By Ian L ~
Hello everyone, it's been a long time.
I submitted a testimony nearly five years ago on June 2, 2008. I had just recently left Christianity behind, and was concerned about how to tell my wife and family the good (from my perspective, at least) news. Happily, it wasn't long before my wife deconverted as well. Since then, she's been a constant ally in my life as far as my views are concerned. It's great to have a partner that you can fully share your ideas with without fear of offending them. I consider myself very lucky.
When I submitted that testimony, I had only just begun to have a taste of what awaited me. Behind the shroud of belief, reality is so small, so limited. Possibilities are few, and cognitive inhibitions are many. But once one is freed from those shackles, the universe gets so much bigger! All-encompassing religious 'explanations' recede and wonderful mystery flows in to take their place. What was once superfluous detail in the shadow of an all-important god suddenly becomes infused with the numinous poetry and significance that only unfolding scientific knowledge and understanding can bring to things: ancient stars, a history of terrestrial life hidden in my DNA, the sub-Planck fabric of space and time...
Even better, I discovered that we're all artists who are working together to create a human world. We don't inherit our natures, morals, language, and beliefs from supernatural beings. We labor--passively as well as actively--to produce these things. Realizing this is liberating, but it also is a reminder of how responsible we are--all of us--for not only being good people, but for determining what it means to be good people. To me, this means that our future is entirely what we make it and we can, if we choose, make it an incredible one.
Thanks for this site. The encouragement I got years ago from kind and supportive strangers helped me out a great deal as I set out on my journey into the strange and spectacular world of reality without the tinted glasses of religion.
I hope many more people get to have the same experience!
Hello everyone, it's been a long time.
When I submitted that testimony, I had only just begun to have a taste of what awaited me. Behind the shroud of belief, reality is so small, so limited. Possibilities are few, and cognitive inhibitions are many. But once one is freed from those shackles, the universe gets so much bigger! All-encompassing religious 'explanations' recede and wonderful mystery flows in to take their place. What was once superfluous detail in the shadow of an all-important god suddenly becomes infused with the numinous poetry and significance that only unfolding scientific knowledge and understanding can bring to things: ancient stars, a history of terrestrial life hidden in my DNA, the sub-Planck fabric of space and time...
Even better, I discovered that we're all artists who are working together to create a human world. We don't inherit our natures, morals, language, and beliefs from supernatural beings. We labor--passively as well as actively--to produce these things. Realizing this is liberating, but it also is a reminder of how responsible we are--all of us--for not only being good people, but for determining what it means to be good people. To me, this means that our future is entirely what we make it and we can, if we choose, make it an incredible one.
Thanks for this site. The encouragement I got years ago from kind and supportive strangers helped me out a great deal as I set out on my journey into the strange and spectacular world of reality without the tinted glasses of religion.
I hope many more people get to have the same experience!
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