MeaMaximaCulpa Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Hi, everyone! I'm an 18-year-old Houstonian who recently deconverted from Christianity -- mainly thanks to this site. I was "born and raised in the Church," as we say around here. Problem is, I'd had misgivings about the faith from a pretty early age. Still, I naively forced myself to look the other way when it came to things in the Bible (misogyny, genocide, persecution of homosexuals, etc.) that I just couldn't reconcile in my head with the idea of a loving God. But the cognitive dissonance finally got to me, and now here I am, a born-again heathen. My deconversion story isn't all that incredible. There was no big, sudden epiphany that made me realize, "Hey, this is all a load of B.S.!" It was much more gradual than that. Little things that chipped away at the blinders of faith that shielded me from the truth. One major thing I can think of is something my grandma said at a family gathering. (My mom's side of the family is Assembly of God, though my mom herself is MUCH cooler and more open-minded about things than they are. So is my dad. My parents rock!) We were talking about different countries for some reason I can't remember, and my grandma said something that just curdled in my stomach. "Well, seems like Canada's legalized gay marriage. That country sure has gone to the dogs!" ...Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but sometimes they say things like that that just... frighten me. Yes, damn that Canada for treating gays like human beings with rights! It MUST be some EEEEEVUHL liberal conspiracy to destroy the sacred institution of marriage! Ugh... Other than that, I guess I've just always loved learning. Can't get enough of it, in fact. And the more I learned about biology (my favorite subject) and the theory of evolution, the more I felt like I was being fed lies by a religion that was basically founded on a disturbing fairytale. Maybe it's my own most grievous fault, mea maxima culpa, that I can't force myself to believe the fairytale any longer. Maybe so, but all I can say is that I'd RATHER go to hell than throw away my talents for the life of a submissive housewife, than treat people who are different from me as subhumans, than do good deeds only for the sake of securing a better place in heaven, than act morally only out of fear of some subterranean boogeyman. It's as if I've woken up from a lifelong dream, and oddly enough, I feel more free to control my own destiny than I ever did as a Christian. Good-bye, religion, and good riddance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Davka Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Welcome to the monkey house, Mea! I have a daughter about your age (yeah, I know that makes me an old fart - get over it), I'm driving her off to college 4 states away tomorrow. I hope she meets lots of people like you there. My deconversion story isn't all that incredible. There was no big, sudden epiphany that made me realize, "Hey, this is all a load of B.S.!" It was much more gradual than that. Little things that chipped away at the blinders of faith that shielded me from the truth. This is a pretty common experience for most of us. I did have a sort of epiphany moment, but it wasn't as a result of anything. It was kind of weird, i was walking away from a church picnic, and it just sort of suddenly struck me, "there is no god." I think it had been brewing for a long time, but when I actually allowed myself to think it, I was kind of surprised by the intensity of the thought. But I'm all better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddlingAround Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Maybe it's my own most grievous fault, mea maxima culpa, that I can't force myself to believe the fairytale any longer. Maybe so, but all I can say is that I'd RATHER go to hell than throw away my talents for the life of a submissive housewife, than treat people who are different from me as subhumans, than do good deeds only for the sake of securing a better place in heaven, than act morally only out of fear of some subterranean boogeyman. Hi Mea. Welcome to the board! There was a lot I idenitified with in your extimony (my family says a lot of scary stuff like that, too), but I liked this paragraph in particular. It's almost the sort of thing that should go on a t-shirt or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest c2009 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Maybe it's my own most grievous fault, mea maxima culpa, that I can't force myself to believe the fairytale any longer. Maybe so, but all I can say is that I'd RATHER go to hell than throw away my talents for the life of a submissive housewife, than treat people who are different from me as subhumans, than do good deeds only for the sake of securing a better place in heaven, than act morally only out of fear of some subterranean boogeyman. Hi Mea. Welcome to the board! There was a lot I idenitified with in your extimony (my family says a lot of scary stuff like that, too), but I liked this paragraph in particular. It's almost the sort of thing that should go on a t-shirt or something. Perhaps a bit long for a t-shirt, but I agree, it's well said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 My deconversion story isn't all that incredible. There was no big, sudden epiphany that made me realize, "Hey, this is all a load of B.S.!" It was much more gradual than that. Little things that chipped away at the blinders of faith that shielded me from the truth. Same with me. One little thread here, another little thread there, and then whole thing started unraveling. But it took some time, and I suspect that the majority of people who leave the faith probably fall into that same camp. It's as if I've woken up from a lifelong dream, and oddly enough, I feel more free to control my own destiny than I ever did as a Christian. Good-bye, religion, and good riddance! It's great, isn't it? Enjoy the journey ahead of you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 ... Still, I naively forced myself to look the other way when it came to things in the Bible (misogyny, genocide, persecution of homosexuals, etc.) ... Welcome to the forum. The bible may dictate that homosexual behavior is an abomination to god, but there is no story of homosexuals being persecuted in the bible. Christians persecute homosexuals. I have not found any evidence that Jews persecuted homosexuals. The biblical references to homosexuals as an abomination is from a bad translation and interpretation of the bible. The interpretation of what once described temple prostitutes is now taught against homosexuals, especially the story of Lot. Lot's experience was not against homosexuals but an assault by heterosexuals, unrighteous people. And, apparently Lot was not that righteous either since god said he would spare Soddom and Gommorah if he found one righteous person. Preachers like to claim this was god's judgement against homosexuals, and this is only because of the way the bible was translated to use the language in the interpretation of main stream Christianity. The bible is riddled with errors. Now days, Christians consider the bible as infallable and dictated by god himself, so very few xtians have the courage to research their bibles, how the bible was made, what it actually says, etc. If you take the English bible word for word, then one would come up with many assumptions vs other lifestyles, foods we eat, mixing of races in marriage, and adultry, just to name a few. For one point, Christians swear by their Ten Commandments. Most do not know that those ten points are NOT the ten commandments found in Exodus Chapter 20--this is an introduction to the law, not a listing of ten commandments, it is a summary. Chapter 20 is used because of the way Christianity numbers its verses and chapters, and including punctuation. All of this came many years after the bible was created, by a vote. Christians also use Chapter 20 because this particular listing of the commandments does not include commands to beat the heads in of little children. Christianity wants the world to believe they follow a warm and fuzzy creator god that loves all the little children of the world. Well, how about this god getting off his ass and feeding the children of the world? Instead, he gives them pestilence and famine. The ten commandments are found in Exodus 34, the are the words of the covenant and the true ten commandments--the chapter even says so! Christianity stole its religion from the Jews and immitates in their religion what the Jews performed in theirs, all this without becoming a Jew. Christianity contradicts its own theology and doctrine in almost everything it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John09 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Still, I naively forced myself to look the other way when it came to things in the Bible (misogyny, genocide, persecution of homosexuals, etc.) that I just couldn't reconcile in my head with the idea of a loving God. And the more I learned about biology (my favorite subject) and the theory of evolution, the more I felt like I was being fed lies by a religion that was basically founded on a disturbing fairytale. I'd RATHER go to hell than throw away my talents for the life of a submissive housewife, than treat people who are different from me as subhumans, than do good deeds only for the sake of securing a better place in heaven, than act morally only out of fear of some subterranean boogeyman. I grew up in Houston. I don't miss the humidity at all. As a newly still de-converting individual, I specifically relate to these things you mentioned above. Studying science and physics has broken down my belief system. The whole issue of the biblical god's morality secretly bothered me for years. Motivation for doing good is another key problem, like you mentioned. As large as Houston is, I'm sure you will have no problem finding like-minded folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 The biblical references to homosexuals as an abomination is from a bad translation and interpretation of the bible. Out of curiosity, in what way are statements like, "A man shall not lie with a man as with a woman," mistranslated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaMaximaCulpa Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Welcome to the monkey house, Mea! I have a daughter about your age (yeah, I know that makes me an old fart - get over it), I'm driving her off to college 4 states away tomorrow. I hope she meets lots of people like you there. Thank you! I'm going off to Baylor myself next week, which just happens to be a Baptist university... Maybe I can use my EEEEVUHL influence to start other young folk looking over their beliefs... Maybe it's my own most grievous fault, mea maxima culpa, that I can't force myself to believe the fairytale any longer. Maybe so, but all I can say is that I'd RATHER go to hell than throw away my talents for the life of a submissive housewife, than treat people who are different from me as subhumans, than do good deeds only for the sake of securing a better place in heaven, than act morally only out of fear of some subterranean boogeyman. Hi Mea. Welcome to the board! There was a lot I idenitified with in your extimony (my family says a lot of scary stuff like that, too), but I liked this paragraph in particular. It's almost the sort of thing that should go on a t-shirt or something. Perhaps a bit long for a t-shirt, but I agree, it's well said. "Hey, can I read your shirt?" "Sure." *five minutes later* "Thanks!" It's great, isn't it? Enjoy the journey ahead of you.... Oh, I will... especially now that I don't have to jump around trying to please some invisible entity who either doesn't exist or doesn't particularly care. Welcome to the forum. The bible may dictate that homosexual behavior is an abomination to god, but there is no story of homosexuals being persecuted in the bible. Christians persecute homosexuals. I have not found any evidence that Jews persecuted homosexuals. The biblical references to homosexuals as an abomination is from a bad translation and interpretation of the bible. The interpretation of what once described temple prostitutes is now taught against homosexuals, especially the story of Lot. Lot's experience was not against homosexuals but an assault by heterosexuals, unrighteous people. And, apparently Lot was not that righteous either since god said he would spare Soddom and Gommorah if he found one righteous person. Preachers like to claim this was god's judgement against homosexuals, and this is only because of the way the bible was translated to use the language in the interpretation of main stream Christianity. The bible is riddled with errors. Now days, Christians consider the bible as infallable and dictated by god himself, so very few xtians have the courage to research their bibles, how the bible was made, what it actually says, etc. If you take the English bible word for word, then one would come up with many assumptions vs other lifestyles, foods we eat, mixing of races in marriage, and adultry, just to name a few. For one point, Christians swear by their Ten Commandments. Most do not know that those ten points are NOT the ten commandments found in Exodus Chapter 20--this is an introduction to the law, not a listing of ten commandments, it is a summary. Chapter 20 is used because of the way Christianity numbers its verses and chapters, and including punctuation. All of this came many years after the bible was created, by a vote. Christians also use Chapter 20 because this particular listing of the commandments does not include commands to beat the heads in of little children. Christianity wants the world to believe they follow a warm and fuzzy creator god that loves all the little children of the world. Well, how about this god getting off his ass and feeding the children of the world? Instead, he gives them pestilence and famine. The ten commandments are found in Exodus 34, the are the words of the covenant and the true ten commandments--the chapter even says so! Christianity stole its religion from the Jews and immitates in their religion what the Jews performed in theirs, all this without becoming a Jew. Christianity contradicts its own theology and doctrine in almost everything it does. Thanks! I didn't know there were no actual Bible stories about them being stoned to death or anything. Probably should've said "God-advocated persecution of homosexuals". I've actually been reading the Bible much more often recently than I did as a Christian, and less-than-beautiful gems like that pop up from time to time. They never seem to talk about these passages in church... and it's no wonder why. They're horrifying! I grew up in Houston. I don't miss the humidity at all. As a newly still de-converting individual, I specifically relate to these things you mentioned above. Studying science and physics has broken down my belief system. The whole issue of the biblical god's morality secretly bothered me for years. Motivation for doing good is another key problem, like you mentioned. As large as Houston is, I'm sure you will have no problem finding like-minded folks. Houston may be hot and humid and mosquitoey and full of blind believers in fairytales, but I can't help loving it all the same. Heh heh. One thing that creationists seem to have in common is little to no knowledge of biology, physics or chemistry. I've read rant after rant, and even with my high school education I can tell they don't know what they're blabbering on about. Knowledge truly is power! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 One thing that creationists seem to have in common is little to no knowledge of biology, physics or chemistry. I've read rant after rant, and even with my high school education I can tell they don't know what they're blabbering on about. Knowledge truly is power! As a creationist for several years myself, I must concur. I didn't know much about science, but I knew my Bible stories, and I just "knew" that creationism had to be true. LOL! Now, though, ever since I started questioning my faith and subsequently abandoning it 6-7 years ago, I feel like my reasoning abilities have grown by leaps and bounds! It is definitely a relief to no longer have to try to fit everything into a little box carved out millennia ago by superstitious nomads' writings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Welcome to the site and breaking free of the chains. For many people the experience of breaking the chains was much like yours. A slow process. One inconsistancy or bit of illogic then starts adding up. Pretty soon you have no choice but to leave the faith because you no longer can convince yourself it is the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyorange Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 "It's as if I've woken up from a lifelong dream, and oddly enough, I feel more free to control my own destiny than I ever did as a Christian." I would think that if God gave me a brain, he would expect me to use it. Trying to be a christian, I always felt like I had to check every little decision out with the big man first. I couldn't make a decision. Later I found out that I suffered depression and that is a telltale sign. But even without the depression, I am sure I would be stymied in my attempt to live my own life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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