Helpful atheist

[chatpilot69]

Hello everyone. My name is David and I was a former Pentecostal evangelist from 1990-94' if you are looking for an ex-fundamentalist and inerrantist then that would certainly be me. I came from a church that emphasized the most charismatic aspects of Christianity. We believed in the so called gifts of the Spirit and applied those beliefs to our practice of our religion. I personally have spoken in tongues, been slain in the Spirit, practiced exorcisms, etc. It took me about 6 years to fully overcome my religious beliefs and the heavy indoctrination that came with it. The most difficult of those things wes my fear of God and hell as a consequence of my unbelief. I have been an atheist since 94' and I am now sure to my own satisfaction that there isn't nor has there ever existed a god. I have relegated God and the bible to the genre of ancient mythology where it belongs. This also applies to all so called holy or divinely inspired literature. I hope to meet some new people here that I can connect with and share my experiences and knowledge with. Also, I would love to read some of your stories and learn from you as well. 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

Welcome.  Here's my story.

 

 

[◊ Weezer ◊]

WELCOME!  You have come to the right place.  My story is is in the Testimonials forum and is "Personal story, TRUTH, A GRADUAL AWAKENING".   I notice you are interested in ancient history.  I recently stumbled into the rabbit hole of Sumerian history and how it seems to have had an influence on the Abrahamic religions, and possibly some links to extraterrestials??  Interesting stuff!  

 

We would also like to hear your story.  What brought you out of the "faith"?

[TABA]

Hello David, and welcome to our community!  It’s always good to welcome a new member, whether they’ve just deconverted or whether they’ve been away from Christianity for decades like yourself.  It’s good to have fellowship with fellow travelers,

former Christians who have become atheists, agnostics or whatever label we use.  
 

I deconverted during the period 2014-2016, in my mid-50s.  It’s hard to pinpoint when I stopped being a Christian or a theist, but I made my first post here in early 2016.  Here it is…

 

I’m looking forward to hearing more from you, David.   Were you raised Christian or did you come to it later on?  

[pantheory]

On 3/15/2023 at 3:58 PM, chatpilot69 said:

Hello everyone. My name is David and I was a former Pentecostal evangelist from 1990-94' if you are looking for an ex-fundamentalist and inerrantist then that would certainly be me. I came from a church that emphasized the most charismatic aspects of Christianity. We believed in the so called gifts of the Spirit and applied those beliefs to our practice of our religion. I personally have spoken in tongues, been slain in the Spirit, practiced exorcisms, etc. It took me about 6 years to fully overcome my religious beliefs and the heavy indoctrination that came with it. The most difficult of those things wes my fear of God and hell as a consequence of my unbelief. I have been an atheist since 94' and I am now sure to my own satisfaction that there isn't nor has there ever existed a god. I have relegated God and the bible to the genre of ancient mythology where it belongs. This also applies to all so called holy or divinely inspired literature. I hope to meet some new people here that I can connect with and share my experiences and knowledge with. Also, I would love to read some of your stories and learn from you as well. 

 

chatpilot69   Many here share parts of your past experiences.  Welcome. You have come to the right place. Aside from the "good" philosophies of some religions, as an atheist myself, I concur that all the religions of the world have no more truth to them then does Greek Mythology.  I never joined a born-again church, so my experiences with religion have always been good and never been bad.

 

When studying science as a teenager I began to realize that all religions of the world were pure BS. That was a eureka moment for me. Also that even some of science was also BS.  I have no bad stories to tell about religion, only that I wish more people could realize the non-existence of any kind of God for the sake of understanding reality, and that humans are simply another type of animal that evolved.  Cheers on your very first posting.

[chatpilot69]

My mother was never what we would call a devout Christian believer. She did always claim to believe in the biblical God, and not only believe, but to have heard him speak to her in an audible voice and even seen him a time or two! It wasn't till I was in 11th grade in high school while I was doing a paper on schizophrenia that I came to realize that my mother was mentally ill. This was later confirmed by my older sister and other family members. I did not know that my mother was schizophrenic even though I saw her taking pills daily which she said were for her nerves. Needless to say I recieved confirmation that my mother was in fact a diagnosed schizophrenic. This helped me to discount all the fantastical stories and personal experiences she claims to have had with God. But she always told me that the one true Christian church was the Pentescostal church and that God confirmed this himself with all of the charismatic signs and wonders that seemed to abound in that churches meetings. 

 

I first willingly converted to Christianity in 1984 when I was in the 9th grade in high school. I met this young man who I ended up being fascinated with because of his open expression of his faith. He handed out tracts in the corridors to students and preached to anyone who would listen. One day I saw him trying to evangelize some youths in the stairwell of the school. And they began to make fun of him and mock him. All of a sudden he begins speaking in tongues and rebuking them and they took off running as if their very lives were in danger! I had never seen anything like that and wanted to know more. His name was Michael and as I recall he came to my table during the lunch break and handed me a tract and began to talk to me about Jesus. He then invited me to his church which I happily accepted. I gave my life to Jesus for the first time right then and there in the school cafeteria. 

 

A few days later I was attending my very first church meeting. It was a nondenominational church that other than refusing to be labeled pretty much seemed exactly like a Pentecostal church. They had similar rules and practices of worship. A few weeks later I too was speaking in tongues and out an about handing out tracts on the streets of Brooklyn, NY. One evening during a meeting the pastor said that he felt moved by the Holy Spirit to baptize me right away. After the service they took me up to the elders dwelling and filled up the bathtub and baptized me on the spot! I felt cleansed, lighter, and blessed. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit almost all the time and on a daily basis. I often talked to God in my mind as I was doing mundane things. I had dreams and visions and had been slain in the Spirit a time or two. 

 

This euphoria was short lived when Michael came to church one day crying inconsolably. It turns out that he had comitted the sin of fornication by having sex with a girl he met. I tried to remind him about Jesus and how he was sure to be forgiven because of his remorse and apparent repentant heart. But sadly he would have none of it and I never saw him again. He left the church and no one knew what became of him. I was devastated by this myself because I considered him to be my spiritual mentor. The one who brought me to Jesus. It wasn't long before I too backslid and also ended up not coming back to church. But it wasn't just Michaels departure that did it for me. My mom was making my life a living hell at the time and I decided that I could not worship God and be hypocritical about it. I will continue to add to this story in subsequent posts. Feel free to comment and ask questions. 

[◊ Weezer ◊]

You have a very interesting story.  "Slain in the spirit" is a term I am not familiar with.  Could you expain what that means?