Accepting change, still a doubting Thomas!
By Mike ~
Raised in a strong catholic sense, I always believed, even if I didn't 'see'. I used to pray for things, and many of them came to be true. Others simply were put into 'god's hands' into the mystical queue. I am a truly lucky man with more than I could ever ask, for I am the husband of a loving, beautiful devout Christian wife, and the father of a happy young boy.
So without further ado, I jumped onto my wife's evangelical, happy baptist, pentecostal, charismatic, band wagon sweeping western nations off their feet. Talking in tongues, faith healing (falling over included) and even anti-demonic chants; the list goes on! Keeping a blind eye on this, I attempted to get to the root of the problem, and study the Bible.
The struggle of Job, the rise and fall of the Kings, the doldrums, the missing years, manna, prophets, Jesus, a whacko traveling nutcase named Paul. In the end I needed some time alone to think it over. To summarise, a list of truths, versus some things that cannot be reconciled. The nays had it!
The wonder of earth and nature is still the same. The human body, and childbirth are jaw dropping. DNA in its complexities truly astounds me.
Yes, I still believe that we aren't here by chance, (the number of random particle collisions to create single cellular life are astounding (even in a C/N/O rich environment) and almost infinitely massive to say the least).
Whether a God, seen or unseen, created it is beyond the point. Do we need to bow and worship him? Probably not. If anything, sit back and enjoy what we have for the infinitesimally small, pee in the ocean that our lives are within history.
Parents: If the world is a better place for your kids once you leave it, in my opinion, you have earned your place amongst humanity.
I now know/believe that (begin rant):
Sound familiar to anyone?
There endeth the lesson in my departure from religious life. Any questions?
Do not attempt to correct my spelling (it is real English, not the butchered yokel from across the ditch :P ). In all seriousness, the biggest thing for me is to find some sort of method to dealing with the family split in theology.
Raised in a strong catholic sense, I always believed, even if I didn't 'see'. I used to pray for things, and many of them came to be true. Others simply were put into 'god's hands' into the mystical queue. I am a truly lucky man with more than I could ever ask, for I am the husband of a loving, beautiful devout Christian wife, and the father of a happy young boy.
So without further ado, I jumped onto my wife's evangelical, happy baptist, pentecostal, charismatic, band wagon sweeping western nations off their feet. Talking in tongues, faith healing (falling over included) and even anti-demonic chants; the list goes on! Keeping a blind eye on this, I attempted to get to the root of the problem, and study the Bible.
The struggle of Job, the rise and fall of the Kings, the doldrums, the missing years, manna, prophets, Jesus, a whacko traveling nutcase named Paul. In the end I needed some time alone to think it over. To summarise, a list of truths, versus some things that cannot be reconciled. The nays had it!
The wonder of earth and nature is still the same. The human body, and childbirth are jaw dropping. DNA in its complexities truly astounds me.
Yes, I still believe that we aren't here by chance, (the number of random particle collisions to create single cellular life are astounding (even in a C/N/O rich environment) and almost infinitely massive to say the least).
Whether a God, seen or unseen, created it is beyond the point. Do we need to bow and worship him? Probably not. If anything, sit back and enjoy what we have for the infinitesimally small, pee in the ocean that our lives are within history.
Parents: If the world is a better place for your kids once you leave it, in my opinion, you have earned your place amongst humanity.
I now know/believe that (begin rant):
- a. God/supreme commander-in-chief exists (Why? Because I do; not because I have to for heaven's sake, and I am definitely not here to preach to the reconverted :))\
- b. Jesus did exist, and did die (he was human after all), possibly at the hands of angry jews, or roman crucifixion. Then again so did Ramses II, and the bad guys in the Lethal Weapon films.
- c. the Bible is an imperfect interpretation (thus cannot be truly divine) and full of too many contradictions, impossible feats, and is cherry picked by believers to prove their points
- d. My wife is deluded, but not through her own doing. I still love her all the same.
- e. My son is condemned to parents that do not believe the same things, and will be confused until he really makes up his own mind (ages 16 to 21 on average).
- f. Suffering and pain are part of life, and not part of a quest for immortality.
- g. The ark was too small, and there would be evidence of such a catastrophic end of life if it were true...we would all look like bearded hobbits that could sail the seven seas.
- i. There are lessons to be learned from ALL faiths, but some true evils to be ignored. Religion simply seeks to ruin this by saying 'we are right'.
- j. End rant
Sound familiar to anyone?
There endeth the lesson in my departure from religious life. Any questions?
Do not attempt to correct my spelling (it is real English, not the butchered yokel from across the ditch :P ). In all seriousness, the biggest thing for me is to find some sort of method to dealing with the family split in theology.
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