Dan Everett’s incredible story — as a Christian missionary, he lived among an Amazon tribe and tried to convert them, but was instead converted to their atheistic worldview.
The Pirahas have shown me that there’s dignity and deep satisfaction in facing life and death without the comfort of heaven or the fear of hell, and in sailing toward the great abyss with a smile. And they showed me that, for many years, I held my beliefs without warrant.
(via)
This was a survey done by a Christian research group. Its always possible they are trying to portray some sort of crisis, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
“According to the Christian research group, the most common reasons for leaving Christianity included life experiences, such as gaining new knowledge or education; feeling disillusioned with church and religion; feeling the church is hypocritical; having negative experiences in churches; being in disagreement with Christianity about specific issues such as homosexuality, abortion or birth control; feeling the church is too authoritarian; wanting to express their faith outside of church; and searching for a new faith or wanting to experience other religions.”
I think that sums it up pretty well actually.
“A Christian and an Atheist” podcast episode 82:
In this podcast, Rick (atheist, former pastor, and a contributor to this tumblr) speaks with pastor Scott Barger about his own deconversion, the Bible, evolution, and creationism.
It’s an excellent conversation, and well worth listening to. Go here for a direct link to the MP3 for this episode, and here for the podcast’s archives.
From RichardDawkins.net:
“Nate is the estranged son of “God Hates Fags” Pastor Fred Phelps, and he is now returning to his hometown, which he hasn’t been to in many years. Nate will tell his story of growing up in the family that founded the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, which he left at midnight on his 18th birthday.
The Richard Dawkins Foundation will be filming the event as part of an upcoming documentary about Nate’s story of religious abuse, how he survived, and his mission to fix the laws that protect the perpetrators.
The event is FREE TO THE PUBLIC, so we encourage everyone in the area to attend if possible. This is also the first time one of the Phelps children has spoken out publicly against the church in their hometown.”
Here’s an excellent interview with non-religious Bible scholar Bart Ehrman. (It’s just an audio interview, btw … I couldn’t get the embedded player to work unless I set it up as a video post.)
He discusses the historical Jesus, contradictions between the gospels of the New Testament, and his own progression from being an evangelical Christian to becoming a non-believer. NPR’s website has a brief overview of the interview, which also includes an excerpt from Dr. Ehrman’s book, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible.
You can find a complete transcript of the interview here.
My favorite quote: “When I was still a Christian … I thought that if I became an agnostic I would have no grounds for ethical behavior. I’d have no moral compass…. But as it turns out, that’s completely wrong. I think I actually have more of a sense of the meaning of life now than I ever had as a believer. There are lots of reasons to behave ethically. I think many of us are simply hardwired to want to love our neighbor as ourselves and to try and do unto others as we’d want them to do unto us.”
-Shane
Chances are, no matter who you are or where you’re from, you’re familiar with the act of saying a prayer. You’ve seen others do it. You’ve been present at group prayers. Maybe other people have said prayers for you. You’ve probably said a few yourself.
I know I have. I still remember when I was a little kid, I used to be afraid that aliens would abduct me in my sleep. There was a period of time when every night as I lie in bed, I would pray that God would protect me from aliens, enforcing an invisible perimeter around (and above) my house.
Even after I woke up to the falsity of religion, I still continued to think that there was some redeeming value to prayer. Now, I’m not so sure.
I wish I would have seen this before going to California last week where I had the opportunity to talk about religion with so many of my Catholic family and friends. It is a very articulate letter. I couldn’t say it any better…maybe some of you could use this letter to help with how to “come out” to friends and family.
Michele
http://wonderfulpages.com/doodad/2009/11/an-open-letter-to-our-friends/
