By Dr. Marlene Winell ~ L eaving my faith was a very slow process. I was raised by missionary parents and was devoutly religious for my entire childhood. Journal entries from my college years reveal swings between anguished frustration and renewed faith. I heaped blame for the problems on myself, looked to God for help, and thanked him for any improvements in my life. In my everyday life, I lived with enormous guilt and frustration over not being the person I thought I should be. Good things were always due to God, and failures were always mine. Looking back, I can see that self-respect was a near impossibility. Like a lost child, when I left I had to reconstruct reality. I had to examine and recreate so many assumptions: about the meaning of life, the world, myself, others, the past, present, and future. I eventually became a therapist, and it has been my great joy to help others to recover from the harm they experienced as a result of religious upbringing. After years of...

By Carl S ~ T he American Psychological Association site features an interview with Karen Douglas, PhD. on "Why people believe in conspiracy theories." Wondering why I'm tying beliefs in conspiracies directly to religious beliefs? You may figure it out before she finishes talking. On page 6 of my printout, Dr. Douglas is asked, "What makes a conspiracy theory catch on and have staying power? Are there certain types of theories that are stickier than others or some that are more enduring?" She finds that a "really, really, fascinating question." (Because they come back again or come back again in a different form, for instance.) She says sorts of conspiracy theories have always been there. They mutate. They change. Dr. Douglas didn't get into a connection between religious beliefs and conspiracy theories, but I couldn't stop thinking about a very, very, large conspiracy theory that has endured for thousands of years, unchanged and invoked...

   By G.M. Gates ~ W hat if Christianity is lying about the Bible? What if the original Bible in Hebrew was manipulated by the Church? What if the Old Testament was still being still being changed, hundreds of years after the life of Jesus? What if your pastor knows this but won’t tell you, because he’d lose his job? When I was attending seminary, I heard a joke that went like this: What do you call someone with a Master’s of Divinity? Answer: an atheist. While this is a joke, I had to wonder how true it was. Are there pastors, preaching in the pulpit, who no longer believe in the faith of their youth, but they feel like they can’t escape? Put yourself in their position. Could you imagine what it’s like to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a degree in theology, only to discover that the true history of the bible is distorted? What would this do to someone? What would they think? First off, they probably can’t tell anyone. They’d be alienated from people they ...

By G.M. Gates ~ I t was the spring of 2003. I had broken up with my then girlfriend for what was, probably, the fifth or sixth time in the span of a year. The cause of the break up wasn't incompatibility, or even trivial matters. It was Evangelical Christianity. I had been part of various Charismatic/Pentecostal ministries throughout my mid to late teens. When I was 15, I saw a man preach who claimed to receive messages from God for random people seated in the congregation. This is what's called the Word of Knowledge in Charismatic churches. Being that I had been raised Baptist, this experience was completely new. And when the preacher spoke these messages, people would often become overwhelmed with emotion. I went forward to become born again. A few days later, I was Baptized in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues. The next six years of my life would be a roller coaster of emotions. I would take the Great Commission literally. I would preac...

M y name is Ines W. Jindra, and I am an assistant professor of Social Work at Idaho State University. We are conducting a study that examines the biographies of those leaving various Christian churches, and the process by which it happens. The study also includes questions about the consequences on people’s sense of identity, well-being, on their relationships, their relationship to specific rules within the Christian churches, and on coping mechanisms that arise from the difficulties that this process might entail. This research will be valuable in helping us understand the differences between people who stay and those who leave a specific church. We are interested in talking to people who are willing to share their experiences with us about this topic. Participation in this research study will take approximately one hour to maximum an hour and a half. Interviews will be conducted in person or via zoom, depending on your personal preference and location. Your information will be ke...

By Carl S ~ W izened Sage and I entertained the idea of writing our own obituaries. We don't want others taking advantage of our deaths to impose their superstitious absurdities. We don't want people assuming we were believers. What led me to bring up this subject? Got a letter from a true radical believer I've corresponded with over the years. Referring to something I mentioned in three letters, he writes, "You can believe what you want to, just as I do, although you can change your mind any time at all." So I wrote back, "You too." I wrote about asking a pastor, "If I am a good moral person, but don't believe, can I get into Heaven?" His answer was immediately, "Yes." I asked my wife's pastor the same question. His answer, after a long silence, was "No." When I told my wife about her pastor's answer, she said, "WELL, THAT'S HIS OPINION." I envy her ability to sum up things so fast. This guy ...

By Carl S ~ I f you've watched videos of police interrogating suspects, you'll understand. Sometimes there's a time of relief for both questioner and suspect. It's when the cop reaches a point where he can safely say, "Quit the bullshit, okay? You and I know you did it." And the perpetrator begins to unburden. That's the kind of relief, of liberation, we need more of. Curiously, I revisited a biblical text you won't find discussed in bible teaching classes, ever. There's an interesting site, Bible Gateway, to find texts merely by punching up book, chapter, and verse. So let's approach the texts with the maxim of the British Royal Society: "Take no man's word for it." Here we go. Bible Gateway's "Genesis 8, v. 21, in all English translations." (I counted 54 on the same text, and suggest reading all of them.) Of course, they each say the same things in their own way. Number One: The Lord says, in his mind or ve...

By Paul Hannah ~ E very year articles appear in the mainstream press and magazines speculating on the 'real' explanation for the Star of Bethlehem. Given our modern understanding of astronomy, there are a number of candidates which have been given to explain the phenomenon and fit the Bible story. However, even if the ideal star or astronomical object could be found there are serious practical problems with taking the story on face value. The Bible gives the story as follows: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east And then: Lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. – Matthew 2:1-12 The astronomical elements of the story are: The Wise Men came from the east, they saw a 'star' in the east, they followed it and it s...

By Jason7 ~ R ecovering x-Christian here. Struggling spiritually. My life used to revolve around church. All my friends were from the church. My ex-wife & 4 kids were all heavily involved with the church. We were there every Sunday. We took my kids there for Wednesday night children's church. My family & I lived in a carefully constructed, sheltered Christian bubble. My life revolved around the Bible & I taught my family that it was 100% truth. We listened to Christian music & frowned on secular music with its cuss words & loose morality. We didn't smoke. we didn't openly cuss. We surrounded ourselves with like-minded Christians & had no non-Christian friends. We thought of ourselves as Holy & set apart by God to be his light in the world & to spread his love. However, underneath my outer Christian shell was a soul that was struggling intensely. I started questioning things that didn't make sense about my religion & God him...

By austinrohm ~ W hen I stopped turning a blind eye to all the problems with the Bible and Christianity and started applying the same skepticism that I applied toward other religions, the usual response that I got from Christians was,  “You are under spiritual attack! The devil is whispering in your ear. These doubts are all lies!” Oddly enough, other religions use the devil as an excuse too when members start questioning their religion. It’s also the devil when you start questioning the doctrines of the church you go to. Where do these questions and doubts come from? From a place of honest inquiry and desire to know the truth? Or are spirits and ghosts telling you that your faith and holy book is irrational? You have yet to demonstrate that demons and the devil exist. When people attempt to prove this, they always have stories lined up about “demonic oppression.” When pressed for these stories, they usually come back to the source of Someone had scary dreams or sleep paralysi...

By austinrohm ~ I wrote this article as I was deconverting in my own head: I never talked with anyone about it, but it was a letter I wrote as if I was writing to all the Christians in my life who constantly brought up how morality was the best argument for Christianity. No Christian has read this so far, but it is written from the point of view of a frustrated closeted atheist whose only outlet was organizing his thoughts on the keyboard. A common phrase used with non-Christians is: “Well without God, there isn’t a foundation of morality. If God is not real, then you could go around killing and raping.” There are a few things which must be addressed. 1. Show me objective morality. Define it and show me an example. Different Christians have different moral standards depending on how they interpret the Bible. Often times, they will just find what they believe, then go back into scripture and find a way to validate it. Conversely, many feel a particular action is not ...