(Via Nigel)
I was raised Christian. My parents started out as good Baptists, ‘heard’ from God to move from England to Australia, became Pentecostals, ‘heard’ again to move from Australia to Canada and left the organized church. I pretty much bought into all of it.
I wound up on an ‘End time farm’, involved in the ‘Move of god’. The end times were here and god was going to make us his chosen people.
So what happened to make me an Atheist?
As a young married couple my wife and I found ourselves rebelling against the authority of the eldership at the communal farm. We left but still attended meetings of the Move cult. As we lost interest in this we started attending more mainline churches. We more or less lost interest in those too.
I suppose I was a backslidden christian for the next 20 years or so. I didn’t hate god but quit praying. I more or less just didn’t care.
And then … Our younger son came out to us. He is gay. He told us how he went to church as a kid and prayed to god that he could be normal and not be attracted to other boys. (God didn’t help much there.) Anyway, one of the things he told us was: Either god created him as he is, god screwed up and he turned out gay or ‘I am what I am’ and there is no god. My original understanding was the first option but it started me thinking. He is what he is and there is no god.
Wow! It has been a journey since then and has taken a few years to really start to get my feelings together. I am using reasoning and reading as much as I can. I don’t believe. Prove me wrong and I will listen. Just don’t quote the bible.
Tags: homosexuality
August 8th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Nigel, I cannot speak about homosexuality, but what I can say is that, just like you, I never saw God or the bible meaninfully or in a way that brought resolution render any real assistance in the major challenges of my life or even in the lives of relatives. Any area where I have found answers and made any progress the answers never conformed with religious thinking. I am angry at the wasted years spent in applying the counsel of the bible which only resulted in failure. In order to resolve issues and make any progress I had to embrace rationalism.The biblical outlook only limits your options with its non-answers and reliance on a non-responsive God. Who would have to be dead , or callous, or a figment of human imagination.