(May 22, 2020 at 3:56 am)JohnMBauer Wrote: in the process of "deconstructing" (a term which I trust is familiar to many of you).
I'm a big fan of deconstructing and re-evaluating the things that we hold to be true.
It seems like, for the purposes of honesty and accuracy, we ought to get some kind of periodic mental pop-up window that says: "You have held this idea to be true for 10 years now. Please deconstruct and re-evaluate before proceeding." It would keep us on our toes.
Quote:no longer just an academic matter. (This family member now self-identifies as an atheist.)
One important aspect of the deconstruction process will be difficult for people who don't know your family. I think a lot of people change their beliefs as a reaction to family issues, emotional changes, or other non-academic reasons. So just as someone might become Christian due to tragedy, without thinking clearly about it, another person might become an atheist as a way to individuate himself from his background. Once the emotional motivation is there, one might rummage around for more rational-sounding reasons.
And I think there's a danger of polarization in today's discourse, which generally discourages nuance. On this forum, for example, it often seems as if the only two choices are 1) sola scriptura literalist talking snakes or 2) total atheism. Since you are not a talking-snake type Christian, I look forward to hearing more about your take on things as we go along.
And you make a good first impression, because you come across as genuinely curious. A lot of people, on all sides of the debate, are just here to repeat their slogans.
So I hope you find some good discussions here. It's nice to have a new voice.
