Hello Everybody

[tunghaichuan]

I've been lurking here for a few months, so I thought I'd post an introduction.

Like many atheists, I came from a religious background. Fortunately for me, I attended a liberal Protestant church. In the church I attended, I can remember being encouraged to question church doctrine. I can remember the minister giving  sermons discounting the virgin birth, Christmas stories and even the Resurrection as myths. As you can imagine, these sermons didn't go over so well with the more conservative members of the church.

As luck would have it, the aforementioned minister was a college English teacher and I took a few classes from him while attending college. One in particular was called The Bible as Literature. In this class, we studied the various literary forms and different groups of people who contributed to the makeup of the Bible, mainly the Old Testament. One point in particular made by the minister was that there are two creations stories in Genesis. Given this, it became clear to me that the Bible was not the literal spoken word of the Abrahamic god, but was an account of how the various writers (consisting of iron/bronze age,nomadic, desert dwelling nomads) viewed their tribal deity, Yahweh.

Another class I took was called Women in the Bible. The main thing I got from this class  was that in reading the Bible, we have to read what is there, and not what we *want* to be there.

Since the college I attended was secular, the classes were not taught according to a religious point of view, i.e., promoting any particular Christian agenda.

I graduated college in 1989 (with a totally useless liberal arts degree) and went to graduate school to become a librarian, graduating in 1992. I had always been a reader and a book lover, so it seemed like a good choice at the time.

Fast forward to 2000, I saw a movie called Stigmata which led me the the Gospel of Thomas and ultimately to the Nag Hammadi library which still continues to fascinate me today. I was aware of the the Apocrypha and Psuedographia from my college days, but the Nag Hammadi library's gnostic gospels really struck a chord in me. These writings were a completely different interpretation of Christ and Christianity, and were suppressed by what was to become the Catholic Church. Having been a Protestant, I never really trusted the Catholic Church and their doctrine. So I began to learn about the formation of the early Church.

I began to see that all Christianity was myth and driven by fear. Like many ex-Christians, I had the fear of hell burned in me (so to speak) from an early age. And even today, I know there is no hell, but there is some minute lingering doubt. I guess it is the residue of being indoctrinated almost from the time that I began to form abstract thoughts.

I also began to see that there is a reason why Christian congregations are referred to as"the flock." Manny people are sheep, and live in a continual state of fear. I saw how Christians merely repeated what their religious leaders told them to believe never taking the time to analyze and really understand the implications of their beliefs.

So here I am, an atheist. For many years I wondered why God never answered my prayers. Now I know the truth: there is no God which has been confirmed by the the vast, deafening silence.

Sorry for the long-winded intro.  

[trexshinigami]

I guess it is the residue of being indoctrinated almost from the time that I began to form abstract thoughts.

I suffer from the same transient fears sometimes, so I am with you.  Welcome!

[Tank]

Hi tunghaichuan

Good intro. Good to see another mind find its way out from under the blanket of institutionalised superstition aka religion!

Welcome aboard

Regards
Chris

[McQ]

Welcome and thanks for the intro. Fascinating background and path to atheism. Hope you have lots to share with us from it.

[The Magic Pudding]

Welcome tunghaichuan.
I suppose your escape story could be used by fundamentalists to validate their allow no questions approach.

[wildfire_emissary]

I also began to see that there is a reason why Christian congregations are referred to as"the flock." Manny people are sheep, and live in a continual state of fear. I saw how Christians merely repeated what their religious leaders told them to believe never taking the time to analyze and really understand the implications of their beliefs.

Welcome, long lost sheep of atheism. Finally, left the flock. :bananacolor:

[Tank]

I also began to see that there is a reason why Christian congregations are referred to as"the flock." Manny people are sheep, and live in a continual state of fear. I saw how Christians merely repeated what their religious leaders told them to believe never taking the time to analyze and really understand the implications of their beliefs.

Welcome, long lost sheep of atheism. Finally, left the flock. :bananacolor:

The collective noun for sheep is a flock, and the follow a Shepard, many unthinkingly and out of habit, so I think it's a pretty apt term.

[The Magic Pudding]

I'm sure Jesus is reputed to have used a sheep metaphor at least once.
There is that thing about the sheppard neglecting the flock to find a missing one.
I seem to recall us being compared to fish as well.
If I were a fish, I would find fishermen scary.
If I was a sheep I would probably be the one trying to escape, sheppards are creepy.

[tunghaichuan]

I'm sure Jesus is reputed to have used a sheep metaphor at least once.
There is that thing about the sheppard neglecting the flock to find a missing one.
I seem to recall us being compared to fish as well.
If I were a fish, I would find fishermen scary.
If I was a sheep I would probably be the one trying to escape, sheppards are creepy.

Kinda puts a new spin on Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd..." doesn't it?