Why I Am No Longer a Christian

Why I Am No Longer a Christian

2009, Religion  -    -  Playlist 48 Comments
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Why I Am No Longer a ChristianIn this series the author (YouTuber Evid3nc3) explains his life as a born-again Christian, his deconversion, and his life as an atheist.

In the deconversion section, he shows how evidence, reason, and experiences related to prayer, morality, deconverted Christians, the Bible, and his relationship with God Himself all lead to his eventual inability to believe anymore.

The series Why I am no longer a Christian is not finished. It is a work in progress. Based on the author's current notes for the series, he should be releasing a new video in the series once a month until April 2012. Every new video will be automatically added in the playlist above.

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fualfalo .
fualfalo .
10 years ago

Thank you so much for this set of videos. I admire your honesty and seriousness in all the subjects. My experience has some similarities with yours, I love the way you express them. Thank you again.

Tamara Palm Moore
Tamara Palm Moore
10 years ago

Hi I grew up in very similar circumstances as the man that's doing this documentary, I came from Pentecost , Holy Ghost speaking ,fire baptize Bible believing only church. My mother was abusive and strict and so was the church family, I was bully on a daily basis by my peers whip everyday whether I did wrong or not work like a dog and then on top of that I seen evil spirits every night that tormented me. So my opinion of God was that He was some dictator siting on his throne with the long yard stick ruler smacking your every time you did any wrong and I use to say to myself man It says in the Bible God is love well where in the world is it!!! So as a grown woman I started studying the Bible for myself and one thing I came across was James 2:19 It says You believe that there is one God you do well, even the demons believe and tremble! now as a child I had never read that scripture like I said earlier I seen evil spirits when I was growing up from the ages of six until I was thirteen and my mom use to tell me when you are scare say the name of Jesus and I did and they shook and then I learn as I got older to say the Blood of Jesus and they flee. I notice also that you said in one part of this documentary that Abraham had told Sarah lie and say she was his sister so Pharaoh would not kill him and that God had put a great plague on Pharaoh and all his house hold, and you thought that God was being unfair and unjust but that not true if you had read the Bible a little further you would have seen that Sarah is Abraham sister she is his half sister Gen 20 they had the same Father read the story for yourself the first part of the story you were talking about is in Gen 12. Now with all due respect I truly believe in science, philosophy,and ethics but nothing in this world can compare to the supernatural almighty God which created all of this and if you read the Bible read the whole thing and since you have the Holy ghost ask Him for all understanding because in your heart your heart you know the real truth!!! Don,t give God and the Bible a bad rap!!!! if you don't want to be a christian because you don,t want to be say it cut and dry be true to yourself don't Blame GOD.

InesT
InesT
10 years ago

Probably, there also should be a documentary called: Why I do believe in God to encourage true rationality and criticism.

SH321
SH321
10 years ago

Just some statistics to think about if you are going take the Bible as fundamenal, literal truth rather than spiritual truth. The world is currently about 33% Christian. Of all Christian faiths about 5% are fundamentalist Christian. This equates to 1.65% of the population. A fundamentalsit quoted below, 80% of fundamentalists have actually been born again. This means that .0033% of the population has met the rigid definition of being born again. So if you are lucky enough to be born into this world you have a 299 out 300 chance of being tortured in Hell for eternity. This seems to defy logic of what a loving creator would create and very diffucult for me to have faith in this scenario.
I dont like eternal torture as much as much as the next guy. I wish I could have blind FAITH, but I was created to have THOUGHT.

stuckonthefence
stuckonthefence
10 years ago

Interesting series to say the least. Quantum mechanics was brushed over which is unfortunate. Quantum Mechanics reveals particles being in multiple places at once and operating as waves until observed (and then collapsing into one reality). If I lose my wallet and no one knows where it is, and I look in one area thinking it is there but it is not, and then later find it where I initially left it, what is holding the "true" reality together? There must be an ultimate observer holding the principles we hold so dear (garnered from our perceptions) together.

An interesting quote -

"before we knew the math or the complexities of gravity we held without a doubt that if we drop it, it will fall - our hearts gave us the answers to it all." I guess we could say our observations gave us the answers but there is so much we are unable to observe - there are creatures that can see so many more colors than we can etc. If our senses and observations are so limited then we really can't draw any conclusions as there are likely countless other factors we are unable to observe. But our hearts sparked with the idea of "gravity" before it was rationally complicated into the understanding that we have of gravity today (a spark in the heart referring to a spark in our right brain). Our minds are not able to fully understand the concept of God because something as seemingly simple and fundamental to our world as gravity requires extraneous justifications to arrive at as a "truth." How could a spark in our hearts about the existence of God ever be proven? It's a choice we all must make based on the evidence at hand (limited by our extremely limited senses). In my eyes a just God would create a world where the following principal is true "whether you believe in you soul or you don't you are correct." - Just some food for thought.

Believer
Believer
10 years ago

I can appreciate everything the author here is saying, we live in a non-believing world. But what many atheists or non-believers miss is that just because you arrive at a conclusion that God is not real doesn't necessarily make Him not real. Truth is truth whether you choose to believe it or not. If I don't choose to believe in Santa Claus it doesn't make a difference because Santa Claus is not real, my belief has no bearing on reality. Your choice of choosing to not believe, your rationale given as to why God is not real, does not make Him unreal, truth lives whether I choose to believe it or not. The day you die you still must stand before Him and give an account for your soul. Where will your great reasons for why He does not exist then place you? All that you have said in your video, will it then make a difference when in hell you lift your eyes? Will you take such a chance with your eternal soul? If what the atheist says is true and there is no God, then let us do as the apostle Paul said let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. But if what the Christian says is true and there is a heaven and hell, and there is a judgement for sinners and God does exist. Then we all should take the time and prepare ourselves by living for Him with all our soul, mind and strength. Will you take such a chance with your eternal soul? I have said to many the atheist really is playing a game of Russian roulette with his soul.

ShilohMarie
ShilohMarie
10 years ago

I love this documentary. I did watch it in one sitting but I chuckled to myself towards the end when you commented about missing things and possibly watching it again - I had been constantly backing up when I realized you had said something I missed! Some of the things I found so interesting my brain continued on processing and contemplating without me even being aware of it until I realized you were talking about something different.
I loved the visual drawings and pictures to help me relate and learn.
And learn I did!
Thank you.

nora
nora
10 years ago

Just a small point -- healing is not the province of surgery and medicine. Although some injuries heal better if surgery (stitches, bone setting, etc.) is performed, that's different than saying that surgery or medicine is to healing as tectonic plates are to earthquakes. Healing is something that the body does on its own. Medical professionals do not "heal". There are no "healers". The ability of the body to heal itself is not "divine" and it requires no belief; it just is, like any other aspect of nature.

Michael J Foy
Michael J Foy
10 years ago

Belief in science does not mean you cannot believe in God. Belief in God does not mean you can't believe in science. Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is. And many who claim to be an atheist are not. In America you can believe what you want and be what you want so long as you do not advocate the harm or harm others.
Peace, SemperFi

D Hunter Sanchez
D Hunter Sanchez
10 years ago

Well good for you. You have made your choice. It is interesting to view the debates between people like Lane Craig and the late Hitchens. I think you set up your own evidential standards and then pooh pooh historical evidence for Jesus others submit. You are a working model for freedom of choice. No one has ever claimed that proof equals faith anyway. Thanks for the effort.

Melody Boudreaux
Melody Boudreaux
10 years ago

Although I strongly believe in God, and can honestly say after listening to your documentary, that I am an atheist. I guess I never really understood the meaning of atheism until now. I do not feel comfortable in any church. I,too started out a born again Christian in my early 20's.
I was raised in the Catholic Church and saw all the errors of blind belief at a very young age. It was like doing the same song and dance unquestioningly every week and thinking that was all I needed to do! In the first place, I didn't get it, and then I learned about all the horrors of the Catholic Church that are never taught or even talked about. Talk about an overgrown cult! Anyway, I am now church less, but there is a life force that is strong inside of me and all around me that I have no name for except God because it represents goodness and light in an otherwise dark world. I know now it's been with me all my life. I know anyone who uses God as an excuse to kill, does not acknowledge this goodness which is there for all of us, and that is a very unhappy way to live. Anyway I live a good life because I choose to! Thanks

CoriLouis
CoriLouis
10 years ago

bravo i think this was a very well put together explanation, someone would have to be extremely ignorant not to understand at least a little, it explains the transition very well, and i think it's close to what i went though as a christian myself :'(

AntiTheist666
AntiTheist666
10 years ago

Why I am no longer an Atheist.

In a previous life I used to post here under the screen name of Atheist13 but he died and I was born again in my current reincarnation. My conversion was brought about by the Holy Ghost himself, the sorely missed Chris Hitchens (PBUH). It was his writings and interviews as he underwent chemo etc. for the cancer that eventually killed him that made me see a huge difference in the terms and if it was good enough for Hitch, it was good enough for me.

From wiki.

A noted critic of religion and a self-described antitheist, he said that a person "could be an atheist and wish that belief in God were correct", but that "an antitheist, a term I'm trying to get into circulation, is someone who is relieved that there's no evidence for such an assertion.”

The man bore his plight with great dignity while receiving the most vile and hateful messages from the religious community who delighted in his suffering. If you think he spoke the truth about how religion poisons everything and how standing against it is a moral necessity convert to Antitheism at your earliest opportunity.

At bottom, religion is a stick used for punishment and control. At best it’s a comedy of errors that deserves to be laughed at for the pious morality it tries to enforce. All this while engaging in the vilest and most degenerate behaviour known to humanity.

Religion – digging a hole with stick.

Its life Jim but not as we know it.

Bungaroosh
Bungaroosh
10 years ago

If you take full responsibility for yourself and all your actions (and what can possibly be wrong with that?) you see there is no need for gods.
But to do this you have to be very brave and embrace the fact that you are ultimately alone on this Earth. For most people, especially the needy that is too terrifying to comprehend.

Jason Buchanon
Jason Buchanon
10 years ago

You got mindf--ked. Good work with this.

Summer Kenney
Summer Kenney
10 years ago

If our brains compose beliefs to help us adapt and evolve and they aren't actually true, then how can we believe our brain when it concludes Atheism? Hmmm

amcramer
amcramer
10 years ago

Religious faith also made it possible for an individual to devote his/her life for the betterment of someone else's. Love is illogical.

Janet K West
Janet K West
10 years ago

Thank you for sharing this. I am not an atheist, but I no longer believe the way that I once did.

DrRichardHoffman
DrRichardHoffman
10 years ago

He does present his evidence fine (I am an atheist), but he's too deep and over-thinks. I tired of his Generation X life-long never ending journey to answer WHY and what his identity is. He will always be searching for The Truth, and overvalues the concept of Truth, and he will be disappointed that it is a wasted journey. He will come full circle.

On a side-note, reading in-between the lines, he started his journey away from Christianity because he felt guilty about masturbating and sex. For someone that claims he is happy with his current evolving version of The Truth, he sure does come off slightly self-hating, cynical, and not full of joy.

DarkMatter2525 and Robert Ingersol pitch it much more effectively and simply, and come off as being the life of parties, while this guy seems like he'd suck the life out of a party with his search for God.

He STILL can't let go of the God concept?

englishjakes
englishjakes
11 years ago

hey guys psychology has taught me that god and religion is a way to deal with death salience, we all deal with our death salience different ways. this is where most of these arguments come from because if my belief system is right that mean yours is wrong and vice-versa, this scares us so we defend our belief system by attacking other belief systems. This is also why alot of psychologist stop being religious. i personally am and atheist but i think that religious lessons generally teach us to be kind and good people so i dont see the harm. on the other hand religious people should not try to force there beliefs on other people.

Patrick Landry
Patrick Landry
11 years ago

very well done and well explained a true master piece...as an agnostic atheist myself i have not had the same pattern than you did my parents were not truly religious but that teacher you had ...wow just wow i would have loved to talk to that man.

Jessica
Jessica
11 years ago

The network theory of faith in God is interesting, but it seems to be entirely concerned with the power of the mind, or the brain, to interpret reality. We know that the mind is incredibly powerful, but it has limitations. What if the mind could actually be an impediment to discovering truth? Certainly, we could find many examples of this phenomenon if we looked carefully. Many of the most beneficial scientific discoveries have been practically fortuitous. I think it has to do with fundamentally the way the mind works, the way people think. For example, sometimes to find a solution to a problem, we need to break free entirely from the way we were approaching that problem and look at it in a completely different way. I'm simply trying to point out that the mind, and scientific pursuit for that matter, can keep you stuck in a rut, stuck in one way of interpreting reality, which is inherently incomplete and therefore prone to error. As a physician, I've seen countless examples of this type of error in the field of medicine.

I'm only asking you to be more open-minded by accepting the limitations of your own mind. The way I see it, logic can be a useful tool, but will never lead you to truth.

thinkagainagain
thinkagainagain
11 years ago

There seems some misunderstanding concerning ignorance. Ignorance is the force behind discovery, not knowledge.

Louis Dalton
Louis Dalton
11 years ago

To have complete trust in your unbelief or to be completely sure of unbelief in God as a statement, strikes me as intellectually arrogant.
I'm not going to try and defend God as I simply don't need to, due to things we can observe and facts that we can conclude, pointing us to a necessity of a creator.

TV_Kicker
TV_Kicker
11 years ago

Is a YouTube confession really a documentary film?

Dave Wiebe
Dave Wiebe
11 years ago

The very first problem with this guy is that his "Becoming a christian" experience is not scriptural. Nowhere does the bible ask you to "ask Jesus into you heart" or "change your life" to be saved. Are you hoping in the work of Christ for your salvation or not. That is what your salvation depends on.

GordonHarvey
GordonHarvey
11 years ago

I haven't watched the whole of this yet, but so far I've really appreciated the considered and respectful way it's been presented. If you want to make a difference to people and nudge the world a little further towards wisdom and understanding, you need to do so with full respect for the other point of view. I'd like to see that degree of respect from both sides of this discussion, so I don't have to wade through any pointless cynicism and condescension.

indulgent1
indulgent1
11 years ago

This was amazing to watch. It mirrors very much my disconnect from God and the Bible. Anyone who watches all of it is unreasonable or obstinate to continue to follow the illusion of God. The scriptural comments from others here show that they did not watch the full video. The incredible Bible compilation research section was so informative. It shows how the 'rulers of the day' put forth these writings to forward their agenda and control people.Thank You for helping any free thinkers pull away from such a wasted life as a God / Bible believer.

Smashy76
Smashy76
11 years ago

Why is it when one person has an imaginary friend, they're crazy, but if a group of people have the same imaginary friend, it's religion?

I don't not believe in God, I just don't believe in the "God" that the church has sold to the masses. Total horse crap. God is not a teen aged girl with low self esteem that needed to create EVERYTHING for mankind to tell God how great God is, by being locked away from all God's creation, to praise God. Explain to me, please, how God gave us free will, but the church says if we use it, we'll go to internal damnation? The bible is a book written by people, not GOD, or Jesus not to mention English can't be translated from Aramaic, which is the language at the time. The church is a power hungry group that has murdered and tortured millions in the name of a God that's about love and forgiveness. Islam has done this as well. I also find it ridiculous that the church has established itself as a religious idol. It even has people praying to the church and it's employees.... Isn't the word of God not to worship false idols? no Gods before God? The only way God created us in "his" own image, was through the gift of knowledge and free will.

Like most things 2000 yrs ago, mankind had no clue how to describe an energy that connects all living things. I believe that God isn't a thing, or being, it's an energy, a smile on a baby, the smell of a bakery first thing in the morning, that feeling of "content", happy, being hugged by loved ones....

Obviously, I have a ton more I could say or get into, but won't here. My thinking isn't something I just decided over a few days and I am a very spiritual person and I have wrestled with all this for years. G'ahead and see if there is anything you can say to me that the Church isn't full of liars, corrupt and has ruined the idea of God and spirituality with it's corrupt messages to mankind.
And for any "Creationists" I am Roman Catholic, in a very religious family here in my Home Country Canada....

terrasodium
terrasodium
11 years ago

Science is generally taken as meaning either (a) the exact sciences, such as chemistry, physics, etc., or (b) a method of thought which obtains verifiable results by reasoning logically from observed fact.

If you ask any scientist, or indeed almost any educated person, ‘What is science?’ you are likely to get an answer approximating to (b). In everyday life, however, both in speaking and in writing, when people say ‘science’ they mean (a). Science means something that happens in a laboratory: the very word calls up a picture of graphs, test-tubes, balances, Bunsen burners, microscopes. A biologist, and astronomer, perhaps a psychologist or a mathematician is described as a ‘man of science’: no one would think of applying this term to a statesman, a poet, a journalist or even a philosopher. And those who tell us that the young must be scientifically educated mean, almost invariably, that they should be taught more about radioactivity, or the stars, or the physiology or their own bodies, rather than that they should be taught to think more exactly.

This confusion of meaning, which is partly deliberate, has in it a great danger. Implied in the demand for more scientific education is the claim that if one has been scientifically trained one's approach to all subjects will be more intelligent than if one had had no such training. A scientist's political opinions, it is assumed, his opinions on sociological questions, on morals, on philosophy, perhaps even on the arts, will be more valuable than those of a layman. The world, in other words, would be a better place if the scientists were in control of it. But a ‘scientist’, as we have just seen, means in practice a specialist in one of the exact sciences. It follows that a chemist or a physicist, as such, is politically more intelligent than a poet or a lawyer, as such. And, in fact, there are already millions of people who do believe this.

the_only_believer
the_only_believer
11 years ago

The bible is not easy to understand I took my patient an read it at least five times, it hides so many mysteries, it even challenge one to dig on it. It challenge the reader to understand. It doesn't matter to me where it came from, who rote it, just when the reader really get involved it will start understanding and see how cool it is, I was challenge early in my life because I saw so many things wrong, starting in my religion. Now with the technology I can do more research to close my final chapter on my quest for the my real meaning. I love all my friends, families and believe it or not, my enemies. I have gays , atheist, catholic, protestant in my family and friends and I love them all, and they all love me. I feel free and happy , I can die tonight and die happy, free and in peace.

School_Hard_Knocks
School_Hard_Knocks
11 years ago

"They forgot God, so He made them forget themselves."

Paul Caden
Paul Caden
11 years ago

Wow, what a well thought out, well researched treatise on religion. I learned a lot and thk Evid3nc3 for all his gargantuum efforts. Nice to see a counter tide to the scarry self-righteous evangelical/mormon/scientology etc movements sweeping the(red) mid-west and southern states. We in Canada watch this happening in such a powerful neighbour and find it scarry. Like Romney almost got elected - thk god he didn't (excuse the pun)

HArry Montalvo
HArry Montalvo
11 years ago

I am no one to judge this child , actually I understand him, as a person who started reading the bible when I was 12 and looking for an answer, the first thing that put doubts on me was the bible it self and through visiting different denominations I start it having even more doubts but by seeing his documentary I understood his prayers and living in a mikey mouse world was his mayor problems , but he was just a kid like I was too and it wasn't our fault

World_Unity
World_Unity
11 years ago

Then who was the man called Jesus? Why did his teachings (spirit) unite the Europeans for the first time ever? War had ceased in Europe? There was an undeniable Christian brotherhood. Jesus changed the hearts of masses of people, this is supernatural and his teachings have withstood the test of time.

I have studied the atheist argument, it falls apart when it comes to the Prophet founders (the persona) like Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Moses, Baha'u'llah, etc... Boil religion down to it's essence and you get a Holy Manifestation of God who changed the hearts of masses of people. That is to say, strip away the hypocrisy that men have injected into the religion over the decades and centuries and you get the Manifestation of God, the Reveler. Atheists cannot refute the Persona. After all, who came up with those parables?

Yes, religion gets polluted over time, by men. That is why God renews it every thousand years (average). These Messengers from God are like school teachers educating mankind. Every year you get a new school teacher. Every thousand years (avg) we get a new Divine Teacher.

Please understand religion is cyclical. It has a birth, a life and a death. Then it is renewed again and again and again. A religion dies when the religious leadership losses the confidence of the people, although that dead religion continues to inspire the individual.

How could a mere mortal change the hearts of masses of men? Can you do it? At best you could start a movement that would soon die out. How can we say God would or would not do something. He is his own standard and does not answer to anyone.

gina Mo
gina Mo
11 years ago

I downloaded this book called "The Malleus maleficarum" It is a book written by a high ranking Christian by the name of Sprenger and an inquisitor called Kramer..In fact Kramer sought out Sprenger because he was such a noted expert.. It is all about who would contract with Satan...
The Christian church ran countries.. Kings would ask the church for money when it was time to go to war.. This book contains a chapter on children and how they can contract with Satan.. It does try to indicate that children are free for conviction at the age of 9 for girls.. children were convicted as young as two... Today there are many countries in Africa that estimate up to 5000 children are burned, abandoned ect for witch craft.. Pentecostals, the church of the Congolese ect.. Christians are not running over to help with this issue.. But there certainly is a group that has gone over to Africa to help pass laws to put homosexuals to death...
When Christianity and Muslims are in charge they certainly have a pattern of abusing people with no real voice..

floppy01
floppy01
11 years ago

As long as people continue to insist upon sticking to a belief or a disbelief, then topics of this nature will continue to draw the most comments. If, however, you choose to venture toward the truth, then your questions are answered. But still to this day, people are happy with mere beliefs and disbeliefs.

After all, you are only dependent upon beliefs and disbeliefs if you are located at a distance from the truth and thus are located within the zone of less than truth. Thus people insist upon only accepting less than truth. Thus when the truth was presented, it was rejected and forgotten.

Danielle Ingrassia
Danielle Ingrassia
11 years ago

I think the most important part of this documentary is the journey he took. I forgot how long and painful it was for me to undo Christianity in my heart/mind. I was searching for people with similar experiences as I am having issues with my family. It took a long time for me to accept the it was okay for me to not believe I guess it makes sense that my family would take it so hard. Thank you for sharing your experience, I it is comforting to know that I am not alone.

Freedslave
Freedslave
11 years ago

First, I'll say: nice documentary! I watched it all, I liked it and found it really honest and personal. It was nice to perceive your "evolution" process throughout the videos. Although my path from Christianity to atheism was quite different, there were some places where I felt connected to you. I am always trying to gather more evidences and arguments against theism, which led me here. It's hard to predict what will touch someone, what will wake one up, what will shake one out of his torpor. This is why I'm always looking for new angles. DarkMatter2525, that you mentioned, presents such great angles, but I'm quite sure a believer would not be open to it. This is why I liked your "exposé".

I usually play (write) on both sides, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes formal; but I'm not convince that either way leads to more converts. It has more to do with the reasoning capacity of the person and openness. This is where I would like to introduce you to my "Gnothi Seauton" discourse which would partly override the last chapter of your documentary on evidence. I would describe it as a natural evolution of your current view and a much stronger position. Do you want me to share it right here or in a more private way. Please let me know, Daniel.

RealDeal147
RealDeal147
11 years ago

"I hope you all know that this universe did not spawn itself. You would be breaking the law of cause and effect/causality/causation. From whence came the singularity?"

Put aside quantum observations for the moment and just consider the medium and large scale universe with regards to the 'law of cause and effect'.

Why are we happy to endorse causation as a universal law and what do we mean when we say that? We mean that whenever we observe something coming into existence there is a reason for it's existence. It can, at least in principle, be accounted for.

The milky way, a porsche 911, the Mona Lisa and my uncle Frank all have reasons for their existence, causes. But when we look closely, really closely, we find that in these cases and in all of the cases that we have observed and from which we have drawn this principle of universal causation, we find that nothing is actually being created, ex nihilo - out of nothing.

The cases that we are familiar with in our lives, an uncountable amount of experiences of things coming into existence, like sculptures, babies, ice cream and buildings are exclusively cases of things coming into existence ex materia - out of pre existing material. All of the matter/energy in the universe has been merely reordered and rearranged through time to 'create' new things like bicycles and people and planets. But nothing is really being 'created' out of thin air, actually out of less than thin air, out of absolutely nothing whatever.

It seems to me that the kind of event that the creation of the universe is, is a completely different type of event than all of the other events that we have observed and which we use as evidence to support the law of causation. Therefore we can't use evidence about creation ex materia to conclude anything about creation ex nihilo.

Rob Riddell
Rob Riddell
11 years ago

You might as well pray to a Jug of milk, at least it will provide hydration and nuitrition unlike praying to a God that seems totally absent. Morality comes from within its your empathy telling you that you should treat others as you'd like to be treated, it doesnt take a bible to make a person consider that.

Rob Riddell
Rob Riddell
11 years ago

I'm not an atheist Im a sceptic and as a sceptic I have never once seen a single valid piece of evidence to prove a God exists. I was sent to church early in my life but as soon as I grew a brain I realized that religion is a control scheme and is to be honest emotionally damaging. I like the idea that theres a god and good deeds will be rewarded but its not true obviously. the wealthy and powerful prey upon those who believe this nonsense.

erewhon2
erewhon2
11 years ago

I found this explanation very compelling. I am not a Christian, or a disciple of any particular faith. Before I add any other comment, though, I would say I am sorry so many comments contain emotional derogatory remarks about other people's views or motives. These are irrelevant to the discussion. The bottom line is that humans like ritual and also are bewildered at base by their experience as humans - hence their fear of being alone or 'lonely'. But we have to face the fact that our lives are like a blink of an eye in the universal scale, we are part of the whole fabric of the wider sphere of LIFE as it is expressed in everything around us. But while we are a very accomplished species in terms of what we can do relative to other species (although can you spin a spider's web? etc.) and have larger brains, we still do not have the equipment to understand what we are really all about, or to comprehend anything about the mysteries around us. There are some more evolved brains around us with whom we can compare our own pitiful faculties, but even they are only great by comparison with the average person. The only hope we have of getting even a glimpse of what is at the core of things - and even if there is anything - is to become adept at mystical experiences and also to learn as much as we can also from what scientists can tell us. Nothing we do is based really on reason, although we kid ourselves we are rational beings. All I can say is that we cope as best we can, use what's available to enable us to live in a way that is free of pain and appreciates the chance we have out of all those eggs and sperm to actually experience this material existence. Experiencing beauty should be one aim of life, and as for truth, it is elusive, and rarely provable. The older you get the more you understand how little we know or understand and how we must just give ourselves up to he inevitable, hopefully not causing any pain or injury to anyone else while we exist.

Carlos Humberto Munar Monsalve
Carlos Humberto Munar Monsalve
11 years ago

The beginning is always the same: there is not such thing as muslim kids or christian kids, it happens to be kids of muslims (christians, whatsoever) who have not the choice of knowing any other view of reality

John Beck
John Beck
11 years ago

Salvation occurs when the Father draws one to the Son, not when someone asks if you want to "get saved" and you say, "yeah, sure, why not?" That isn't repentance, nor is salvation a "lock" during time on Earth. As Jesus said, there is good seed, and bad seed. If you had truly been born of the Spirit, you would never have come to believe that God does not exist. By your own admission, your experience with "God" was not genuine, but a farce. You were exactly right. And there is nothing unusual about someone being sincerely deceived, however you have fallen for the logic fallacy, Post hoc ergo propter hoc, which means, "after this, therefore because of this..." In other words, you had a false religious experience the same as many people do, just as Jesus said. "Not all who say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." I am sorry you fell into the false religious experience of atheism immediately after your false religious experience in the Church, but that happens ALL the time. The Truth was never in you and your videos prove it. -jayorama1

ThisDarkChestOfWonders
ThisDarkChestOfWonders
11 years ago

I saw a picture on facebook that was hilarious. It showed a large and violent brawl with the caption, what people on the internet are like talking about religion. Then underneath it was a picture of about 20 people sitting around a giant table looking all important and seemingly having a very intense debate about something. The caption said, what people on the internet are like talking about porn. Ha! If we could only agree on religion like we do about porn, our species would be light years ahead of itself.

josiahm
josiahm
11 years ago

One point that I would have to disagree with is your information about consciousness and all the scientific evidence about consciousness and the subconscious. The facts are that it exist on every level of existence even with the electron and the influences of conscious thought has a direct effect on matter. Im not saying I believe in religion but with all the science on consciousness I have to believe there is a collective and universal consciousness that you could call god.

Neil
Neil
11 years ago

Congratulations on joining the rest of the Universe as it is rather than how some people wish it were. The argument as to whether the gods exist has been settled thousands of years before Christianity existed in any form. Even it will evolve into something as different today as today's version is from what it was in the first century. Christians will deny this, make excuses for it and refuse to believe it but this is a clear sign that it is a man made construct that is a reflection of the culture rather than the other way around.

I have found it quite telling that many believers have no problem with condemning others for their lack of belief while simultaneously accusing anyone who calls this behavior out as generalizing. I don't have time for this nonsense anymore. Half my life is passed and I will not live my remaining years trying to live up to the ever changing standards of a group of people who take it upon themselves to determine whether you are good enough to call yourself one of them. All while dropping vague flowery platitudes that bear no relevance to anything.