Consciencebound

Posts Tagged ‘Deconversion’

My friend Paul wrote this and I thought it was really good so I am re-posting it here.  It provoked a very long discussion on Facebook which has been quite good.  I hope you find it interesting…

I am writing from exile. I have been out of the Church now for over 4  years, because ultimately, my conscience led me here. As many of you know, I was once a Calvary Chapel Pastor and missionary, but it slowly stopped making sense. I do have reasons for this, but that is not what I am writing about now. I was taught to believe that people like me became this way because of a gross sin, or because they loved the world more than they loved God. I now know this to be a lie. I am really not much different morally than I was then, nor do I wish to pursue things that would harm myself or others. Ironically, to be quite honest, I think I’m a bit more moral than I was then. I am most definately way more honest.

I’m not writing to make a case for leaving Fundamental Evangelicalism, because I know that to be a waste of time. The real point of writing is to ask a question to those who prefer Dogma over their own conscience when they collide. My question is:

If Conscience brought you to believe a certain Dogma, what do you do when that same conscience tells you to leave it?

A friend of mine who is also no longer involved in Christendom uses the analogy of Martin Luther. Martin Luther, upon leaving the Catholic Church, gives conscience as one of the reasons for his “protest” against the Catholic Church. “For a man to deny his conscience is neither right nor sane…..here I stand I can do no other”. As a Protestant, I found that statement to be very moving. I still consider it to be moving. However, the Catholic Church found it to be heresy.

For whatever reason, the high value of following ones “heart” seems to be a commonly held belief. As Joseph Campell puts it, to “Follow your Bliss” seems to be the key to happiness and fulfillment. He goes as far as to say that Maslow’s theory of five human needs mean nothing to a man who lives his passion. Following our heart is obviously a foundation for happiness and true fulfillment. Read the rest of this entry »

This is an article by a guy who lost his Christian faith as a result of studying Islam. I can relate to his questions as I ran up against many of the same problems. When you are committed to a certain religious belief system (in my case it was Evangelical Christianity), you are not looking for ways to debunk it. You know it is true already and almost everything you see in the world is CONFIRMING evidence to you. You see answers to your prayers, you see and hear of miracles, you see how your worldview makes the most sense of the world compared to other worldviews. Sure, you know about other religions that have similar claims that yours does but you KNOW they are false. THOSE people are deceived but of course I know the one true God. And it seems so obvious too. Miracle stories in another religion sound like superstitious nonsense or wishful thinking, but they are anything but confirming evidence for this other religion. Miracle stories in My religion are solid evidence that it is true.

But then one day you look at things a little differently. You take a second look at your own beliefs from the perspective of someone who is OUTSIDE of your faith and it looks… well, different. This is what John Luftus calls the Outside Test for Faith and is a good exercise for anyone to do, even atheists.

Read the rest of this entry »