Guest Nacirema Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I'm not sure how exactly to open this story, so I'll guess I'll just dive right into it... Ever since I was born, I've been a pastor's kid (pk). First it was youth pastor, then when I was about 6 it was an actual, full-fledged pastor of an Assemblies of God church. Having a dad as a pastor is quite the challenge, because everyone in the church expects you to be a model Christian. I could play the part, usually. The only problem is, I had questions that I knew if I started asking, I'd get in trouble. So, I ignored them, and continued to deny reality. Then, one day, my class was assigned to read the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I loved the story, but at the time found the moral system she advocated frightening, because it challenged my views. I realize now the reason it was frightening was not simply because it challenged my views (lots of things had done that - Mormonism, Agnosticism, Islam, etc), but because it used logic to challenge my views, and presented its own views in a clear, concise manner. In short, it was threat to my wrong views because it wasn't a different wrong view - it was right. The next year, possessed with a curiosity to delve further, I read the book Atlas Shrugged, which led me to believe many things contradictory to Christian view: lack of original sin, no body-soul dichotomy, selfishness as a virtue, etc. However, I still held my belief in God, and considered myself a Christian. You see, I still believed that the two (Objectivism and Christianity) were not mutually exclusive. I had chosen to ignore the principle set even by Aristotle, "A is A." This year, I did something I had never done before: read the Bible (I felt that I always had my father to tell it to me, why should I bother to read it?). Let me tell you, more people should read the bible, because that's the fastest track to Atheism. Between that reading and discussions I had, I realized that not only is there no God because of the identity principle, but that even if the Christian God did exist, he was a psychotic, bipolar mad-man who certainly could never be worthy of my worship. So, here I am today. A staunch Atheist, and a staunch Individualist. I currently adhere to the philosophy of Objectivism, because it's the one I've found to posses no contradictions, and to most coincide with the world. Well, that's my story. Happy to be here amongst some people with, I'm guessing, similar experiences! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hudsonrw Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Good to have you here! My story is much like yours. I didn't read the bible until I was in a bad place in my life. I thought "Well my parents read it, and it fixes their problems, so I should too!" Little behold after reading it I realized that the only person who could fix my problems was myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Hey there Nacirema, welcome to ex-C! I am glad to hear that you’ve taken ownership of your own mind. And I would caution you against becoming overly attached to any particular “ism” unless it be “organism”. I know that I have tried on many “isms” and none seem to fit for long. But that aside, again welcome. I hope you enjoy your stay here at ex-C and I hope you make many friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Nacirema: Your story is a lot like mine. I was a PK but my dad was So. Baptist. I am also a former minister turned atheist, though I have troubles turning loose completely of god even though I feel he does not exist. I also turned to the Libertarianism began by Ayn Rand, I've not read her books but I have read just about everything on Libertarianism, which is sort of my religion and politics these days. I've been reading books by Richard Dawkins which is helping me over the 'god' hurtle. Welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShallowByThyGame Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Congratulations for breaking free of your chains! SBTG, Having nothing to do with your views or the rightness or wrongness of same, I've deleted this portion of your post because of the Guidelines for this particular forum (support only). Why not start a new thread in one of the appropriate forums, if you like? -pitchu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitchu Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Nacirema, Welcome to the forums and congratulations on overcoming superstition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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