Back to Theism

[Eilonnwy]

I can't do it. I've tried. I've tried to be an atheist, but it doesn't work. I'm not a Christian, and I'm not an atheist. I believe in God as our Father (even if that is a dualistic metaphor I have to cling to in order to understand God) and I believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

I'm going to echo what other people have mentioned in that I have a problem with your stated of "I've tried". You don't try to be an atheist, it's just what you are. I'm speaking mainly for myself here but I've heard other atheists say the same thing, you don't wake up and decide "I'm not going to believe in God anymore! He's a jerk!" Or something like that. If you are in a religion and then become an atheist, it's a process. I was in a time in my life when confirmation was around the corner and I ahd to elarn about my faith. It was then that I investigated what was being taught and came to the conclusion that I didn't buy it. The more I looked into it the less it made sense until about 2 years later I had gotten to the point where I realized I was an atheist. I wasn't like "Ooh, this atheism looks neat, I think I'll try it." Atheism is simply lacking the belief and after years of learning I actually thinking about what I believe I came to the conclusion of atheism.

I hate to use a "no true Scottsman" fallacy but I think in this case it really does apply. If all you were doing was "trying" then you weren't an atheist. You can just try to stop believing in a god, you need to simply just not be convinced of the evidence for a god. You're promoting one of the common misconceptions of atheism if you say you tried.

I am not a Christian, however, because Christians aren't what they say they are. They are, in fact, Judeo-Christians. That means, the religion they practice is a combination of Judaism and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

If you believe in Jesus Christ you're a Christian, end of story. Honestly you can call yourself whatever you want, but words are how we define them, this is how we communicate. And simply put the definition of Christian is to believe in Christ and you have quite plainly said you do. You can't claim the definition and then deny the word, it's just silly.