The primary reasons that I had for leaving Christianity was the problems with the formation of the new testament canon as well as the irreconcilable contradictions in the bible. These would apply equally to Roman Catholicism as it does to Evangelical fundamentalism.

Not to mention that it is kind of hard to take a church seriously who allows child molesters to remain in positions that give them access to children and thinks that they can just move them around to different congregations without reporting them to the proper authorities. They might gain some credibility if the pope steps down and they just admit their problems.

To your post #1:
The exile spoken of here is only in the context of the unbeliever’s relationship to his former Christian community. My friend Paul speaks of it as exile because of the way he has been treated by his previous “friends”. But I know Paul as well as myself do not feel exiled and alone any longer. Rather we feel free to explore the truth of this world without the constraints of the dogma that we used to be under. It is actually quite liberating.

Post #2
He is not saying that conscience is the ruler of truth or dogma per se, he was more pointing out that we have to follow what we truly “see” as being true. Our conscience is by no means perfect and often our conscience has to be corrected but it is only when we actually have that “ah ha” moment that we can truly “believe” something to be true. We must investigate the so called beliefs that we have to see if we find them to be “actually true”. When my friend Paul did that and when I did that, we could no longer remain christians.

have you arrived at any truth that is beneficial to the rest of your fellow men?

Yes. Paul is interested in more eastern Zen/Buddhist philosophies and those traditions have much to offer the world. For me some of the biggest things I have learned is to love the truth, no matter what it is and to follow it no matter where it takes you. I love to observe the way this world works and to seek to better understand it every day. By doing this, I believe my relationships as well as my overall happiness has gotten better.

Is there any truth that one can put into action that would greatly benefit their life?

Along with what I said above, critical thinking is one of the greatest things that I believe can benefit a person’s life. Learning to question your assumptions about any topic (or even any relationship) is a very healthy thing to do and has had a huge positive impact on my life.

Will their life become better? In whose eyes? Yours or theirs? Is the truth for their benefit?

Yes, anyone’s life will be “better” by thinking critically and by learning to observe reality for what it truly is. Sometimes we might not like what we see but learning to accept reality and live with it accordingly or change it if we can is the best thing that we can do.

Will you help them in the business of life in dealing with everday issues that are troubling/difficult? Will you be their guide?

Yes, of course.

Do you know wisdom? Do you know where it comes from? Have truly found it?

I am sure you and I have a different view of wisdom. If you define it as:

The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight

… then wisdom is something that you learn as you understand life. Leaning to judge what is right is not an easy task and it take humility, honesty, critical thinking etc.

I thought I would take a stab at your question. Conscience can never be the ruler of truth or dogma [truth is what you always want to teach]. If so it would overthrow God. That is what man did the first time he disobeyed God. We cannot know what it was like before sin was introduced to the human race but it had to be bliss. Always walking in the counsel of God never doing any wrong, so that He would always be pleased and honored by ones behavior towards Him. But pride was the killer. Its always what leads men away from the Light. Men love darkness rather than light…so he sullies up his skylight so that truth cannot come in.

A question to you: Setting aside the arguement against following Christ, have you arrived at any truth that is beneficial to the rest of your fellow men? Is there any truth that one can put into action that would greatly benefit their life? Will their life become better? In whose eyes? Yours or theirs? Is the truth for their benefit? Will you help them in the business of life in dealing with everday issues that are troubling/difficult? Will you be their guide? Do you know wisdom? Do you know where it comes from? Have truly found it?