
Yes, that's exactly what I felt.  My heart just felt that what I was
being taught was *wrong* -- a basically good message, but framed in
errors.  I could not with a clear conscience accept that women were
somehow not equal to men, that homosexuals are "guilty" of their
lifestyle, that pride in one's work is a bad thing, that Jesus died
for me -- I don't want ANYBODY to die for me, especially as an
impersonal act where the person can't possibly even *know* me well
enough to really know if I'm worth dying for or not.

I was never able to accept the bit about Jesus's death being a good
thing.  If that means that I'm just not comprehending a basic message
of Christianity, then so be it.  Maybe I'm just not compatible with
Christianity.  I just refuse to follow rules blindly, and since I
can't even convince myself that your god even EXISTS in the way you
describe it, I've got to just follow my own conscience in these matters.


Don't think that my morals are shoddy or nonexistent just because I
don't believe in your god.  I will not steal, and I will not murder --
not because I fear divine repudiation, but because these just *aren't*
in my character.  You may think there's nothing keeping me from just
running around on a murdering spree, stealing things when I'm able,
insulting people for the heck of it, because I'm not answerable to
anyone; but you'd be wrong.  I'm answerable to myself.  A life like
that would be a cheap life; I happen to want to earn respect in myself.


My initial break with Christianity came after a lot of soul-searching
and a lot of wondering why I could no longer feel the 'presence' of
God with me.  I finally decided that I had once "felt" this presence
just as I had "felt" my mighty teddy bear beside me when I was a
little tyke, protecting me from the monsters under the bed -- that I
had believed in God just as I had believed in the teddy bear, as
something of an emotional crutch to protect me from perceived dangers.

Since then, I've never abandoned the possibility that maybe your
supernatural trinity does exist.  But there are a few times when, in
my darkened room by my bed, I have set aside everything I believe for
a moment and called out to whatever's out there, because I want to
know the truth even if it means abandoning everything I know.  And I
have not yet received an answer.


Nope.  It may well be unknowable.  Scientists have suggested that the
universe may be finite and wrap around on itself (the three-dimensional
universe may be mapped onto a four-dimensional supersphere in the same
way you can map a two-dimensional plane onto a three-dimensional
sphere; see _Sphereland_, the sequel to _Flatland_, for more thoughts
on this).  Our entire universe might just be an electron in a four-
dimensional universe, which in turn may only be an insignificant speck
in a universe above that, and so on and so forth until the variables
become too much for us to even speculate on.

That is, there's no possible way for us to know exactly how we came to
be, so there's no reason at all to believe that your God exists nor
had anything to do with it.


Christians have provided me with nothing except quotes from your holy
book, and all sorts of tactics to try to get me to believe: guilt
trips, insinuations that I'm without morals, arguments from disbelief
("how can you possibly believe that God *doesn't* exist?"), and so
forth.  All I'm asking is for you to convince me.  I want to be convinced,
but it's not going to be easy.


Having had years upon years of contact with your religion from both
the inside and the outside, I view it as harmful in many ways.  It
preys on people who want to find meaning in their lives, and once it's
got these people, it teaches them to have pity (and sometimes starkly
intolerant) of others who do not share these views.  Maybe you'll say
that your religion doesn't teach that -- but I've got to judge
Christianity from the Christians I know.

I feel that it is entirely possible and good to have faith in one's
self, and to be a positive influence on society for no better reason
than that.

So I hope that my words in this newsgroup will at least make some
people think.  I want Christians to realize that there are perfectly
valid lifestyles and opinions that have nothing to do with their deity
whatsoever, and I want people who are considering Christianity to
realize that Christianity does not hold the sole key to a happy,
fulfilled life.

I have known some very nice Christians who have done some very nice
things.  I think what sets these people apart from the general masses
is that they recognize that their religious beliefs may be wrong, and
they know the weaknesses of their religion, yet they still decide to
believe, but they keep their beliefs to themselves and do not think
any less of people who don't agree with them.


Precisely my point.  You've still not given me a reason to be a
Christian instead of a Buddhist or a Moslem...


... just as the Moslems aren't religious, and the Buddhists aren't
religious.  Who *is* religious, then?
