet also believe in miracles, the resurrection, atonement, and other doctrines that conservative Christians accept. Its the existence of these Christians that make deconversion more difficult, because some of the reasons for rejection of fundamentalism don't apply to more moderate forms of Christianity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 My rejection of Christianity does not come entirely from objections to fundamentalists. I object to a religion that bases its existence on a story of a talking snake giving a young lady a piece of magic fruit and that over time that story became the basis of the ministry of Jesus--that being the fall of man because of the talking snake. I am amazed when I hear scientists or astronomers or other science professional claim they are also a Christian. How can a person be taken serious if they also believe fundamentalist doctrine of the truth of the babble, which would also mean a belief in talking animals and unicorns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 It took the problem of evil bitch-slapping me upside the head to make me deconvert. I'd always been a liberal Christian (what else can one really call a Catholic?) I didn't read the Bible all that much and I just accepted the doctrines I heard as true and I was basically familiar with the stories I heard in the Bible from the Sunday readings. Even growing up on a steady diet of corrupting forces like Insane Clown Posse, George Carlin, pro-wrestling, and USA Up All Night didn't quell me from becoming a more conservative (but still rather ill-informed) Christian. Religion was never intellectual for me and I think all the people named in the OP espouse religious beliefs because they never could past that part of life emotionally. I remember hearing (literally from an audio version of it) of a scientist described in "The God Delusion" as going to the point where he trimmed about all the unscientific parts of the Bible with scissors AND he still became a creationist. Christianity is a highly powerful, potent force that some can do little to escape from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I object to all forms of Christianity primarily because of the Fall in the Garden story also. Literal or not, its still about humans screwing up and becoming naturally rotten sinners and fundamentally evil, and so they need some supernatural being from the outside to come save them. It is based on punishment/reward. I think this is a mistaken view of life, and it is still in the liberal churches. Personally, I don't like them coming on this site and promoting it in any way, shape or form. I agree that Catholicism is liberal. However, there is still the doctrine of sin. If you buy into it, that lets the Church run your life and instill fear into you. Most moderate/liberal Christians at least keep their religion to themselves. I think they just ignore the difficult parts of Christianity, don't think about it too much, and look at Jesus as a good person. Some of them are into social service, which is commendable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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