Corgan Sow

Yeah, I mean SOME ex-Christians, not all.

Blame my grammar.

Stephen T-B

A puerile thread - but it's thrown up such good answers that perhaps Corgan Sow will have larned something from them.

Walter_Mitty

Corwin,

I think I may have misunderstood you and for that I apologize!

FYI: Corwin, I flirted with agnostism for quite some time...went through 2 bouts of backsliding...now here I am.

It now boils down to degrees of probability which is why I find weak atheism and parts of agnostism appealing.

-Bib

[ August 17, 2002: Message edited by: Bibliophile ]</p>

Walter_Mitty

Would you preach the evils of addiction if those same friends were addicted to drugs or alcohol? Or, would you hold your tongue because your friends were comfortable with it?

Or perhaps this is a better analogy: what if I had a friend who said that there was a little blue woodland imp that played poker with him nightly. Furthermore, no one could see this imp but my friend because the imp chose only to reveal itself to him. Now belief in this Imp gives my friend great comfort. Still, I would feel obligated to intelligently discuss the belief in this invisible Imp and tell my friend why I'm skeptical. Of course, I don't make it a habit to actively preach anti-Christian beliefs to my friends, but, when the topic comes up I certainly try to present my point.

On a somewhat related note: where do we draw the line? This topic seems to keep coming up over and over again and I'd be curious to hear what some of the "regulars" feel in regards to this dilemma?

Curious, a year ago I was closer to Corgan's view but now I've moved a bit on the continuum. I can't quite seem to ever be in vogue with these darn boards!


" We see that these tales have been written by fools, commented upon by simpletons, taught by knaves, and given to children to be learned by heart; yet the sage is called a blasphemer because he becomes indignant, and is irritated at the most abominable fooleries that ever disgraced human nature."

-Voltaire

cartman

My history goes something like this: Pentecostal
to Southern Baptist to Liberal to agnostic to deist to Liberal to agnostic to atheist to strong atheist to agnostic atheist to agnostic to...

I don't know how "regular" I am [drum roll] but in answer to Bibliophile, I find my position becoming more fluid and less dogmatic the older I get. While I think the God of the Fundamentalists and televangelists is largely absurd, I am open to concepts such as those of Marcus Borg and Paul Tillich (at least, what I can understand).

Then again, I could just have a problem with making decisions.

bonduca

For many of us this appears to have been a gradual process. After all, in a society that is largely centered around some sort of deism, this is a pretty big step to take, especially if one's peer group offers little or no support. Many begin by trying to find the "right religion" before deciding that there is no right religion and no god.

But not everyone operates this way. Some have lost their faith through a study of science. It is absurd to demand that they plow through numerous Christian and non-Christian faiths before accepting their right to make their own decision. We may as well demand that all theists study Buddhism, the Muslim faith, various Native American religious rituals, and obtain a degree in scientific studies before accepting that they wish to believe in a god.

[ August 17, 2002: Message edited by: bonduca ]</p>

ex-preacher

I might be one of those who went straight from Christianity to atheism. The journey did take me through a few months of mentally flirting with liberal Christianity, Deism, agnosticism.

I engaged in a deep study of my conservative Christianity. I looked at such issues as prayer, evolution, evil & suffering, hell, argument from confusion. When I finished, my study had not only destroyed conservative Christianity for me, but also the entire notion of a personal god. The only thing left standing was naturalism.

Sephiroth

My history was: Catholic-liberal Christian-atheist but I did read about some religions as an atheist. I don't see anything wrong with skipping the agnostic phase if the reasons mainly have to do with science like if you find no evidence or reason to believe a god is necessary in the Universe.

Kassiana

Uhm, there are many ex-Christians, even ex-fundy Christians, who don't go to the opposite extreme of atheism. I am a Pagan ex-fundy, I know a Hindu ex-fundy Catholic, and numerous other folks who've done time in Christianity who've ended up Buddhist, Pagan, agnostic, Unitarian, etc. Yes, I've met "anti-theist" atheists before...some of them on here, too. I've also met atheists who claim that only fundamentalism can be correct in any faith and deride theists who aren't for being wimpy, while spending the rest of their time trying to disprove what they once believed, fundamentalism. But believe it or not, there are atheists who are not interested in doing those things. There are theists who are no longer Christian. Or Hindu, for that matter.

Stereotypes, even somewhat accurate ones, cannot cover every human situation.