Dead Again: Director Of Theological School De-Converts

[TABA]

On 12/1/2016 at 5:26 PM, James23 said:

Hi everyone, I have posted a new article on Thought Control. You can find it here:

 

 

 

 

https://thoughtcontrol.wordpress.com/various-musings/earthquakes-in-various-places/

 

 

Hi James23!  I just now read your article from December: "Earthquakes in Various Places".  You did a good job of highlighting one of the dividing lines among modern Christians - whether or not believers take the Bible seriously.  Those who do, like the Westboro Baptist Church and other fundamentalists, make more moderate Christians uncomfortable so that, as you point out, the moderates carefully choose which portions of scripture to live by and which to quietly set aside.  The other day I heard an atheist say something that resonated with me: whereas theists claim that religion created morality, but in fact it was morality that created religion. This is borne out by the fact that moderate/liberal Christianity has evolved to match our society's changing views of sexuality and Hell, among other concepts.

I think many of us ex-Christians flirted with liberal Christianity on our way out the door.  It didn't take me long to see the pointlessness and dishonesty of such Christianity.  Discarding it entirely was like stepping out of a fog.

Thanks - as always - for sharing your thoughts with us!

[Guest]

On 2016-05-07 at 6:33 PM, James23 said:

 

I should also mention that starting at the first year that I became a Christian I began to have health problems which slowly transitioned revealing themselves as a chronic pain disorder which affects me to this day. Unfortunately, this condition has been life defining affecting my work and home lives. Going through the process of praying for healing, not receiving it and feeling (and being told) that it was my fault because I didn’t have enough faith was agonising. But over time the continual lack of answered prayer and absence of any real voice of God became revealing. I grew distant from God because there was simply no relationship. I wasn’t trying to manufacture one, so I was able to see the complete lack of God. This allowed me to drift closer towards objectivity so that when I did my theological studies and was able to see the enormous flaws in hermeneutics, Christian theology and the Bible itself I was in a good place to evaluate them.

You have written my story here. I have been distant from God for years before even coming to question Christianity. It is impossible to connect with God when you have chronic pain, and there are just no answers for the pain. The very worst is being told that God is trying you through the pain, that he is drawing to draw you closer and increase your faith. This statement implies that your suffering is due to a lack of belief. Out of all the justifications I've heard for pain and suffering, this is the one that has resulted in a lot of internal rage for me, rage that I wasn't able to express while a Chistian because it would just become evident that I was mad at God, which I was, unacceptable behavior for a Christian.

Letting go of Christianity has enabled me to let the rage go, accept that life is what it is, it isn't fair for everyone, and that my pain certainly isn't my fault. Most of all it has enabled me to start regaining a positive sense of self.

[James23]

Hi TruthSeeker0,

 

I apologise that it has taken me so long to respond to you. Today was the first day in about 2 months that I have been able to get into ex-Christian.net, let alone this topic. I don’t know if anybody else has been experiencing troubles with this website. In my experience most Christians are able to drift through their spiritual life without really having to question God. It’s almost as if they take a “as long as nothing really bad happens I won’t question anything” type of approach. Like a tacit non-hostility agreement with God. But when life decides to ram a problem down your throat you have no choice but to face it and its implications. It is possible that only by having such a profound health problem that I was able to see the truth behind Christianity, I don’t know. You are correct, Christians don’t know how to deal with people who have health problems. Their expectation is that everybody should just be healed, and obviously God cannot be culpable so if you’re not healed it must be your fault. Much like yourself, I find myself in a far more positive state of mind now that I don’t have the burden of Christianity hanging over my head. I can accept my health condition as bad f**king luck. I tortured myself, and allowed myself to be tortured for over a decade by the asinine, juvenile thinking behind modern Christianity. I am really pleased to hear that you are on the right track in terms of dealing with your health problem. All the best.

[James23]

Hey everyone,

 

If you haven’t heard from me for a while it is because I have been unable to get into ex-Christian.net. Today was the first time in about 2 months that I was able to gain access to the website. I contacted the administration about this problem but I didn’t hear anything back from them. I would be interested to know if anybody else has had difficulty with the site. If you are interested in reading my articles it may be wise to come and follow me at https://thoughtcontrol.wordpress.com/ just in case I am not able to access the site again.

[LogicalFallacy]

Hey James. We had a board change and there has been a few resulting hiccups which explains your issues.

 

Good to see you again! I always enjoy your articles.

[James23]

Hi ThereAndBackAgain,

 

Sorry that it has taken me so long to respond to your post, I haven’t been able to get into the website. The atheist that you quote is quite correct. It is a misnomer that morality comes from religion. Religious types love to make this claim, but morality is a function of primates evolving and living together in societies. It is learned behaviour that becomes imprinted in our biology. And yes, it’s a good observation that Christian morality, although somewhat slowly, follows and tracks with cultural morality. This is also interestingly why you will see Christians with different morality in different parts of the world. Because different societies and cultures have different morality the people who practice Christianity in those parts of the world tend to mimic the morality of their society. I think you are correct that many people do toy with liberal Christianity on the way out the door. I personally didn’t, because to me if the Bible was not foundationally and functionally correct then there was no point simply trying to build a loose religion around it. Thanks so much for your comments, valuable as always.

[James23]

Hi LogicalFallacy,

 

Thanks for the quick response. I’m glad to be able to get back in again. I was thinking that I was going to have to abandon ex-Christian.net for a while there. Glad to hear that you have sorted out your issues.

[James23]

Just a quick message to apologize for not posting anything recently. I have been really busy. I do plan on writing another article soon, so bear with me if you are one of my regular readers. Anyway God Bless! Just kidding .

[LogicalFallacy]

No need to apologise. Its all good work in your own time.  

[Ablemate]

Hi James

 

I have heard it said that priests, preachers, vicars or whatever that have actually studied theology and religion don't actually believe the bullshit they ram down others throats, the reason being what you said in your first post of in depth study really confirms there is no substance to religion at all. 

It takes a brave man to do what you did, a 40 page essay submitted to so many educated ministers. I imagine they all send similar stuff to each other so that they can all reinforce their collective reasoning without ending up on this website ????

[James23]

Hi Ablemate,

 

Sadly most people who study Theology do continue to believe. People are excellent at deceiving themselves. And there's a lesson in there for all of us. But studying Theology certainly exposes the tender underbelly of religion which is why I think it is a good thing for a believer with the right frame of mind. Making my exit from religion has certainly put me offside with a lot of people who I used to call friends. It is a very good test of how genuine friendships among believers are...sadly not as strong as what an all loving God might want. But then, we don't have one of those do we? Must say I have never seen a document like mine sent from any minister to another. The weakness of the responses was telling.  

[James23]

Hello everyone,

 

I have finally done it. I have summoned the Djinn's and Seraphim of atheism and written another article. Here it is: https://thoughtcontrol.wordpress.com/problems-with-the-bible/darkness-over-the-land/

Enjoy.

[LogicalFallacy]

"This would be a most grave concern (Ho Ho Ho)."

 

James I feel there is something you are missing in your analysis of Matt 27 - GODDIDIT!...  And now I don't have to think about the points you raised.

 

 

Good article. One thing you possibly hinted at, but didn't specifically mention, but might be worth it for those readers unaware but even a total eclipse won't last long... not three hours, not even an hour.

 

According to NASA

How long does the longest-possible total solar eclipse last?

This is about 7.5 minutes. The longest total solar eclipse from 4000 BCE to 8000 CE, a span of 12,000 years, will occur on July 16, 2186 and will last 7 minutes 29 seconds.  Its path sweeps across Colombia, Venezuela and Guyana. The August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, by comparison, will last a maximum of 2 minutes 43 seconds.   About 70% of eclipses last longer than this.

 

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/how-long-does-longest-possible-total-solar-eclipse-last

 

 

So any apologetic seeking to claim an eclipse as the cause for "Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour." is dead on arrival.

 

 

[James23]

Hi Logical Fallacy,

 

Yes I allude to that but don't spell it out in the article. It might be worthwhile if you were to comment on the article and include your observation. Thanks for reading.

 

[LogicalFallacy]

Will do tonight

[LogicalFallacy]

Hi James

 

Before I post I need to clarify some things with you:

 

You mention a lunar eclipse - are you taking the "sixth hour" as 6pm, or 12 noon? 

 

If its 6pm, then its already getting dark and even with a partial lunar eclipse that happened during AD33, it would make the verse about darkness less miraculous, but would also override my thoughts about timing as lunar eclipses can go for the 3 hours.

 

If its 12 noon then it clearly wasn't a solar eclipse as they only last up to 7 1/2 minutes.

 

Based on my research.. being the bible (  ) it is likely to to be a day time event as Luke specifically states that the sun failed to give its light. So this is a slight embellishment from Matthew and Mark but gives us a time.

 

"Now it was^[l] about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. ⁴⁵ Then the sun was darkened,^[m] and the veil of the temple was torn in two"

 

I would therefore say that its not a lunar eclipse that people might use to explain it, but a solar eclipse.

 

Now the problem with the solar eclipse is twofold: 1) as I mentioned a solar eclipse only lasts a few minutes, and 2) there wasn't a solar eclipse at that Passover which is a bit of an issue which puts the apologist back to arguing supernatural causes for which they have no evidence.

[♦ ficino ♦]

In Roman times, usually dawn was the first hour, and then they counted forward from there. So you'd think the sixth hour would be around noon.

[James23]

Hi Logical Fallacy,

 

My understanding is that the 6th hour is noon. I like to get my crucifixions out of the way before dinner. Personal preference I suppose.

[LogicalFallacy]

Ok, so that's three of us agreeing. I'll proceed with my solar eclipse comment then now I feel on firm 'theological' ground

[James23]

Do you love God? Did you ever? Come and read my latest article and find out about the impossible love.

 

https://thoughtcontrol.wordpress.com/the-psychology-of-faith/the-impossible-love/

[Positivist]

Hi James! I'll head over to your site shortly. I just wanted to say that chronic pain played a huge role in my deconversion too.  I am relatively pain free now but I endured a decade in which there was no end in sight. I swear it changed my brain. I simply lack the capacity to believe in unicorns etc. 

 

Ugh. 

 

K. Over to your site now!