Voxton
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Hi. I normally tell people I'm an atheist, just to keep it short. But to put a bit more detail into it, the truth is that you cannot know with complete and absolute certainty that there is no God -- any more than you can know with complete and absolute certainty that there is a God. So to be completely and absolutely honest, I'm really an agnostic.
I grew up a Christian (Protestant), and the first book I remember reading, was an illustrated Bible for children. I think I learned an awful lot of good things from it.
The first time I doubted the Bible, was when us kids found a dead bird. I insisted we'd bury it, so that it would come back to life again... The next day, the bird was still dead. Confused (and accused of being a liar and a prankster), I ran home and grabbed my Bible. To my relief I found that Jesus was dead for three days, before he came back alive. So we buried the bird again, and waited three agonizing days. The bird was still dead.
This was quite devastating to me. My understanding of the Bible and of Jesus wasn't exactly profound, but it was grounded on that golden rule about treating others like you'd want them to treat you. I still think this is a great foundation for any ethical person.
I hated it when people were treated differently: when small kids were bullied by the big ones, I'd fight for them no matter how big the bully was or how many times I got knocked down -- even if I didn't particularly like weaker kid myself. I hadn't understood the bit about turning the other cheek or loving your enemies -- I just thought this kind of a fight was unfair. I wasn't exactly a communist though: I've never forgotten winning a competition, but receiving a far smaller reward than a kid who did far worse than me -- because his father was a millionaire who owned the grounds, and basically ran the games...
When I learned about that darker side of Christianity that explained how you could go to Hell, if you behaved poorly it never occurred to me that since Jesus' dad runs the show, he might get the best prize even if he doesn't do so well.
But when I saw that bird still dead after three days, it did strike me as unfair: Sure, Jesus was better than anyone, but you should still be able to get into Heaven, even if you didn't do anywhere near as well as Jesus -- and a little cute bird, how could he had committed enough sins to not make it?
I wouldn't say that my faith was shaken, but I was definitely confused and a little angry. I wanted to understand how it all worked.
Not to make my introductory post too long-winded, so by my teens, I had started thinking of myself as an atheist. And I think what did it, was mostly the way I saw so few Christians living according to the Bible. The hypocrisy of claiming to follow the Prince of Peace, who instructs you to love your enemies and turning the other cheek, and to not judge or to throw that first stone...
In spite of this, I still call myself an agnostic, and I still want to understand how it all works -- what Christianity really means, and what Christians believe about their own religion.
I've never met a Christian who knew more about Christianity than myself. I like saying this, because it sounds so horribly arrogant and provocative -- it certainly is provocative, but not because it is arrogant. I know a bit about Christianity, but not that much -- it's just that Christians tend to know so very, very little about their own faith.
And that's why I'm on this board: to learn -- and if I can, inform others. This board seems quite amazing, and I hope to engage in many informed and constructive debates.
I grew up a Christian (Protestant), and the first book I remember reading, was an illustrated Bible for children. I think I learned an awful lot of good things from it.
The first time I doubted the Bible, was when us kids found a dead bird. I insisted we'd bury it, so that it would come back to life again... The next day, the bird was still dead. Confused (and accused of being a liar and a prankster), I ran home and grabbed my Bible. To my relief I found that Jesus was dead for three days, before he came back alive. So we buried the bird again, and waited three agonizing days. The bird was still dead.
This was quite devastating to me. My understanding of the Bible and of Jesus wasn't exactly profound, but it was grounded on that golden rule about treating others like you'd want them to treat you. I still think this is a great foundation for any ethical person.
I hated it when people were treated differently: when small kids were bullied by the big ones, I'd fight for them no matter how big the bully was or how many times I got knocked down -- even if I didn't particularly like weaker kid myself. I hadn't understood the bit about turning the other cheek or loving your enemies -- I just thought this kind of a fight was unfair. I wasn't exactly a communist though: I've never forgotten winning a competition, but receiving a far smaller reward than a kid who did far worse than me -- because his father was a millionaire who owned the grounds, and basically ran the games...
When I learned about that darker side of Christianity that explained how you could go to Hell, if you behaved poorly it never occurred to me that since Jesus' dad runs the show, he might get the best prize even if he doesn't do so well.
But when I saw that bird still dead after three days, it did strike me as unfair: Sure, Jesus was better than anyone, but you should still be able to get into Heaven, even if you didn't do anywhere near as well as Jesus -- and a little cute bird, how could he had committed enough sins to not make it?
I wouldn't say that my faith was shaken, but I was definitely confused and a little angry. I wanted to understand how it all worked.
Not to make my introductory post too long-winded, so by my teens, I had started thinking of myself as an atheist. And I think what did it, was mostly the way I saw so few Christians living according to the Bible. The hypocrisy of claiming to follow the Prince of Peace, who instructs you to love your enemies and turning the other cheek, and to not judge or to throw that first stone...
In spite of this, I still call myself an agnostic, and I still want to understand how it all works -- what Christianity really means, and what Christians believe about their own religion.
I've never met a Christian who knew more about Christianity than myself. I like saying this, because it sounds so horribly arrogant and provocative -- it certainly is provocative, but not because it is arrogant. I know a bit about Christianity, but not that much -- it's just that Christians tend to know so very, very little about their own faith.
And that's why I'm on this board: to learn -- and if I can, inform others. This board seems quite amazing, and I hope to engage in many informed and constructive debates.
