Deconversion Stories
Moderator: Alyrium Denryle
I was never really Christian, though for a time I did believe in God. My stance on the whole thing was mostly Deist/Pagan. When I was little, I believed in magic. I believed it came from nature, and that nature came from God. I told my mother, who is rather moderate Christian, and she told me that I could not believe in magic. My belief in God kind of fell apart right then. I am now a good Athiest/Discordian.
A funny thing that I can remember from a long damn time ago: When I was about 5 or so, I got this little astronomy book. It had a section in it about the origin of the solar system. I was looking at the part detailing the formation of the planets, and my mom told me that wasn't the way it happened, God just willed them into existance. I could tell it was bullshit, though I didn't say anything.
A funny thing that I can remember from a long damn time ago: When I was about 5 or so, I got this little astronomy book. It had a section in it about the origin of the solar system. I was looking at the part detailing the formation of the planets, and my mom told me that wasn't the way it happened, God just willed them into existance. I could tell it was bullshit, though I didn't say anything.
「かかっ―」
- Peregrin Toker
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 8609
- Joined: 2002-07-04 10:57am
- Location: Denmark
- Contact:
I'm an atheist, but I was originally Christian as a very young child, then gave up my religion for some reason. (I can't remember exactly why)
Then, after being atheist, I became an agnostic due to "What If...."-logic, and after considering the probability of the existence of such thing as a God or Goddess, I'm now an atheist and I don't regret it.
I'll try to dscribe my de-conversion story later. I can't remember exactly how it happened.
Then, after being atheist, I became an agnostic due to "What If...."-logic, and after considering the probability of the existence of such thing as a God or Goddess, I'm now an atheist and I don't regret it.
I'll try to dscribe my de-conversion story later. I can't remember exactly how it happened.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
I can't remember having ever really believe in a god. When I was really young I did not believe or disbelieve, just didn't think about it and did not really care. Then I started consciously disbelieving and have been an athiest for most of my life. The only time I wasn't was when I was a sort of by-default agnostic.
I almost wish I could have faith in a higher power and that everything will be alright, but I don't.
I almost wish I could have faith in a higher power and that everything will be alright, but I don't.
- jaeger115
- Rabid Monkey
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: 2002-12-29 04:39pm
- Location: In the dark corridor, behind you
Same for me.I can't remember having ever really believe in a god. When I was really young I did not believe or disbelieve, just didn't think about it and did not really care. Then I started consciously disbelieving and have been an athiest for most of my life. The only time I wasn't was when I was a sort of by-default agnostic.
Concession accepted - COMMENCE PRIMARY IGNITION
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
-
- Fucking Awesome
- Posts: 13834
- Joined: 2002-07-04 03:21pm
Get away from me, you godless heathen.Once you have been turned to the Dark Side, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.
The End of Suburbia
"If more cars are inevitable, must there not be roads for them to run on?"
-Robert Moses
"The Wire" is the best show in the history of television. Watch it today.
"If more cars are inevitable, must there not be roads for them to run on?"
-Robert Moses
"The Wire" is the best show in the history of television. Watch it today.
-
- Warlock
- Posts: 10285
- Joined: 2002-07-05 02:28am
- Location: Boston
- Contact:
cyril! ready the torches!
This day is Fantastic!
Myers Briggs: ENTJ
Political Compass: -3/-6
DOOMer WoW
"I really hate it when the guy you were pegging as Mr. Worst Case starts saying, "Oh, I was wrong, it's going to be much worse." " - Adrian Laguna
- Darth Wong
- Sith Lord
- Posts: 70028
- Joined: 2002-07-03 12:25am
- Location: Toronto, Canada
- Contact:
Atheist. She briefly cast around for some other religion to follow (religion shopping, as it were), but she eventually decided that upon inspection, all religions are goofy.Tosho wrote:What is she now deist, agnostic, atheist, ect.?Darth Wong wrote:Rebecca was a Christian; not sure about "fundie", but she felt her faith was very important when I first met her.
Obviously, that's gone by the wayside now. But when it's your wife, you don't DEBATE with her; arguments with one's spouse can garner, at best, a pyrrhic victory. So I just encouraged her to study the history of religion and the Bible and to think for herself.
Many years later, she knew too much about the history of the Bible to take it seriously any more, and she abandoned it. Game, set, and match
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
- Darth Wong
- Sith Lord
- Posts: 70028
- Joined: 2002-07-03 12:25am
- Location: Toronto, Canada
- Contact:
No, according to Rebecca's studies of Buddhism, it does not encourage any of the three things I mentioned, and I've certainly never seen any Buddhists do these three things.Morning Star wrote:So my being a Zen Buddhist...would you find that oppressive?I don't mind religion as long as it:
A) does not shove its nose in other peoples' business
B) does not show up on my fucking doorstep trying to convert me
C) does not elevate its beliefs to the point that things which would be immoral without their beliefs become moral with it (eg- Biblical-era genocide). That mentality is dangerous beyond words.
Mind you, the same can be fairly be said of many Christians, but not the Bible, which is the problem.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
- Darth Yoshi
- Metroid
- Posts: 7342
- Joined: 2002-07-04 10:00pm
- Location: Seattle
- Contact:
As long as you don't prosletyze(sp?), I don't think anyone will mind.Morning Star wrote:So my being a Zen Buddhist...would you find that oppressive?
Fragment of the Lord of Nightmares, release thy heavenly retribution. Blade of cold, black nothingness: become my power, become my body. Together, let us walk the path of destruction and smash even the souls of the Gods! RAGNA BLADE!
Lore Monkey | the Pichu-master™
Secularism—since AD 80
Av: Elika; Prince of Persia
Lore Monkey | the Pichu-master™
Secularism—since AD 80
Av: Elika; Prince of Persia
- ArmorPierce
- Rabid Monkey
- Posts: 5904
- Joined: 2002-07-04 09:54pm
- Location: Born and raised in Brooklyn, unfornately presently in Jersey
I often lie to people and say I'm agnostic because I just don't want to start an argument over it because arguments mostly revolve around them telling them how evolution and them saying something stupid like "We didn't come from Gorillas!" They don't usually aknowledge my argument and just continuing saying how evolution is stupid.
Brotherhood of the Monkey @( !.! )@
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. ~Steve Prefontaine
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. ~Steve Prefontaine
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
-
- Jedi Knight
- Posts: 593
- Joined: 2002-07-09 08:46pm
Yeah, I'm stuck in the Bible Belt too.Captain Lennox wrote:yeah, I gotta agree. I'm stuck n Fundie Land and I'm the only aheist I think for many, many miles. And nly you all and other select few online know.Wicked Pilot wrote:Just want to point out, you're in Toronto, I'm in the very bottom of the Bible Belt, somewhere near the Bible Crotch Hem. Ah well, on May 24th, I graduate, and on June 22nd, I go active. Hopefully the Air Force will sent be somewhere cool, like Canada.Darth Wong wrote:Good point; few of us wear it on our sleeves in public (well, I do, but that's just me).
I would really love to move up north but don't have the funds.
Sou desu ka.Darth Wong wrote:Atheist. She briefly cast around for some other religion to follow (religion shopping, as it were), but she eventually decided that upon inspection, all religions are goofy.Tosho wrote:What is she now deist, agnostic, atheist, ect.?Darth Wong wrote:Rebecca was a Christian; not sure about "fundie", but she felt her faith was very important when I first met her.
Obviously, that's gone by the wayside now. But when it's your wife, you don't DEBATE with her; arguments with one's spouse can garner, at best, a pyrrhic victory. So I just encouraged her to study the history of religion and the Bible and to think for herself.
Many years later, she knew too much about the history of the Bible to take it seriously any more, and she abandoned it. Game, set, and match
Sun Sep 07, 2003 3:45 pm 666th post.
- jaeger115
- Rabid Monkey
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: 2002-12-29 04:39pm
- Location: In the dark corridor, behind you
You must live down south. I live in Washington State. When people ask me about my faith, I proudly tell them that I'm atheist and if they start screaming that I will go to hell, then I promptly tell them to look in the fucking bible and stop mirroring falwell's opinion.I often lie to people and say I'm agnostic because I just don't want to start an argument over it because arguments mostly revolve around them telling them how evolution and them saying something stupid like "We didn't come from Gorillas!" They don't usually aknowledge my argument and just continuing saying how evolution is stupid.
Concession accepted - COMMENCE PRIMARY IGNITION
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
- Darth Wong
- Sith Lord
- Posts: 70028
- Joined: 2002-07-03 12:25am
- Location: Toronto, Canada
- Contact:
My favourite response to the "you will go to Hell" argument is that the kind of person who believes in a place of eternal torture is the kind of person who deserves it.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
-
- What Kind of Username is That?
- Posts: 9254
- Joined: 2002-07-10 08:53pm
- Location: Back in PA
A couple of years back, I did consider myself to be religous. However, I read a lot of science books and went to some museums, so I accepted the Big Bang, and an old earth, but for some reason, I thought that other animals evolved without help, but humans required divine assistance. I was never a slave to Biblical doctrine, and if I found something I found atrocious (And I did, after reading the Bible), I wouldn't accept it. Recently, I realized how belief in God is irrational, and am now a Deist.
BotM: Just another monkey|HAB
- russellb6666
- Rabid Monkey
- Posts: 333
- Joined: 2002-07-26 04:36pm
- Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
- Contact:
I really wasn't "deconverted" neither of my parents went to church i didn't and when my friends tried to talk to me about the bible or god I just either ignored them or debated it and won thusly i am an atheist and I have no friends but do I look like a give a bloody crap didn't think so
I've gone to find myself. If I get back before I return, please keep me here
unleash the power of mediocrity
It's not that i'm a wimp it's just that i have trouble eatting food that looks the same coming out as it did going in
I want you to hit me as hard as you can
Brotherhood of the Monkey
unleash the power of mediocrity
It's not that i'm a wimp it's just that i have trouble eatting food that looks the same coming out as it did going in
I want you to hit me as hard as you can
Brotherhood of the Monkey
If beleif in a deity is irrational why are you a deist?Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:A couple of years back, I did consider myself to be religous. However, I read a lot of science books and went to some museums, so I accepted the Big Bang, and an old earth, but for some reason, I thought that other animals evolved without help, but humans required divine assistance. I was never a slave to Biblical doctrine, and if I found something I found atrocious (And I did, after reading the Bible), I wouldn't accept it. Recently, I realized how belief in God is irrational, and am now a Deist.
Sun Sep 07, 2003 3:45 pm 666th post.
- jaeger115
- Rabid Monkey
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: 2002-12-29 04:39pm
- Location: In the dark corridor, behind you
The good thing is, soon after I quit christianity, I took two of my best friends with me. They were both under that fanatic's spell (the girl I argued with in the back of a GMC) and they are both deists now. I seem to be spreading the word
Concession accepted - COMMENCE PRIMARY IGNITION
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
-
- What Kind of Username is That?
- Posts: 9254
- Joined: 2002-07-10 08:53pm
- Location: Back in PA
Because it's not as irrational as belief in a being that will send you to suffer for eternity for not worshipping him.Tosho wrote:If beleif in a deity is irrational why are you a deist?Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:A couple of years back, I did consider myself to be religous. However, I read a lot of science books and went to some museums, so I accepted the Big Bang, and an old earth, but for some reason, I thought that other animals evolved without help, but humans required divine assistance. I was never a slave to Biblical doctrine, and if I found something I found atrocious (And I did, after reading the Bible), I wouldn't accept it. Recently, I realized how belief in God is irrational, and am now a Deist.
BotM: Just another monkey|HAB
- jaeger115
- Rabid Monkey
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: 2002-12-29 04:39pm
- Location: In the dark corridor, behind you
Still more irrational than not believing at all....Because it's not as irrational as belief in a being that will send you to suffer for eternity for not worshipping him.
Concession accepted - COMMENCE PRIMARY IGNITION
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
Elite Warrior Monk of SD.net
BotM. Demolition Monkey
"I don't believe in God, any more than I believe in Mother Goose." - Clarence Darrow
HAB Special-Ops and Counter-Intelligence Agent
Hmm... I was born into a non-religious family; parents sent me to a Christian pre-school because it had a good education program. Believed in God for awhile (Ex, prayed for a SNES ). Was always fairly moderate. I kinda just lost my status of Christian during elementary school, because I had yet to see evidence of God, and to me, the whole concept seemed kinda silly.
BoTM, MM, HAB, JL
- Durandal
- Bile-Driven Hate Machine
- Posts: 17927
- Joined: 2002-07-03 06:26pm
- Location: Silicon Valley, CA
- Contact:
People tend to think that all religions are equally irrational. Untrue. Christianity is more irrational than any other religion because its hearsay actually contradicts itself.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
- Darth Wong
- Sith Lord
- Posts: 70028
- Joined: 2002-07-03 12:25am
- Location: Toronto, Canada
- Contact:
So true. My personal religion of female ass-worship is completely rational.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
- Morning Star
- Padawan Learner
- Posts: 256
- Joined: 2002-12-21 09:34pm
- Location: Utilising drugs to pay for secret wars around the world.