- Aug 11, 2009
- 1,087
- 23
- Faith
- Atheist
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Libertarian
Hello everyone, 
I'm an ex-Christian. I was raised in the church (Congregational, Independent Bible, Southern Baptist) and, for a while, was very active. I sang in the choir, played in the band, taught Sunday school classes, went through the Experiencing God course twice, read the Bible all the way through twice...you name it, I did it. I was deep into my faith during my High School years when it was uncool to be a geeky Jesus Freak.
Only after I left the influence of my parents' house did I realize that, with all of the studying and all of the effort to get in touch with God, not once in my life have I ever experienced Him in any capacity. The more I thought about it and the more I studied and spoke to peers, the more I realized that faith was doing nothing for me.
For a long time I considered myself agnostic, simply because I was scared of what my family would think of me if I just let go. There was also a small part of me that wanted to hang on to the hope that at least some of it was true. After 12 years of being a closeted atheist, I'm finally comfortable with my world view and outlook on life.
However (and not to spur any conversation in this welcome thread), having gone through such a long struggle with Christianity, I really have an interest in what keeps faith alive. I want to know what makes Christianity more of a viable religion than others, why the Bible is more authoritative than other holy texts, and why God is the only deity out of 2,500 known deities. These are the things about which I'd like to talk to knowledgeable people on this forum.
Thanks.
I'm an ex-Christian. I was raised in the church (Congregational, Independent Bible, Southern Baptist) and, for a while, was very active. I sang in the choir, played in the band, taught Sunday school classes, went through the Experiencing God course twice, read the Bible all the way through twice...you name it, I did it. I was deep into my faith during my High School years when it was uncool to be a geeky Jesus Freak.
Only after I left the influence of my parents' house did I realize that, with all of the studying and all of the effort to get in touch with God, not once in my life have I ever experienced Him in any capacity. The more I thought about it and the more I studied and spoke to peers, the more I realized that faith was doing nothing for me.
For a long time I considered myself agnostic, simply because I was scared of what my family would think of me if I just let go. There was also a small part of me that wanted to hang on to the hope that at least some of it was true. After 12 years of being a closeted atheist, I'm finally comfortable with my world view and outlook on life.
However (and not to spur any conversation in this welcome thread), having gone through such a long struggle with Christianity, I really have an interest in what keeps faith alive. I want to know what makes Christianity more of a viable religion than others, why the Bible is more authoritative than other holy texts, and why God is the only deity out of 2,500 known deities. These are the things about which I'd like to talk to knowledgeable people on this forum.
Thanks.
Welcome to CF.
