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A former born-again.

Started by Enoch Root, February 18, 2009, 02:47:53 PM

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Enoch Root

Hello everyone,

I just registered here after reading the forum for a few days.  Looks like a good place.

I have recently (within the last year) had to acknowledge that I am an atheist.  This follows 15 years of being a born-again Christian.  I have read my bible cover-to-cover many times, I have preached sermons, I have attended bible study conferences all over North America.  I have even handed out gospel tracts and "witnessed" to people on busy street-corners (although admittedly I pressured into doing that in my youth, it was never my preferred form of evangelism as an adult).  

But now I finally admitted to myself that I just don't believe it any more.  The kicker was the idea of a God that would condemn someone to an eternity of hell for failing to believe in a message that has no solid proof.  Once that domino fell the rest came down like a house of cards.  (I know you're not supposed to mix metaphors, but you're also not supposed to renounce Christianity, so...)  Losing a family member who wasn't a Christian makes you really think about these things.  Did I genuinely believe he was enduring eternal torture?  I tried lying to myself by saying yes, but it was his choice... but that didn't stick for too long.

My wife is still a Christian and my admission upset her, but she's dealing with it.  My circle of friends has gone from large to small, but the ones still willing to talk to me are the ones I figured were the true friends in the first place.  I've perhaps lost a sense of community but gained a sense of intellectual integrity.  Fair trade-off.

And that's my story.

karadan

Wow. Well done for coming out to your peers. That must have been quite difficult.

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure you'll be a great addition.
QuoteI find it mistifying that in this age of information, some people still deny the scientific history of our existence.

Enoch Root

Thanks.  Yeah, it wasn't easy.  I've been back to church a few times since, all on my wife's request (she was going to be singing, or something like that).  Most of the people at the church won't give me the time of day.  I am not militant about it at all, I have not tried once to "evangelize" my atheism or convince anyone of anything.  All I do is answer questions that are asked me.  But I used to preach from their pulpit so I guess the change is shocking to them.

McQ

Quote from: "Enoch Root"Thanks.  Yeah, it wasn't easy.  I've been back to church a few times since, all on my wife's request (she was going to be singing, or something like that).  Most of the people at the church won't give me the time of day.  I am not militant about it at all, I have not tried once to "evangelize" my atheism or convince anyone of anything.  All I do is answer questions that are asked me.  But I used to preach from their pulpit so I guess the change is shocking to them.

Welcome to the forum. I share a similar story as you, and am married to a christian woman. She took my deconversion pretty hard at first. I moved about the same time as my change in beliefs, so it affected my circle of friends much less than yours did you. Had I stayed where I was, I would have thrown out of my "all-loving" church. Absolutely.

You'll find this a good place to share your thoughts.
Elvis didn't do no drugs!
--Penn Jillette

myleviathan

I also share a similar story. I was the president of my college Christian club, and was a praise / worship leader. I am married to a Christian - and she's accepted the change of belief. It wasn't easy at first but if you love one another then that's all that matters. Shared values count far more than religious beliefs.
"On the moon our weekends are so far advanced they encompass the entire week. Jobs have been phased out. We get checks from the government, and we spend it on beer! Mexican beer! That's the cheapest of all beers." --- Ignignokt & Err

SallyMutant

Welcome. We think you were born just fine the first time.

 :D
There's nothing wrong with ambivalence--is there?

Cemetery

Wow...I would love to discuss born-again-ism with you!  My husband did the born-again thing in college & I honestly don't get it.  I was raised a methodist & we didn't really have born-agains in my father's church.  

What is it about? Why do you have to be "born again" to believe or feel you're giong to heaven? What's wrong w/ the first time?

Welcome to the site...I'm new here too!

~C

Enoch Root

Quote from: "Cemetery"Wow...I would love to discuss born-again-ism with you!  My husband did the born-again thing in college & I honestly don't get it.  I was raised a methodist & we didn't really have born-agains in my father's church.  

What is it about? Why do you have to be "born again" to believe or feel you're giong to heaven? What's wrong w/ the first time?

It's from John 3 where Jesus says "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  I'm pretty sure the phrase appears nowhere else in the bible outside that chapter, however the idea of being a "new creation" is present in Paul's writings.  The teaching is that when a person believes in Jesus as their saviour they become a new creation, God gives them new life.  A lot of people say that's what baptism means: spiritually dying, being buried, and then rising into new life (coming out of the water), just like Jesus did.

I guess you could do a whole study of the psychology of that kind of thinking.  Today I consider the idea of "original sin" to be ridiculous--a baby is considered a sinful creature?  A person is guilty of the sin that Adam & Eve committed?  As if Christianity doesn't tell you you're a sinner enough, you're also guilty of sin just by being born.  Hence, you need to be "born again".

Why did I believe it in the first place?  I guess teenagers are impressionable...

Cemetery

Quote from: "Enoch Root"It's from John 3 where Jesus says "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  I'm pretty sure the phrase appears nowhere else in the bible outside that chapter, however the idea of being a "new creation" is present in Paul's writings.  The teaching is that when a person believes in Jesus as their saviour they become a new creation, God gives them new life.  A lot of people say that's what baptism means: spiritually dying, being buried, and then rising into new life (coming out of the water), just like Jesus did.

Why did I believe it in the first place?  I guess teenagers are impressionable...

Very interesting, E.R.  I didn't realize the idea came from the bible, but that makes sense... duh on me. LOL  It's a good thing that you actually analyzed what you were espousing to ppl & realized it wasn't for you.  I respect anyone who knows why they believe something instead of just "following the crowd."  

~C

Ponyboy

Hey Enoch Root!

I just joined too. I believe you sound out like where I was at about four years ago. It's hard, and I can only imagine it's harder due to your circumstances with your wife. I feel for you, if you ever want to chat about any of it let me know. I've been forced to defend myself quite a bit, and maybe I've become a quasi-expert on the matter  :lol:  .
It's better to regret something you did than something you didn't do.

Chimera

Welcome to the forum. I'm a former "born-again" too. This is a great place to hang out and find people with similar beliefs and interests, especially if it's been hard to make contacts in real life. When I was a believer, I took part in a missionary school and made a lot of friends there. I've kept in touch with many of them through MySpace and Facebook, but they all seem very reluctant to talk to me now and I think a lot of it is due to one little word on my page, the one that comes after "Religion:" Atheist. It's like they think I'm going to poison them or something.

Anyway, welcome again. You've found a great community.
"I refuse to believe in a god who is the primary cause of conflict in the world, preaches racism, sexism, homophobia, and ignorance, and then sends me to hell if I’m 'bad.'" â€" Mike Fuhrman

Godschild

Hi to every one that reads this I've read a few comments and see you guys are real friendly and I think that should be everyones attitude, because we all share the same planet and should be able to get along without hating each other. Now thats not to say we must agree with each other on personal subjects. First and for most I'm a follower of Christ Jesus and will defend my right to be, just as I will defend your right to be an Atheist or what ever you want to believe. Now so you can see a little about me it breaks my heart to hear of former believers who have exercized their God given right to reject Christ after they had made a committment to Him. I know some if not all may find this strange but that is the love God has for us He will not interfer with our free will when it comes to this choice, it's because He wants us to love Him freely just as He loves us of His free will what kind of love is one that is forced I say it's no love at all and so says the God of all. I will say that I hope that all who have rejected Christ will again return to Him.Looking forward to some good disscusions think I'll go have a snack and watch some tube.

karadan

Quote from: "Godschild"Hi to every one that reads this I've read a few comments and see you guys are real friendly and I think that should be everyones attitude, because we all share the same planet and should be able to get along without hating each other. Now thats not to say we must agree with each other on personal subjects. First and for most I'm a follower of Christ Jesus and will defend my right to be, just as I will defend your right to be an Atheist or what ever you want to believe. Now so you can see a little about me it breaks my heart to hear of former believers who have exercized their God given right to reject Christ after they had made a committment to Him. I know some if not all may find this strange but that is the love God has for us He will not interfer with our free will when it comes to this choice, it's because He wants us to love Him freely just as He loves us of His free will what kind of love is one that is forced I say it's no love at all and so says the God of all. I will say that I hope that all who have rejected Christ will again return to Him.Looking forward to some good disscusions think I'll go have a snack and watch some tube.

What you seem to gloss over, Godschild, is although we've been given free will, we've also been promised an eternity of pain, suffering and torment if we do not believe in god's existence. That, to me, is an astonishingly two-faced notion worthy of only the highest contempt. I always find it weird that Christians can argue this point with a straight face.

But anyway, this isn't really the place as this is the thread for Enoch Root who has just joined. You should write an introduction of your own. Hopefully you'll stick around for a while.  ;)
QuoteI find it mistifying that in this age of information, some people still deny the scientific history of our existence.