Acknowledging the bible as a man-made work is exactly what I needed to move forward as a skeptic. It's unfortunate that I had to read it under false intentions to get to this point. Unemployment and two losses really triggered some unresolved concerns of mortality. And my early exposure to church services obviously influenced me late in life despite multiple stages of doubt and agnosticism.
There's a lot more people out there going through the same thing. I think that's also concerning because the non-believers who met me during my job(s) weren't skilled or trained to properly set me straight. Thank Zeus for YouTube, I guess.
Ultimately, atheism or "apostasy" isn't punishable. In fact, the mention of punishment is a red flag. If there is a god who loves unconditionally as some followers claim, why must that god be feared? Because of hell? Because of the fear of dying? Or because I might be reborn in a new and less convenient life? Um well none of those count as rebuttals and last I checked reincarnation isn't remotely "Abrahamic."
The god I prayed to throughout my life wasn't identical to any of the characters in the good book(The grass feed). Jesus is an admirable character until I realize that Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are technically four varying accounts of him. I had a mild headache following the variations of Deadpool in the latest film. I must've had "blind headaches" trying to establish Jesus as some early version of Superman. What a waste of memory and neurons and time.
Any moment in my past in prayer was isolation, imagination and a result of gas lighting.
I hope real skeptics will strip their conservative Clark Kent disguises and guide students in theological campuses towards inquiry and curiosity. It's a better dream than heaven (what ever that is).
An eternity in hell doesn't scare me as much as my fear of the U.S. fulfilling Dave Cullen's prophecy.
There's a lot more people out there going through the same thing. I think that's also concerning because the non-believers who met me during my job(s) weren't skilled or trained to properly set me straight. Thank Zeus for YouTube, I guess.
Ultimately, atheism or "apostasy" isn't punishable. In fact, the mention of punishment is a red flag. If there is a god who loves unconditionally as some followers claim, why must that god be feared? Because of hell? Because of the fear of dying? Or because I might be reborn in a new and less convenient life? Um well none of those count as rebuttals and last I checked reincarnation isn't remotely "Abrahamic."
The god I prayed to throughout my life wasn't identical to any of the characters in the good book(The grass feed). Jesus is an admirable character until I realize that Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are technically four varying accounts of him. I had a mild headache following the variations of Deadpool in the latest film. I must've had "blind headaches" trying to establish Jesus as some early version of Superman. What a waste of memory and neurons and time.
Any moment in my past in prayer was isolation, imagination and a result of gas lighting.
I hope real skeptics will strip their conservative Clark Kent disguises and guide students in theological campuses towards inquiry and curiosity. It's a better dream than heaven (what ever that is).
An eternity in hell doesn't scare me as much as my fear of the U.S. fulfilling Dave Cullen's prophecy.
