My story and why I de-convert

[Nightowl]

Hello Everyone

i am really glad to find this community. It was a very difficult step. I haven't told my family yet, but I will have to do that eventually. I am glad that I am only 18 year old. Therefore, I still get a long life to live without living under fake idols.

I was a protestant, Lutheran specifically. I started to doubt my faith after seeing so many ignorant Christians. I am really open minded. For example, before de-converting, I studied string theory, big bang and evolution. I thought evolutionism and creationism were not mutually exclusive. I interpreted string theory as what's going on behind creation.......Etc. Etc. 

Not until recently, I was informed by someone that we should never worry about global warming. I was so confused, and then they provided their rationale that God won't allow that to happen. It is dumb to worry about our planet and natural environment. ????? I thought it might be just individuals, but majority of Lutheran do not really care. Then, I asked myself why God did not prevent Holocaust from happening. No one could give me a satisfactory answer, and instead they said you shall just believe.  Then I went back to re-consider the problem of sin. Here is my conclusion. If there is a God, he is either evil or he did not interact with the world anymore.

Another major change in my life is taking Math 325, Linear alg. and Differential Equation. We studied 4th dimension as well as vector space. It was so fascinating and compelling. So I started to really learn modern physics. I ordered The Brief History of Time by Hawking. I accidentally post something about him on FB... Then....There are people telling me that his book has limited value for one sole reason....He is not Christian.....Okay.....Okay. I highly respect Hawking and I am a big fan of Theory of Everything. There are lots of agnostic people showing great respect for the Bible, and now, how do those Christians show respect to Hawking who is one of the greatest Scientists. Fine.. Fine... Then, someone sent me a link of article stating that there are flaws in modern science... Then I want to say: there are millions of mistakes in the Bible. Whenever I brought up the problem of sin or flaws in bible, they just say JUST BELIEVE! IT TAKES FAITH TO BELIEVE.

What makes bible superior than Math and Science...

 

I talked with one of my friends attending the best school in Swizterland about Science and Religion. Now I understand why smart people choose not to believe the Bible, even though it promised a fake heaven!

 

For now, I am an agnostic. I asked God to deliver a sign "White light" to my lucid dream. If he does, then I will remain a Christian. Otherwise, GOODBYE Church....If God really exists and interact with the world, he will! Otherwise, he does not

 

A Freshman studying in a Lutheran College.

[MOHO]

Hey NightOwl,

 

Welcome to Ex-C!

 

Your extimoney is similar to many here who studied science and the Bible then decided one is reality and one is fairy-tail.

 

yes, science, as we have it today, is not perfect and does not have all the answers. What it does have is a philosophy that examines, tests, and re-tests every theory, hypothesis, conclusion etc. and, if it finds an error, corrects it. It does not simply say "oh well...we'll just have FAITH that our conclusions are correct." Or "It was written down 2k years ago by unknown authors so we'll just go with it."

 

Some here will take me to task with my usage of scientific nomenclature in the previous paragraph and that's OK.

 

Hang around, NightOwl, and keep visiting/reading/posting with us. You'rein good company!

    - MOHO (Mind Of His Own)

[Abrooks2007]

Hey.

 

I definitely understand where you're coming from.

 

The Protestants...ESPECIALLY Baptists and Pentecostals...reject science altogether and instead put forth pseudoscience, known as "creationism"  It's a perversion of accepted science based on zero evidence, basically making feeble fictitious explanations for dinosaurs and the creation of the universe overall.  I read one of their books on a sick day one time and though..."This is the biggest pile of bull**** that I've ever read.  Whoever wrote this must do some REALLY good crack." :-P

 

Congrats on being 18 and achieving self-realization.  That's when it started for me, but it wasn't until 3 years ago that I let go of it altogether.  I was a part of the more liberal Episcopal Church, but they have their own issues...especially their obsessions with "tithing" or donations...that were also annoying, especially during the Recession when people were hanging on to every last penny.  So yeah, I left and I'm the better for it.

 

What country are you from?

 

-Andrew

[Geezer]

Welcome Nightowl.Glad you found us. Leaving the faith is often a difficult thing to do. Expect lot's of pressure from family & friends to return to the fold. I see you're 18 so I assume you are still dependent on family for support, that is something to consider too before you decide to come out to them. 

[BroTom]

Congratulations, Nightowl, at the moment I'm writing this, you have twice as many likes as posts. Special congratulations on taking charge of your beliefs at age 18. Hope you stick around to take advantage of all the knowledge and wisdom here.  I also enjoyed studying linear algebra and differential equations.  For me, math adds a rich layer of appreciation towards understanding how everything works. Best wishes.

Tom

[Nightowl]

It is so heartwarming, and I really felt welcomed. I live in WI, originally from China. Planning to move to Australia or China for grad school. Probably Australia, because I can't really write Mandarin proficiently,  I will definitely hang around here, and it's gonna be my new home.  Really appreciate encouragement and support. It is gonna be disturbing Easter. i should wait for a little while to tell me family. Thanks Geezer for reminding that I am still dependent on my family....Thanks everyone else for supporting!

[TABA]

Welcome, Nightowl!  I'm glad you feel at home here.  This is a very important place for many of us, being the only place -for many of us- where we can talk to other non-believers.  I hope you will stay with us for a long time to come. 

[SkepticsApprentice]

Hello there!

 

First of all, welcome to the family (for what it's worth, considering I pretty much just joined a few weeks ago myself). I am actually in a similar situation to yours at the moment; I'm 19 and attending an evangelical Christian university for my bachelor's degree. There's actually a lot of different perspectives on faith and 'holy Scripture' where I am, so even though I definitely do not want to let on that I disbelieve it, I'm not feeling an immense pressure to conform to some ridiculous standard (i.e. Biblical literalism). Ironically, I first began really questioning the tenets of the faith as a freshman studying required theology classes at my school, and things pretty much progressed from there. I'm definitely looking forward to graduate school in a year or so; I plan to apply to a more secular institution in a different state (perhaps a different country if I'm feeling really adventurous). In the meantime, I'm trying to read up on as much science, philosophy, and history as I can so that I won't be taken in by the two-bit Internet Apostles that are all over the Web. Someday, I will also inform my family of the change, and although I know they won't take it well at first I hope that the revelation won't have too many long-lasting negative impacts on my relationship with them (or with my significant other or children, if I'm fortunate enough to have any). 

 

I definitely feel you regarding Easter...My family has a tradition of going to church and watching the Passion of the Christ to commemorate Jesus' sacrifice of Himself, to Himself, to appease Himself. It's going to feel quite different this year, that is one thing I know for certain.

[Nightowl]

Hello, SkepticsApprentice

We do have a lot in common. I thought about transfering to a state school, but I am graduating in 3 semesters (Thanks for all the AP courses). So I probably will graduate from my Lutheran College, and I will go to Australia. I feel like by going to another country, I can have a new life. I am really worried how many friends I will lose after turning into agnosticism. Therefore, I can avoid thinking those by restarting my life.

 

For Easter, I will have to play violin in church on Sunday. This is gonna be a difficult Easter.

 

I don't think I will convert back to Christian anymore, because God never answers prayers. There is never any miracle around me. Bible is just ridiculously wrong.

 

I do believe there is something beyond our 3-d world though. I don't really know. But if there is a righteous loving God, he would reward heaven to good people instead of ignorant Christian. If I have to choose between an ignorant Christian and an atheist who is as kind as Schindler. I would send the latter to heaven. If Christian God is out there, he must be evil and wicked because he will choose the ignorant Christian/or even murderer who claims to be a Christian.

 

[disillusioned]

Welcome!

Keep studying math and physics. In my experience, the study of these fields helps to develop the capacity for clear thought, which in turn helps with the rejection of religious nonsense. I hope your Easter weekend is not too stressful.