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Goodbye Jesus

Are You More Skeptical Now Overall?


Deva

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I would like to pose this question to the members, especially the ones who were raised in Christianity, deconverted as adults, and have been out of the religion for a few years:

 

Do you find yourself more skeptical than what you feel the average person is, or when you were religious, in a situation when people give you information in an area of knowledge you are not familiar with? Example: salespeople, doctors...

 

Do you require several opinions when undecided on a course of action?

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  • Moderator

I've grown more skeptical overall from life experience.  Deconverting just made me that much more skeptical about supernatural claims.

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I was always skeptical, but it didn't interfere with my denomination. After deconverting I'm no more skeptical than before.

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Yes, especially regarding "anecdotes as evidence". People can claim anything and make it sound legit, but that doesn't make it real. I had a healthy dose of skepticism even while a believer, and I loved The Amazing Randi for exposing frauds. I always wanted the truth. But now, after having been burned personally, I am much less likely to accept claims based on someone else's personal experiences or imagination. That doesn't mean that he or she didn't experience it, but I'm not going to bite off on it as true because of their claims.

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I've always been skeptical. Of everything. I think most things (politics, medical, religion, news media) are ultimately fueled by someone's power and greed. For me, religion was probably the last thing I was still holding on to, simply out of fear. If I was a conspiracy theorist about politicians and western medicine, it was one thing, but to be skeptical about God and Jesus? That meant burning in hell and opening the door for satan to ruin my life. I had to get past that fear. But like someone mentioned (I believe Redneck Prof), Christianity is like a house of cards. I hadn't realized it, but for years and years and years I'd subconsciously been allowing reason to chip away at my religion until there was barely anything left. And when I had a crisis and clung to it in desperation, it turned to dust. So I don't think I'm more skeptical, in fact I wonder why, with how skeptical I jaded I am about most things, religion was the last frontier. It's so ridiculous!

 

To answer your other question: yes, I usually get at least a second opinion and do my own research as well before I commit to anything. That's why it takes me so long to make a move or a purchase and why I usually have at least two docs working on one medical issue.

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Yes, but rather than say I'm skeptical (which is true), I would rather say I am better at critically thinking. Skeptical just has a negative connotation. I don't just go around stubbornly refusing to accept anything I'm told until concrete proof is presented, because not all claims are extraordinary. If I do hear information that I haven't heard before, and for which I don't have a clear frame of reference by which to judge it, I just take it as an interesting idea which may or may not be true. If I'm really interested, I'll research it without making a snap judgment one way or another. To me, that's not stubborn skepticism, it is critically evaluating the information you are given.

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Yes.

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Yes, but rather than say I'm skeptical (which is true), I would rather say I am better at critically thinking. Skeptical just has a negative connotation. I don't just go around stubbornly refusing to accept anything I'm told until concrete proof is presented, because not all claims are extraordinary. If I do hear information that I haven't heard before, and for which I don't have a clear frame of reference by which to judge it, I just take it as an interesting idea which may or may not be true. If I'm really interested, I'll research it without making a snap judgment one way or another. To me, that's not stubborn skepticism, it is critically evaluating the information you are given.

I like that approach.  Some people are so obsessed with being skeptical about everything, that they are suspicious when they hear other people talking about their own experiences.  Not all claims are extraordinary.  They close off the possibility that the experience is real and make snap judgments that fit with their own prejudices.  

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Yes, but rather than say I'm skeptical (which is true), I would rather say I am better at critically thinking. Skeptical just has a negative connotation. I don't just go around stubbornly refusing to accept anything I'm told until concrete proof is presented, because not all claims are extraordinary. If I do hear information that I haven't heard before, and for which I don't have a clear frame of reference by which to judge it, I just take it as an interesting idea which may or may not be true. If I'm really interested, I'll research it without making a snap judgment one way or another. To me, that's not stubborn skepticism, it is critically evaluating the information you are given.

I like that approach. Some people are so obsessed with being skeptical about everything, that they are suspicious when they hear other people talking about their own experiences. Not all claims are extraordinary. They close off the possibility that the experience is real and make snap judgments that fit with their own prejudices.

Yes. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to function in life by absolute skepticism. Most claims we encounter on a daily basis are ordinary and plausible, and we generally trust the people telling us the claims. So, we tentatively accept their claims until such time as evidence is found that the claims are false.

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Yes, but it may just be coincidental with growing older and gaining experience.

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Yes, but it may just be coincidental with growing older and gaining experience.

 

Or working with the public.

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I am definitely more sceptical since deconverting. Sad to say I was pretty gullible as a Christian but like the house of cards mentioned above slowly buy surely reason seeped in. In fact I went from Christian to ex within 24 hours of finally looking at the evidence for Christianity through a skeptical lens. I am also much more of a realist as I used to be very idealistic concerning Christianity especially.

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I would say the same as Orbit.

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Like many others, I was skeptical about other things first, and then learned to become more consistent. I was always skeptical about things like spiritual warfare, faith healing, various paranormal stuff. I prefer to identify as an all-round skeptic than simply an atheist or agnostic.

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