So here I am typing something that I never thought would be a possibility. It’s still somewhat shocking to me as I’m writing this. I mean, if someone told me a year ago that I would be in this position believing what I do now, I would have labeled them in my mind as insane. No one could ever convince me that God didn’t exist. He was real. I just knew it. The Bible was his inspired word. Jesus is his son. He died on the cross for my sins and rose on the third day for me and, he’s going to come back and take me home someday. I just knew he would. But, now I’m not so sure. You see over the past year I’ve changed my worldview. Right now, I don’t know exactly where I stand on the existence of a god. But, what I do know is that my view of Christianity has changed completely. In the span of a couple years, I’ve gone from an extremely conservative Christian, to a moderately conservative Christian, to a liberal Christian, to someone who wishes they had never heard their first Bible story. Due to my changed worldview, I’ve found myself in an extremely difficult predicament.
Not only did I grow up in an extremely religious home, I graduated from a conservative Christian college with a degree in Bible. I planned on entering the ministry to do youth ministry. I was an intern for my church’s youth program for over three years and I’m still someone those young people look up to. I baptized my little sister a year ago and she always tells me how positive a Christian role model I am in her life. My father abandoned his faith when I was two years old and this led to his and my mother’s divorce. My dad and my best friend (non-religious) are the only people I’ve told about this. So, you can see the position I’m in. So much of my life at this point has been involved in the church. I loved being an intern. And, even though I don’t believe in Christianity anymore, my love for those young people is still very real. The majority of my close friendships and relationships are anchored in the church. My sister looks up to me as do the young people. And most of all, my mother has lived a difficult life but, finds comfort in knowing at the end of the day she raised her son in the lord. Is this familiar to anybody? I don’t want my decision to affect those young people or my sister. I don’t want my mother to feel she failed and to worry about my soul. I don’t want to lose those friendships that mean so much to me. But, at the same time I know I don’t want to be a hypocrite either. I want to have a family someday and I don’t want my children to go through the difficult time I’m going through now. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you so much. Glad to be here.
My reply:
You wrote: "Right now, I don't know exactly where I stand on the existence of a god."
This is not rocket science. Nothing could be more simple. It goes like this: God is just another word for magic. Magic is not real therefore magical beings are impossible. Period. There is nothing more to say about it.
Your other problems might seem difficult but you might be surprised how easy it is to fix everything. I suggest being honest with your friends and family is the way to go. Honesty is always the right thing to do. Just explain what happened to you and explain why there's nothing anyone can do about it. Once a person accepts reality and throws out superstitious nonsense there is no going back. Just tell them that. It's one way to find out who really is your friend and who isn't a real friend. Same thing for your relatives.
Don't worry about it. Instead have fun with it. You might even, without even trying, convince somebody else to break away from being a slave, with a magical being as their master who demands worship and obedience. It's so much better to be a free person. Some people might get it after you talk to them. Maybe not right away but they could eventually figure out they have been wrong about everything their entire lives.
Religions are good for nothing but violence, stupidity, brainwashing, and slowing down human progress. Fortunately the childish cowardly fantasies are going extinct. Nonsense can't last forever especially with today's never ending scientific progress.
By the way congratulations on throwing out the Dark Ages. Welcome to the 21st century.
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