Agnosticism, Atheism, Bible Study, Christianity, Faith, God, Religion, Truth

Letter to Kathy Part 2

Nate

You know Kathy, we’ve been fairly blunt with you today. Flippant, too. And it’s tough when people talk to/about you that way. I’m sorry for that.

If we could cut through all the rhetoric for a second, I’d like to commiserate with you. A little over 4 years ago, I was a very dedicated Christian. I had some doubts, but they weren’t about the Christian faith, just my understanding of it.

I felt like there were problems in my beliefs about the gospel. I believed in a literal Hell, and I believed a lot of people would be going there. But I had a very hard time squaring that with a loving God. I had matured enough to realize that most people were pretty decent. Not perfect, certainly, but good people who cared about others and typically wanted to do the right thing. I didn’t think such people deserved Hell. In fact, like Paul, I often thought that if God would accept it, I’d gladly go to Hell myself, if it would save my friends and family. And if everyone else could be added into that deal too, even better.

So if I felt that way, could I be more compassionate than God? Of course not. But I had a very hard time finding anything in the Bible that backed up an idea that most people, regardless of creed or  belief would be saved.

I didn’t give up though. I knew about Universalists, so I decided to read up on their reasons for thinking everyone went to Heaven. It sounded good, but I just wasn’t convinced by their arguments. I just didn’t see the Bible teaching such a doctrine, and I still believed the Bible was the inerrant word of God.

I was in a state of flux.

And that’s the position I was in when I first ran across articles that pointed out flaws in the Bible. I was shocked by what the articles said, but since I didn’t have any answers against them at the moment, I got busy with research. I didn’t even comment on the articles — I just went to work. It wasn’t about winning any arguments; it was simply a search for answers.

I think that frame of mind I was in made all the difference for me. Deep down, I was already struggling. The doctrines I had long believed in, and even taught to others, didn’t fit together in my mind as well as they once had.

That’s probably the difference between you and me. I get the feeling that you question nothing about your faith. Not trying to put you down about that; just making an observation.

For me, discovering that the Bible was not the perfect book I had always thought it to be, and finding out that some of these church leaders I had always admired knew of these problems but never spoke of them, helped me make sense of a lot of things. It took time, and it wasn’t easy to come to the realizations, but everything finally fell into place for me when I realized Christianity was just another religion. For the first time, I finally understood the sentiment of that line from “Amazing Grace,” I once was blind, but now I see…

I don’t know if that’s helpful to you at all. Maybe one day it will be. Maybe one day, something will make you ask a few questions, and you’ll think back to those non- believers who were so insistent that Christianity was certainly not the only way. If that day comes, I hope you’ll find this exchange helpful and realize you’re not alone.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Nate

2,018 thoughts on “Letter to Kathy Part 2”

  1. “If Christianity is blamed for The Inquisition
    Then should atheism be blamed for the atrocities done by the Khmer Rouge?    ”

    Portal, you’re far too intelligent, not to know that won’t fly. The Khmer Rouge weren’t committing those atrocities on behalf of Atheism.

    Like

  2. “The only facts that are actual facts are the things that Kathy believes. If she doesn’t believe it, it can’t possibly be true.” – and note, Ruth, how late she was up, posting. I’m sensing a serious emotional problem, a compulsion.

    Like

  3. “Portal, you’re far too intelligent, not to know that won’t fly. The Khmer Rouge weren’t committing those atrocities on behalf of Atheism.

    I think the point Ryan is trying to make is that extremism in any ideology can be blamed for atrocities and genocide. It need not be religious.

    The thing is this kind of extremism reflects a mental disorder and even if there were no religion, these mentally disturbed people would cling onto some ideology to carry out their aggression. Religion, especially the Abrahamic faiths, just seem to give them permission to do so and claim they have “right”(righteousness) on their side.

    Like

  4. “The thing is this kind of extremism reflects a mental disorder and even if there were no religion, these mentally disturbed people would cling onto some ideology to carry out their aggression. Religion, especially the Abrahamic faiths, just seem to give them permission to do so and claim they have “right”(righteousness) on their side.”

    Ruth, I couldn’t agree more.

    Like

  6. Yes, I have to echo Ruth’s point here.

    Obviously, most Christians today find the Inquisition, the Crusades, land grabs under “Manifest Destiny,” and whatnot to be abhorrent. There are always baser motivations for those kinds of atrocities, and just being a Christian does not lead one to such things.

    At the same time, having been raised in a fundamentalist household that believed in biblical inerrancy, I grew up believing that Hell was a real place, and that most people I knew were probably going there. I believed that God literally commanded all Canaanites should be massacred, and that it was the right thing. Those kinds of teachings don’t happen in every Christian home, and if Ryan ever has kids, I’m sure he’ll raise them in a loving and accepting environment that will help them grow into well-adjusted, empathetic adults. But Ryan, while we can attribute many of the horrors brought about by Christianity throughout history to misunderstanding the gospel, it’s much harder to do that with the straightforward passages of the OT that show God acting just as brutal. So I would just caution you to think about those aspects of your religion… I think some of the comments here have shown how the harsher parts of Christianity can lead to some destructive and unhealthy perspectives.

    Like

  7. “when their frontal lobes (rational thinking) are fully developed which is between ages 25 and 30” – so THAT’S why I’ve always had better luck with women under 25! Good to know!
    (Admittedly, I was more interested in their frontal globes, than their frontal lobes –)

    Like

  11. And to expound on Nate’s point a bit more:

    I think that people with these sorts of mental disorders seek out and cling onto these extremist variations of religion for that very reason. They have something wrong with them that makes them abhor another race, another sexuality, another religion, or what have you so they seek out that which confirms their hatred and act upon it accordingly.

    Like

  12. @NN

    “Red states, blue states, and divorce: Understanding the impact of conservative protestantism on regional variation in divorce rates”

    Oh dear! A study by a Liberal Arts Professor from a city considered a hotbed of liberals/atheists. I’m afraid that’s going to go over like a lead balloon. 😀

    Like

  13. Wait… Ruth — I was responding from my email and thought you were referencing Ark’s comment about frontal globes. LOL

    Ha! It still may be applicable. lol

    Like

  15. At the same time, having been raised in a fundamentalist household that believed in biblical inerrancy, I grew up believing that Hell was a real place, and that most people I knew were probably going there.”

    Nate, I was raised a Catholic, and while my parents didn’t teach me about hell, I was strongly indoctrinated by priests in church and nuns in Catholic school and CCD classes (Continuing Catholic Development — offered to parish children from preschool, age 3, through eighth grade) about hell and told that most people were going there (primarily because they were not Catholics).

    Like

  18. @Neuro

    Yeah, it’s a heavy burden to live with.

    My parents were doing the best they could — I really don’t harbor any resentment over it. But I feel very sorry for them that they have to live under the same burden. My mom has always been very close with her extended family: aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. But she thinks they’re all bound for Hell because they aren’t part of the “right” church. Each time one of them passes away, it’s tough.

    Like

  20. NeuroNotes – . . . .being a little hard on him, aren’t you??

    With Arch double entendreing about “frontal globes” one has to wonder where the little hard on is?

    And there goes the neighbourhood…….

    Like

  21. “I think the point Ryan is trying to make is that extremism in any ideology can be blamed for atrocities and genocide. It need not be religious.” – yes, I know, and I think I’ve come to know him well enough by now to know that he’s not trying to be duplicitous, but I also believe that he’d agree it’s a poor analogy.

    Like

  22. “Oh dear! A study by a Liberal Arts Professor from a city considered a hotbed of liberals/atheists. I’m afraid that’s going to go over like a lead balloon. :D”

    LOL — Ron, unless it comes from Bronze Age canons, containing no original manuscripts and copied over and over and over by scribes who made hundred’s of thousands of copying errors, then altered by men with the need to control the masses for filthy lucre’s sake, and selectively collected and published during the Middle ages, again by men addicted to power and money, ain’t gonna sink in to that thick skull of hers except what she hears from her parents, preachers, Fox News’er and fundamentalists fans. I just had some spare time on my hands. 😉

    Like

  23. “Whats that say about you?” – that I’m a consummate connoisseur of the female form?

    Like

Comments are closed.