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. “Wait… Ruth — I was responding from my email and thought you were referencing Ark’s comment about frontal globes. LOL” – ARK’s comment?!! ARK’S? What’s with you people that you can’t tell us apart? I’M THE GOOD ONE!

    Like

  2. Ha, ha NeuroNotes – I, for one, like to go around with a happy face. You can almost see people asking themselves, “Is she really happy, or half foolish?”

    Like

  3. “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.”

    Nate, it is indeed a heavy burden to have to carry. I’ve read comment after comment from deconverts who’ve seen their loved ones tormented by this reality, so much so that they often don’t share that they no longer believe just to keep their parents and/or grandparents from dealing with insurmountable stress.

    Teaching the doctrine of hell was/is a very effective way to keep people coming back to the church. It was a brilliant and diabolical strategy that kept and continues to keep the money flowing to the religious hierarchy.

    Like

  5. “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.” – I recall, Ruth, from my very first class in Basic Psychology, that when people get a stereotype in their minds, whether if be Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, or in Kathy’s case, “Liberals,” should they ever really get to know a member of one of these groups, and discover that that person doesn’t fit the stereotype, that person becomes an “exception” to them – they continue to cling to their general belief. Only after getting to know enough of them, whichever “them” may be, does the stereotype ever fall apart.

    That’s the reason, that in the Service, the enemy is known as “Krauts,” “Gooks,” “Japs,’ and more recently, “Towelheads” – it’s easier to kill someone if your mind depersonalizes him first.

    Like

  6. “Teaching the doctrine of hell was/is a very effective way to keep people coming back to the church. It was a brilliant and diabolical strategy that kept and continues to keep the money flowing to the religious hierarchy.” neuro

    yeah, it all makes me think of the “Emperor’s New Clothes.”

    Like

  7. “ARK’s comment?!! ARK’S? What’s with you people that you can’t tell us apart? I’M THE GOOD ONE!”

    Now Arch, you have to admit that’s the first time I’ve done that to you. Ark was commenting around the same time, so while my brain saw Arch, my fingers typed Ark. But neither one of you are the “good one”. You both are equally bad to the bone in a good sort of way. Now behave or I’ll pull out my choke collar. 😈

    Like

  8. “NeuroNotes – . . . .being a little hard on him, aren’t you??” – Are you kidding, Carmen? This is her gentle cycle! Wait’ll you see her Spin Dry!

    Like

  14. OK, you guys . . . I’m laughing my arse off here and I don’t even know what the joke is. . . . 🙂

    Like

  15. “Your necks gonna hurt when I rap that choke collar around it.” – Your psycho-sexual Sadomachistic fantasies fascinate me – would you like to lie down on the couch and tell me about it –?

    Like

  17. That’s the reason, that in the Service, the enemy is known as “Krauts,” “Gooks,” “Japs,’ and more recently, “Towelheads” – it’s easier to kill someone if your mind depersonalizes him first.

    Absolutely, arch. And Kathy is all about character assassination.

    Like

  20. “Down, boy, down.” – Just when I was about to ask you to scoot over —
    (See what I mean, Carmen? “C’mere, c’mere, c’mere!” – “Get away! Get away! Get away!”)

    Like

  21. *wrap
    *neck’s

    Arch, you were so caught up in fantasy that you failed to reprimand me on spelling.

    Nate, thanks for being gracious and allowing for some silly decompression time.

    Carmen, for your own good, I’ll spare you the details. 😉

    Like

  24. I know, I know – you say you see far more “Get away!” than “C’mere,” but that’s just part of her diabolical plan.

    Like

  25. “Arch, you were so caught up in fantasy that you failed to reprimand me on spelling.” – Hey, when you’re trying to get someone to slide over and make room on the couch, it’s hardly time to go all spelling Nazi!

    Like

Comments are closed.