Deconversion part 3: A Christian's Story

My hope in making this is that I can be, for one person, the person I never had in my life through the years of losing everything I believed in. It is ok to not be a Christian. This is a tragic love story of unusual nature, but it happens - and not enough people are talking about it. Not enough people can.

Music by Prplfox.
https://sites.google.com/site/eliprplfox/music

Animation intro made in Google SketchUp. Imagery from the artists of deviantart.com.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Jesus
• Young Life
• younglife
• deconversion
• de-conversion
• story
• ex-christian
• bible
• worship
• atheism
• Intervarsity
• Christian
• Fellowship
• IVCF
• Christianity
• born-again
• faith

[MRGV7373]

Loosing your faith must a horrible experience. I have had faith now for 40 years. and these videos are just plan said. Jesus has been my life for 40 years of life and I have had crushing deaths, depression, married, children, more death. and all the time, God has been real and present. If I am deluded so be it , but the people about me say that I am a very sane person. Keep on searching and truth will be found. I am just one of the many travelers of life.

[Prplfox]

@MRGV7373 I know a lot of wonderful, sane people who believe in Jesus. For some people the Jesus message stabilizes in them and becomes a lifelong guide. For others, like me, the message ends up destroying the person. I feel like the later doesn't get communicated enough, and so on behalf of so many who go through this, I wanted to tell my story.

[MRGV7373]

@Prplfox I understand your message well. I will tell you the message of Jesus should not cause complete despair. Why? the love of God has forgiven all sin. Now if you try on your own to be "perfect" you will never feel God's love and forgiveness. Why? Perfect does not mean sinless it mean loving as God loves. Sinless humans is a complete myth and if you believe you should be "perfect" as in sinless - you will become dead in guilt. Jesus did the work not us Does this make sense?

[Prplfox]

@MRGV7373 There are two conflicts I'm identifying here. One is the Christian struggle with sin, wanting to live a life for Jesus but falling into sin (living for yourself). The other, more serious conflict, which is the one I'm talking about in this series, is knowing the gospel and wanting to believe it but not being able to. That's where the pain of a deconversion comes from, as your world is torn out from under you (that is the most destructive part, learning the message isn't true)

[MRGV7373]

@Prplfox 2nd, Do you trust what was written about Abraham Lincoln, JFK, French revolution, Roman?? It is the same faith in history that has help with archeology. What Jesus said and did comes back to trusting what the authors wrote. Much of what Jesus said is believable, much that he did is just miraculous and is beyond human understanding. Now the tough part. Do you trust what was written down? Why or Why not?? That basis of Faith in Jesus. Why would they lie to us?? Trust them

[Prplfox]

@MRGV7373 Well no, of course not. I don't even think that the Jesus portrayed in the conflicting gospel accounts is an accurate description of who Jesus was. I've taken great pains with this series to explain why, though I don't address history (yet). This series is about what happened to me when I trusted the idea of Christ that was constructed for and in me. It is because, when I was a young person searching, I got answers like yours from people I looked up to, that it became so destructive.

[min7b20billion]

These are great videos. It takes guts to open up and it's appreciated. I think one of the harder parts of de-converting is realizing that death isn't going to be what you once thought it was. My realization that there probably wont be an afterlife didn't hit me as hard as it did my one friend, he was losing sleep over the fact. I think that's one thing that religious people have trouble understanding. We're not trying to be atheists; we just can't help it.

[InternalCompass]

@Prplfox Watching your videos, reading your wise, kind comments, I began to see how consistently and lovingly you empathetically reach out and selflessly magnify the good in others as you also sweetly, gently, calm and soothe the angry, confused, hurt and lost souls among us.

When lying men wrote the myths of "the son of God", they knew the facts of their writings were untrue. The irony is - an Atheist has become a real-world person living more like Christ than any delusional Christian.

[MRGV7373]

@Prplfox The Christian faith only comes from one "proof" namely that the revelation of God in Jesus is true. This faith only has proof or basis in History.  Scientific Methodology works well to prove how thing work, but does nothing to validate time/space events. History and the events of time/space always come back to - did the historians get it right. Did the Gospel writers get the story of Jesus and write it down with accuracy and was it pass onto us with credibility. Trust?

[MRGV7373]

@Prplfox The "sinless" teaching lead all into complete despair. Why? we are only sinless when we are made new in heaven. With our human bodies and human spirits we will sin in this life even if we are Christians. So being "perfect" or trying to be perfect as in with out sin will destroy you That is what your message tells me. Your guilt is take by Jesus, it is nothing that you do. Trying to be perfect only makes it worse and despairing . Your are forgiven . Period, "it is finished"

[sighimbored]

I feel somewhat lucky, I was baptized, but after that, the subject of religion never really was talked about until my parents told me at about age 16 to "make up your own damn mind. Don't let people tell you the answers to your questions, find your own answers." Then I found /r/atheism, and I found my answers.