Not the story I thought I'd be telling

By Tania ~

Today, I was told that I am stubborn. I'm not sure if anyone has ever called me that – anyone, that is, besides perhaps my parents. I was with my fiance at church today. He knows what I think about God, Jesus, the blood and the body, prayer, faith, and so on, and we've agreed to disagree.

When the communion plates came around, I did not take the bread or the cup, and he jokingly whispered something about how I shouldn't be so stubborn. It's just easier not to partake. I know what the blood and the cup symbolize. I know what they meant to me at the times in my life when I did partake. I know the thoughts I used to have around the concept of communion. That is not me anymore. It has lost its meaning to me. The combination of books I've read, the conversations I've had, my own “journey of faith” and the “losing” of that faith, new friends and acquaintances – friendly, kind, intelligent, entertaining, ethical people, albeit “non-believers,” non-religious, agnostic, and otherwise – have led me from being the Christian I was not too long ago.

As I've said before, this is not the story I thought I'd be telling. Life often works that way, doesn't it? We often would not have chosen the path we're on, but for one reason or another, we find ourselves on it...and when there's no getting off of it or turning around, we do the best with what we've got and move onwards and upwards. Or something like that.

Christmas rolled around again, and it's never really been my favourite time of year. Last year (2011) was my first Christmas as someone who had de-converted from the faith. It's hard. It's hard when songs, symbols, stories lose their meaning. When you can't help but read between the lines. When cynicism and scepticism keep popping up. When you're reminded of yet another line from a fellow “non-believer” or an atheist writer or a psychologist or a scientist – and those “magical” parts of the season just don't seem so magical anymore.

So, back to the topic of being stubborn....I probably won't partake in communion anymore, because it would seem to me like I'm just acting a part. I probably won't sing along with a lot of verses of hymns and Christmas carols, because they don't make sense to me anymore. I will probably be the person who, when asked, “Would you like me to say grace or would you like to say grace?” will always answer, “Oh, you go ahead.” I will probably be the person who, when invited to church, will still say “yes” and will still go, but certainly not with the same frame of mind I had years ago.

And I'm probably going to be the parent who teaches her child about Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, Jesus Christ...and, above all, love, compassion, generosity, honesty, peace.

Dozens of voices tell me to go back to Christianity, God, the manger and the cross. A quiet voice inside of me says, “I just can't anymore.” I know this voice isn't the voice of the evil one. I know it's okay to listen to this voice.

Comments

So Just How Dumb Were Jesus’ Disciples? The Resurrection, Part VII.

By Robert Conner ~ T he first mention of Jesus’ resurrection comes from a letter written by Paul of Tarsus. Paul appears to have had no interest whatsoever in the “historical” Jesus: “even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, we know him so no longer.” ( 2 Corinthians 5:16 ) Paul’s surviving letters never once mention any of Jesus’ many exorcisms and healings, the raising of Lazarus, or Jesus’ virgin birth, and barely allude to Jesus’ teaching. For Paul, Jesus only gets interesting after he’s dead, but even here Paul’s attention to detail is sketchy at best. For instance, Paul says Jesus “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” ( 1 Corinthians 15:4 ), but there are no scriptures that foretell the Jewish Messiah would at long last appear only to die at the hands of Gentiles, much less that the Messiah would then be raised from the dead after three days. After his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus—an event Paul never mentions in his lette

Are You an Atheist Success Story?

By Avangelism Project ~ F acts don’t spread. Stories do. It’s how (good) marketing works, it’s how elections (unfortunately) are won and lost, and it’s how (all) religion spreads. Proselytization isn’t accomplished with better arguments. It’s accomplished with better stories and it’s time we atheists catch up. It’s not like atheists don’t love a good story. Head over to the atheist reddit and take a look if you don’t believe me. We’re all over stories painting religion in a bad light. Nothing wrong with that, but we ignore the value of a story or a testimonial when we’re dealing with Christians. We can’t be so proud to argue the semantics of whether atheism is a belief or deconversion is actually proselytization. When we become more interested in defining our terms than in affecting people, we’ve relegated ourselves to irrelevance preferring to be smug in our minority, but semantically correct, nonbelief. Results Determine Reality The thing is when we opt to bury our

ACTS OF GOD

By David Andrew Dugle ~ S ettle down now children, here's the story from the Book of David called The Parable of the Bent Cross. In the land Southeast of Eden – Eden, Minnesota that is – between two rivers called the Big Miami and the Little Miami, in the name of Saint Gertrude there was once built a church. Here next to it was also built a fine parochial school. The congregation thrived and after a multitude of years, a new, bigger church was erected, well made with clean straight lines and a high steeple topped with a tall, thin cross of gold. The faithful felt proud, but now very low was their money. Their Sunday offerings and school fees did not suffice. Anon, they decided to raise money in an unclean way. One fine summer day the faithful erected tents in the chariot lot between the two buildings. In the tents they set up all manner of games – ring toss, bingo, little mechanical racing horses and roulette wheels – then all who lived in the land between the two rivers we

Christian TV presenter reads out Star Wars plot as story of salvation

An email prankster tricked the host of a Christian TV show into reading out the plots of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Star Wars in the belief they were stories of personal salvation. The unsuspecting host read out most of the opening rap to The Fresh Prince, a 1990s US sitcom starring Will Smith , apparently unaware that it was not a genuine testimony of faith. The prankster had slightly adapted the lyrics but the references to a misspent youth playing basketball in West Philadelphia would have been instantly familiar to most viewers. The lines read out by the DJ included: "One day a couple of guys who were up to no good starting making trouble in my living area. I ended up getting into a fight, which terrified my mother." The presenter on Genesis TV , a British Christian channel, eventually realised that he was being pranked and cut the story short – only to move on to another spoof email based on the plot of the Star Wars films. It began: &quo

On Living Virtuously

By Webmdave ~ A s a Christian, living virtuously meant living in a manner that pleased God. Pleasing god (or living virtuously) was explained as: Praying for forgiveness for sins Accepting Christ as Savior Frequently reading the Bible Memorizing Bible verses Being baptized (subject to church rules) Attending church services Partaking of the Lord’s Supper Tithing Resisting temptations to lie, steal, smoke, drink, party, have lustful thoughts, have sex (outside of marriage) masturbate, etc. Boldly sharing the Gospel of Salvation with unbelievers The list of virtuous values and expectations grew over time. Once the initial foundational values were safely under the belt, “more virtues'' were introduced. Newer introductions included (among others) harsh condemnation of “worldly” music, homosexuality and abortion Eventually the list of values grew ponderous, and these ideals were not just personal for us Christians. These virtues were used to condemn and disrespect fro

I can fix ignorance; I can't fix stupid!

By Bob O ~ I 'm an atheist and a 52-year veteran of public education. I need not tell anyone the problems associated with having to "duck" the "Which church do you belong to?" with my students and their parents. Once told by a parent that they would rather have a queer for their sons' teacher than an atheist! Spent HOURS going to the restroom right when prayers were performed: before assemblies, sports banquets, "Christmas Programs", awards assemblies, etc... Told everyone that I had a bladder problem. And "yes" it was a copout to many of you, but the old adage (yes, it's religious) accept what you can't change, change that which you can and accept the strength to know the difference! No need arguing that which you will never change. Enough of that. What I'd like to impart is my simple family chemistry. My wife is a Baptist - raised in a Baptist Orphanage (whole stories there) and is a believer. She did not know my religi

Search This Blog