Is It Possible For You To Go Back?

[Suzy]

 

 

So, no I don't really see a way to go back. Besides, even if Xtianity was true (which it is not) I still could not stomach the cruelty of the Judeo-Xtian God and would not want to sing him praises for eternity. THAT would be Hell to me!

[raoul]

I pretty much agree with what everyone has replied especially Margee regarding the 'sin' thing which is a guilt trip laid on people. And also what Akheia said is so profound. Yeah, even if there's a real xtian god of some kind - so what? After reading all of the demands in both the old and new testaments - my attitude is just 'so what?'. I refuse to follow blindly, in fact I never did when it came to everything else in my life.

 

The only thing I WILL follow is 'truth' no matter where it takes me. No matter how blunt, and even ugly it may be - that's the only thing worth following in my view.

[Thought2Much]

I might go back to a church if they include strippers as part of the worship service. Go back to believing in the Judeo-Christian god? No. Just no.

[Akheia]

See, where they went wrong was apparently getting rid of temple prostitution.

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/eyic/2012/02/20/christian-strippers

 

In the pagan movement I knew a few people who were individually "working with" sacred prostitution. I never knew what the fuck to say to them.

[silentknight]

I was recently trying to figure out why i hated church so much. Yeah, not believing is one thing, but loathing spending a couple hours once a week at a building with nice people? Why do I hate it so? I realized the main reason is boredom. Nothing about church service stimulates my mind. Half of the service is repetitive tradition that never changes, the other half is a sermon based on fairy tales.

 

If I went to church and the minister did a sermon on quantum physics, or evolutionary theories... maybe I'd want to go. However, there's only so much content in the Bible, and every sermon is pretty much the same thing in different words... for the last year I was going I'd zone out during sermons. I wouldn't even remember what it was about after it was over because I wasn't listening. It's not like I missed anything important.

[Thought2Much]

Let me also add that not only would God himself have to come directly to me and convince me to come back, but he would also have to do it in a way that other witnesses could physically document (say, with video) so that I could prove that it wasn't just in my own head, and he would have to leave behind other physical evidence that I could show others. He would also have to tell me that he is really disappointed in what is written in the Bible, and that he actually didn't write or even inspire it at all, and that he's sorry for not correcting the record sooner.

[Thought2Much]

I was recently trying to figure out why i hated church so much. Yeah, not believing is one thing, but loathing spending a couple hours once a week at a building with nice people? Why do I hate it so? I realized the main reason is boredom. Nothing about church service stimulates my mind. Half of the service is repetitive tradition that never changes, the other half is a sermon based on fairy tales.

 

If I went to church and the minister did a sermon on quantum physics, or evolutionary theories... maybe I'd want to go. However, there's only so much content in the Bible, and every sermon is pretty much the same thing in different words... for the last year I was going I'd zone out during sermons. I wouldn't even remember what it was about after it was over because I wasn't listening. It's not like I missed anything important.

 

This. So much this.

[freeasabird]

Let me also add that not only would God himself have to come directly to me and convince me to come back, but he would also have to do it in a way that other witnesses could physically document (say, with video) so that I could prove that it wasn't just in my own head, and he would have to leave behind other physical evidence that I could show others. He would also have to tell me that he is really disappointed in what is written in the Bible, and that he actually didn't write or even inspire it at all, and that he's sorry for not correcting the record sooner.

 

Have you seen the movie Chronicle? If not check it out. Shortly after my deconversion I asked a true blue fundy believer why if magic and demons and all that stuff were real (which he did believe they were) why there was zero evidence of it anywhere, most especially places like YouTube where people put EVERYTHING. He responded that the evil spirits and demons don't want you to know that it's real so they can trick you. There is no way that's true. You all know as well as I do that if any bonafide magic ever got caught on tape like you see in that movie SOMEBODY, ANYBODY would be putting it up so fast because they'd be guaranteed to have the first video to hit 1 billion views.

[roadrunner]

Let me also add that not only would God himself have to come directly to me and convince me to come back, but he would also have to do it in a way that other witnesses could physically document (say, with video) so that I could prove that it wasn't just in my own head, and he would have to leave behind other physical evidence that I could show others. He would also have to tell me that he is really disappointed in what is written in the Bible, and that he actually didn't write or even inspire it at all, and that he's sorry for not correcting the record sooner.

 

Have you seen the movie Chronicle? If not check it out. Shortly after my deconversion I asked a true blue fundy believer why if magic and demons and all that stuff were real (which he did believe they were) why there was zero evidence of it anywhere, most especially places like YouTube where people put EVERYTHING. He responded that the evil spirits and demons don't want you to know that it's real so they can trick you. There is no way that's true. You all know as well as I do that if any bonafide magic ever got caught on tape like you see in that movie SOMEBODY, ANYBODY would be putting it up so fast because they'd be guaranteed to have the first video to hit 1 billion views.

i brought this up to a buddy of mine. In 2012 when the majority of the population can record/document at any given point, the miracles stopped. Thats a miracle in itself. but NO the world is satans realm and he will distort the world to keep you from finding the truth. It sounds silly to even mock. Remember most of congress and presidents believe this crap too. Scary.

[Akheia]

One would think that an all-powerful god who genuinely wanted his children in heaven after their deaths would be able to figure out some way to get miracles documented. How curious that he seems so impotent to circumvent Satan's schemes.

 

Frankly, based on that alone, one wonders why more people don't flock to Satan. He's just got bad PR, is all; even in the Renaissance people understood that God ignored them most of the time, so if you needed something done right now, Satan was the guy who got shit done. Church authorities wrote about demons whining like little bitches about how people only talked to them when they wanted stuff. It was hilarious. If Satan's that good at totally short-circuiting God, then clearly he's the more powerful being. The only source we have telling us otherwise is not only circular but extremely biased.

[Thought2Much]

Church authorities wrote about demons whining like little bitches about how people only talked to them when they wanted stuff.

 

So, were they expecting to get asked to attend afternoon tea, instead, and have nice little chats about the weather?

[stryper]

No I could not go back.

 

I was bored to sleep when I was one and would be bored outta my head now. I'd rather mine ice in EVEonline which is about the more brain dead thing you can do it that game, then go to church. At least in the game I might get attacked by pirates.

[LoneTarus]

not only would a deity have to personally show up and talk to me face to face. he/she/it would have to give me some serious benefits (and not just a bunch of empty promises for after I die) they also would have to not require me to be an evil son of a bitch and call it good. (so that rules out the god of abraham right there) Honestly deity or not I really don't want to have to kiss someone's ass forever.

I might be interested in something other than a master/slave relationship though if such a thing did exist. (and clearly it doesn't and that's probably a good thing)

 

so far I haven't had any calls from god, satan or any other deity. until then I think I will just live life on my own. (and if they do call I surely need my head examined)

[TotalWreck]

Hell to tha no.

 

Whitney, is that you?

[Guest Babylonian Dream]

No. Is it possible to go back? Yes. But I tried it twice and it didn't work and that is enough. I can never going back to that type of thinking. No way.

Man.... I envy you. I tried many times and it didn't work. I wish it only took 2 times for me to get the hint.

 

 

 

So, no I don't really see a way to go back. Besides, even if Xtianity was true (which it is not) I still could not stomach the cruelty of the Judeo-Xtian God and would not want to sing him praises for eternity. THAT would be Hell to me!

This. LMAO. Clear an concise and to the point too!

[Akheia]

Church authorities wrote about demons whining like little bitches about how people only talked to them when they wanted stuff.

 

So, were they expecting to get asked to attend afternoon tea, instead, and have nice little chats about the weather?

 

The demons were insinuating that they wanted the full meal deal that proper angels and saints got: feast days, prayers, worship, vows of lifelong allegiance and servitude, etc. Instead all they got were cowardly Christians who slunk across the railroad tracks into the bad part of Spiriton to ask for favors. It was like that scene in The Godfather, no shit:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=88K0Qsubkx0

 

Not a real shocker, I don't imagine, that the source of my info about pissy demons is Italian.

[par4dcourse]

Not for me. In 5+ years here I think there's been 2 who honestly went back. Don't know what happened to either, but reconversion is rare.

[★ Citsonga ★]

Not for me. In 5+ years here I think there's been 2 who honestly went back. Don't know what happened to either, but reconversion is rare.

 

Yeah, I think it depends on why they left and what they've learned. Those who learned facts that prove that Christianity isn't true are extremely unlikely to go back. However, when it comes to those who left for emotional reasons, such as being slighted by someone in the church, or because they don't want moral restraints, and they never investigate and learn the fact that the Christian worldview is mythology, then there's a chance that they could return eventually. Since those are the ones who are more likely to go back, they are the ones from whom the church hears reconversion testimonies, and thus they are the ones that the church bases its view of "ex-christians" on. They erroneously assume that the stories of those who go back are adequate representations of all who leave the church, and that's why we get falsely accused of being in rebellion or in denial or that we were just hurt by someone who wasn't Christ-like. They simply don't recognize that some of us can do honest in-depth studies and find out for a fact that the religion is simply false.

[Akheia]

I've been thinking about that for the last couple days, Citsonga, especially as I read about the Clergy Project and Jerry DeWitt and others who're fast becoming the rock stars of the ex-C world. Most of the deconverts are likely like us--who did our time researching and learning, who figured this shit out, who know what we're talking about, but who aren't loud and out there proud like those guys are. I don't want this wave of deconversions to have rock stars. I want people to know that most of us are just quiet people who still live and act the same basic way we did while we were in church; that we aren't stupid and we were very sincere believers for a time but eventually figured out it wasn't based on a real god or messiah.

 

I think we're all so gun-shy of the No True Scotsman that we're loathe to use it on anybody for any reason, but it's hard to read these stories of returning Christians and not think that they hadn't actually learned a damn thing, that they seem to be marked by rebellion more than honest inquiry. I believe the stories of deconverts, but those of RE-converts are hard to swallow; I know that converts in Christianity get rep points for having outrageous stories of sin and ghastly behavior, and Christians don't have a truth filter--especially when it comes to these spectacular conversion stories. In a world where there are more and more deconverts every single day, when we're a veritable wave of apostasy emanating from the foul carcass of Christianity, Christians need to have equally spectacular re-conversion stories. So not only am I skeptical of just how non-Christian these onetime de-converts were and why they deconverted at all, but I am positive they're embellishing (or making up out of whole cloth) elements of their re-conversion.

 

I've just spent too much time listening to my Evil Ex's spectacular lies about demonic possession and porn-fueled Satanism, and read too much about other converts' utterly debunked conversion lies, to think that most people who speak publicly about especially dramatic conversions are telling anywhere near the truth.

[midniterider]

 

I've just spent too much time listening to my Evil Ex's spectacular lies about demonic possession and porn-fueled Satanism, and read too much about other converts' utterly debunked conversion lies, to think that most people who speak publicly about especially dramatic conversions are telling anywhere near the truth.

 

Do you have a link to the porn-fueled Satanism? It's for a friend of mine. :-)

[Akheia]

This gets into territory I'm not super-comfortable discussing, but his version involved children, so I doubt your friend would enjoy it as much as he thinks he might. I really think he spent time thinking about what pre-conversion horrors would titillate his audience the most and used their own voyeuristic, prurient prudishness against them, and he was narcissistic enough that he came to believe his own lies right up till someone said "um, that's not true at all" and pressed him into a corner. So I guess he was like Jay or End--or most of the RNC fundagelicals--in a way. (An impeccably reliable authority debunked the tale, so no, no actual children were harmed; I can absolutely assure you of this.)

 

If anybody actually believed a single detail in his stories, I guess Evil Ex figured it was their issue, not his. He really thought his lies were helping people get closer to God and believe more fervently.

 

I have no time anymore for lies and deceptions. No time at all.

[roadrunner]

Not for me. In 5+ years here I think there's been 2 who honestly went back. Don't know what happened to either, but reconversion is rare.

 

Yeah, I think it depends on why they left and what they've learned. Those who learned facts that prove that Christianity isn't true are extremely unlikely to go back. However, when it comes to those who left for emotional reasons, such as being slighted by someone in the church, or because they don't want moral restraints, and they never investigate and learn the fact that the Christian worldview is mythology, then there's a chance that they could return eventually. Since those are the ones who are more likely to go back, they are the ones from whom the church hears reconversion testimonies, and thus they are the ones that the church bases its view of "ex-christians" on. They erroneously assume that the stories of those who go back are adequate representations of all who leave the church, and that's why we get falsely accused of being in rebellion or in denial or that we were just hurt by someone who wasn't Christ-like. They simply don't recognize that some of us can do honest in-depth studies and find out for a fact that the religion is simply false.

agreed. even as a xian I always thought that was a cop out. as a xian i never heard of an athiest knowing about religion and the bible and still rejecting it. I brought this to my sister and she was unmoved and said that it was because atheists are searching for something. Thinking about how I let this opportunity slip to school her my blood pressure has risen and its bed time.