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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 21, 2019 at 8:08 pm
Like other posters have mentioned, I had access to children's Bible picture books. I thought they were mad cool - stories about Samson, Noah, David's armies.
But again, they struck me as stories, not as something to be taken as true, and certainly not as moral lessons. I also recall having oversized picture books about Greeks myths and legends, as well as Norse and Irish mythology. I didn't view any of these books as different from the others (except, like most Ulster boys my age, I wanted to be Cuchulain when I grew up).
I didn't read the adult Bible until my late teens. Thought it rather tedious and dull.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 21, 2019 at 10:04 pm
Yeah, it needed more cattle raids, for sure.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 21, 2019 at 10:42 pm
(November 21, 2019 at 8:00 pm)Grandizer Wrote: When I was a kid (around 12) I read the whole KJV Bible cover to cover. Actually I had stolen it from my aunt, lol. I was rather disturbed by the cruelty displayed by God in the Bible and remember feeling betrayed at the time. I was taught that God was love and yet here I was reading accounts of God ordering the execution of children. Reading Achan's story in Joshua was really traumatizing as a kid.
Did thinking that God was cruel become a catalyst for no longer believing in him? Or did your perspective on him change while you continued to believe?
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 21, 2019 at 11:01 pm
(This post was last modified: November 21, 2019 at 11:03 pm by GrandizerII.)
(November 21, 2019 at 10:42 pm)John 6IX Breezy Wrote: (November 21, 2019 at 8:00 pm)Grandizer Wrote: When I was a kid (around 12) I read the whole KJV Bible cover to cover. Actually I had stolen it from my aunt, lol. I was rather disturbed by the cruelty displayed by God in the Bible and remember feeling betrayed at the time. I was taught that God was love and yet here I was reading accounts of God ordering the execution of children. Reading Achan's story in Joshua was really traumatizing as a kid.
Did thinking that God was cruel become a catalyst for no longer believing in him? Or did your perspective on him change while you continued to believe?
Not immediately, no. In terms of what I believed, I remained a mild Christian around that time, then became a deist throughout most of my teenage years, then joined an Evangelical group in my early twenties, then left the faith and became a deist again in my late twenties, then two to three years later became the atheist that I am now.
As for your second question, my perspective probably didn't change that much about him. Thanks to how I coped with the cognitive dissonance.
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 21, 2019 at 11:39 pm
(This post was last modified: November 21, 2019 at 11:39 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Do you think it might have been the case that you stopped believing in a god, but continued to believe in the idea of a god?
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 21, 2019 at 11:58 pm
(November 21, 2019 at 11:39 pm)Gae Bolga Wrote: Do you think it might have been the case that you stopped believing in a god, but continued to believe in the idea of a god?
Maybe explain the difference?
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 22, 2019 at 12:22 am
(This post was last modified: November 22, 2019 at 12:27 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Like the difference between not believing in america, but believing in the idea of america. A strong attachment to a valued idea, regardless of it's perceived credibility, likelihood, or validity.
For me, as another example, I believe in the idea of a sustainable future, even though I don't believe in a sustainable future. I hold that one little corner aside. Maybe, could be, we never know the circumstances, some new discovery or invention, I really wish it would be, etc etc etc.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 22, 2019 at 12:26 am
(This post was last modified: November 22, 2019 at 12:28 am by GrandizerII.)
(November 22, 2019 at 12:22 am)Gae Bolga Wrote: Like the difference between not believing in america, but believing in the idea of america. A strong attachment to a valued idea, regardless of it's perceived credibility, likelihood, or validity.
For me, as another example, I believe in the idea of a sustainable future, even though I don't believe in a sustainable future. I hold that one little corner aside. Maybe, could be, we never know the circumstances, I really wish it would be, etc etc etc.
My answer then is no.
Unless you're referring to the post-Christian deism stage. In which case, [probably] yes.
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 22, 2019 at 12:30 am
(This post was last modified: November 22, 2019 at 12:31 am by The Grand Nudger.)
In the transition from that deist phase, to evangelical..of all things, did you have some epiphany or experience, and then how did you became a deist again...?
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Age of Deconversion
November 22, 2019 at 2:09 am
(November 22, 2019 at 12:30 am)Gae Bolga Wrote: In the transition from that deist phase, to evangelical..of all things, did you have some epiphany or experience, and then how did you became a deist again...?
What got me into Evangelicalism was the epiphany that I had fallen short of God's glory in light of the Ten Commandments and that nevertheless Jesus paid the price for me on the cross. I just had to submit my life for him and I will be saved. Of course, at the core it was me being unprepared emotionally for this type of manipulation.
What got me back into deism was things generally didn't match up the way I personally expected from Christianity in accordance with what I read and was taught. The realization that I didn't believe anymore was sudden but the process of getting there was gradual and very likely subconscious.
I still thought the idea of a Creator made sense which is why I returned to deism for a while after that.
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