(October 16, 2015 at 5:23 pm)AFTT47 Wrote: IMO, you take this way too seriously, Ian. There is no reason to believe that any human claims of God have any veracity whatsoever. Therefor: atheism. Really simple. No need to complicate it.
I think it's because he's fairly young (teens, correct?). Kids that age seem to approach just about everything as a cause they need to champion or rage against. It's kind of endearing because it's nice to see people be passionate about things, but at the same point I hope he realizes that it's not nearly as big a deal to the rest of us. It's kind of hard for a lack of belief in something to maintain that fervor.
My biggest concern is her mindset if she does deconvert. Not everyone feels a sense of clarity or relief. Some people feel sad and/or angry at having swallowed and acted on lies for their existence until that point, and still others feel a sense of depression and/or loss at saying goodbye to their old life and habits, actions, even friendships that stemmed from a religion they can no longer take a part in. Given her purported problems with depression and suicide, it's imperative that Ian doesn't go into gung-ho atheist champion mode because that may backfire. He needs to play it cool, be generally supportive, and give help/resources (NOT YouTube vids... a lot of them are caustic to newbies fresh out of the cocoon, and immature besides) when asked.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"