My story - From Christian to Atheist

[blackout]

jollybear.

Not only is this RevOxley's thread,
but it it ALSO (and perhaps more importantly)
in the ATHIESM DIR.

I do believe you've been asked to lay off.
Non athiests are only to ask respectful questions in this DIR.
Not debate.
Just sayin.

RevOxley shouldn't have to defend himSelf in his own DIR.
We all need places we can just share
with people who understand our own mindSet
without having to be on the defensive.
This is the REASON for the DIRs.

Also, Some of us simply want to hear RevOxley's story,
without all the contention.
(I would be one of those someone's-- not that it really matters.)

 

[Autodidact]

None of it sounds silly, crazy, or anything else of that nature. Rather I credit you for listening to your own still small voice.

The key parts for me are here:

This whole thing was brought on by a doubt in the innerrency in the Bible - little did I know my Christianity would soon pass away, however slowly.

I know this isn't always the case, but for me when I found myself capable of questioning the validity and authority of the Bible the idea of god became something I could also question. That doubt, coupled with a comprehensive understanding of the human psyche as it relates to religion and a desire to know god led me to ask God to lead me into a perfect understanding of him...and at the point I decided not to allow any sort of emotional appeal or desires to affect my beliefs because in my view those things skewed ones ability to rightly discern the truth. I wanted the truth, and my prayer was that god would provide it no matter how intensely painful it was.

As I slowly realized that my god was something that I had created - nothing more than an alter ego of myself, more an omnipotent imaginary friend than anything else my mental state began to deteriorate. Everything turned dark and I no longer felt like I was me - you see, unlike most Christians these days, my faith was not passive in any way. I lived my faith daily, I felt god around me every day and I prayed without ceasing - I had "Experienced" god in ways that other Christians would call undeniable evidence of his existence. A Christian was everything that I was and all that I had ever known, it was my identity.

So you were a Biblical inerrantist. What caused you to doubt the inerrancy of the Bible? Then you prayed for the truth. What caused you to realize that God existed only in your own mind?

 

[Autodidact]

Orias



My view.




Yes, that, AND something else, I am trying to show my view to be most plausible THROUGH asking all these questions.

In short, I disagree with atheism and I think he left his God unjustifiably. I think it was a lack of being careful. There is some things he needs to account for BEFORE he leaves his faith, and I am surprised he did not fully account for them BEFORE leaving the ship.

One more thing, athiesm is not a lack of faith, it's a lack of faith IN something and then diverting that faith INTO SOMETHING ELSE. So your never WITHOUT faith.

You do realize you're violating forum rules, right? When the rev wants to debate, he'll start or join a thread in a debate forum.

 

[Autodidact]

Forum rules:
10. Discuss Individual Religions Forums
The DIR forums are for the express use for discussion by that specific group. They are not to be used for debate by anyone. People of other groups or faiths may post respectful questions to increase their understanding. Questions of a rhetorical or argumentative nature or that counter the beliefs of that DIR are not permitted. Only posts that comply with the tenets or spirit of that DIR are permitted. DIR areas are not to be used as cover to bash others outside the faith. The DIR forums are strictly moderated and posts are subject to editing or removal.

 

[The_Evelyonian]

How do i know if i am in a thread where it's just for one specific group? What part of the screen tells me that? All i did was look at "today's posts" and saw his and thought ok, i will respond. I did not notice any specific group area, where is it so i can know for future reference? I did this with a clear conscience, so tell me how i know?

Top of the screen

Right under where it says - Home | Who's Online | Today's Posts - etc.

You see where it says: Religious Education Forum / Discuss Individual Religion (DIR) ?

All of the forums in the Discuss Individual Religion section are tagged with "DIR" (I.E. Atheism DIR) and within the DIR forums debating is against the rules.

Forum rules:
10. Discuss Individual Religions Forums
The DIR forums are for the express use for discussion by that specific group. They are not to be used for debate by anyone. People of other groups or faiths may post respectful questions to increase their understanding. Questions of a rhetorical or argumentative nature or that counter the beliefs of that DIR are not permitted. Only posts that comply with the tenets or spirit of that DIR are permitted. DIR areas are not to be used as cover to bash others outside the faith. The DIR forums are strictly moderated and posts are subject to editing or removal.

 

[RevOxley_501]

I'll start a debate with him officially shortly....I expected folks to ask questions, but I didn't expect those questions to be so intent on getting to the askers personal religious agenda....but it's cool.

 

[RevOxley_501]

None of it sounds silly, crazy, or anything else of that nature. Rather I credit you for listening to your own still small voice.

Well thank you!

So you were a Biblical inerrantist. What caused you to doubt the inerrancy of the Bible? Then you prayed for the truth. What caused you to realize that God existed only in your own mind?

Yes I was, for the most part, an innerantist...although I did make some exceptions for the creation story in Genesis 1-11 - I had an old earth creationist viewpoint with an intelligent design/guided evolution view on life....evolution for me was just always undeniable so my assumption was that the bible was a vague reference to that time.

The errant nature of the Bible became evident to me when I recognized the similarities between Christianity and many of the pagan religions before it. From there it seemed to me that perhaps the Christian story was nothing more than a compilation of regurgitated myths...once I considered that option I was more open to the idea that maybe the Bible wasn't as perfect as I once thought...I did go down a few different roads, including gnosticism and universalism before throwing out the baby with the bathwater though...don't think it was an overnight thing.

As far as the second part of your question, I believe it was my background in dealing with persons with Dissociative Identity Disorder that allowed me to recognize both the tendency and the ability of individuals to create and manifest ego's that are parts of themselves...now it seems like a pretty simple crossover but I'd say that the possibility is pretty large that most folks like I was have simply done something similar.