RE: My Youth Pastor's Pleading Letter to Me
July 18, 2014 at 11:18 am
(This post was last modified: July 18, 2014 at 11:20 am by StealthySkeptic.)
(July 18, 2014 at 6:15 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: Truth is, you can't.
You can attempt to give a witty, faith jostling retort, but I don't think that would have the impact you're seeking to have.
Rather, you can outline (briefly or not, it's up to you) why you decided to ditch your faith; the moments that grew to culminate in you making that leap. I don't see any need to be antagonistic about it, almost like he is in that letter. Rather, outline the above, and conclude that you (personally) don't need a god, or a religious belief, to be who you are. Your love and kindness doesn't require an un-evidenced big bearded man in the sky.
Can I give a billion kudos to this? Is that physically possible? Because this is EXACTLY what I would do if I was in OP's position.
I also think that Minimalist's signature, "Atheism. Not a religion. A personal relationship with reality" perfectly rebuts the usual "It's not a religion it's a relationship...with a 2000 year old Jewish zombie" tactic Christians trot out.
Luke: You don't believe in the Force, do you?
Han Solo: Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen *anything* to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. 'Cause no mystical energy field controls *my* destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
Han Solo: Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen *anything* to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. 'Cause no mystical energy field controls *my* destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
