sometimes I wonder, why tell my story. Why I left the Church stories are so prolific that they sound boiler plate. Yet, we must never grow tired of hearing and telling what we've experienced. Rest assured, Christians will never tire of telling their lies.

One of the founding fathers of the US was supposed to have advised that we don't bother answering fools because the average man will eventually see through the foolishness and reject it. Sad to say, this has not proven to be sound advice. Christians may be fools, but they did not spread their lies so prolifically by being dummies. They know what they are doing and we must always be ready to answer them. We must always remember what it was that enlightened us.  Otherwise, we could get caught up in their continued pathos and quasi-logos. It's so easy to slip into doing what everyone else is doing. So hard to stand our ground when we stand alone.  Our stories will gird us up and keep us reminded of why we stand.

Meh. I feel a tenuous hold on my newly found atheism. My story is complex, and, I've learned from my own story that each deconversion is intensely unique. I'm not sure sharing deconversion stories is as influential as just pointing out the flaws in religious belief in general. Even if a person is ready to be moved, they likely will not be so moved by the particulars of your story as they are by the generalities..... maybe.

That's the first I've heard of a solid statement on your beliefs, Jor. Then again, I haven't been as active lately, so I might have missed something.

As Rhonda says, the other side will never stop so neither must we. They just won't freaking quit - even on lost-cause subjects like evolution vs. creationism which they lost 100 years ago.

We all know that indoctrination is a very emotional conditioning.
Only emotion can undo it!
Not cold hard scientific facts!

Aractus, Jor, any truth in this?

(May 21, 2015 at 9:35 am)Jörmungandr Wrote: Meh.  I feel a tenuous hold on my newly found atheism.

Whoa, I missed something obviously.

Funny, I always thought that Jor was an atheist, but then something recently made me think otherwise, in spite of myself. But now your profile does say atheist.

(May 21, 2015 at 9:07 am)Rhondazvous Wrote:

---

sometimes I wonder, why tell my story. Why I left the Church stories are so prolific that they sound boiler plate. Yet, we must never grow tired of hearing and telling what we've experienced. Rest assured, Christians will never tire of telling their lies.

One of the founding fathers of the US was supposed to have advised that we don't bother answering fools because the average man will eventually see through the foolishness and reject it. Sad to say, this has not proven to be sound advice. Christians may be fools, but they did not spread their lies so prolifically by being dummies. They know what they are doing and we must always be ready to answer them. We must always remember what it was that enlightened us.  Otherwise, we could get caught up in their continued pathos and quasi-logos. It's so easy to slip into doing what everyone else is doing. So hard to stand our ground when we stand alone.  

---

Our stories will gird us up and keep us reminded of why we stand.

What do we stand for again?

I'm all for sharing stories, but I think the best use is to encourage new atheists and give them hope that the world isn't going to fall apart now that they realized god isn't real. 

(May 21, 2015 at 9:07 am)Rhondazvous Wrote: sometimes I wonder, why tell my story. Why I left the Church stories are so prolific that they sound boiler plate. Yet, we must never grow tired of hearing and telling what we've experienced. Rest assured, Christians will never tire of telling their lies.

One of the founding fathers of the US was supposed to have advised that we don't bother answering fools because the average man will eventually see through the foolishness and reject it. Sad to say, this has not proven to be sound advice. Christians may be fools, but they did not spread their lies so prolifically by being dummies. They know what they are doing and we must always be ready to answer them. We must always remember what it was that enlightened us.  Otherwise, we could get caught up in their continued pathos and quasi-logos. It's so easy to slip into doing what everyone else is doing. So hard to stand our ground when we stand alone.  Our stories will gird us up and keep us reminded of why we stand.

I don't disagree with this statement.  But it will always be an uphill battle for an atheist.  They label us as "Evil" and all sorts of other nasty things, we just call them people.  (Delusional people, but still 'people').  It's hard to fight that kind of stigma.  A saying comes to mind:

"Never argue with idiots, they drag you down to their level than beat you with experience."

There may be no perfect set of parameters, and I'm starting to believe religion will likely be around forever, in some form or another.

(May 21, 2015 at 9:52 pm)Losty Wrote: ...

I'm all for sharing stories, but I think the best use is to encourage new atheists and give them hope that the world isn't going to fall apart now that they realized god isn't real. 

I agree.  It is useful for a new atheist to hear about how others went through deconversion.  It is, or can be, an unpleasant experience.  But having gone through it more than half my lifetime ago, I am very happy that I deconverted.  I am much happier now than I ever was as a Christian.  I have no worries that I am going to screw something up just before I die and then end up in hell for eternity.

I feel much more peaceful and calm than I did as a believer.

That, of course, is not why I am an atheist.  But it is a nice fringe benefit.