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what's the one thing you can't believe you used to believe?

of course creationism jumps out at me first but since leaving the church and becoming a secular humanist, i've gone back and read the gospels again and i can't believe that i didn't see how weird jesus was, throwing demons into pigs, healing random people, he got angry with his disciples for not understanding him, then of course the idea of hell, and stepping back and looking at him objectively he never spoke against many ills of the day, so i can't believe i used to believe that jesus was someone i wanted to emulate

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Permalink Reply by Vera on March 17, 2011 at 7:49pm

Salvation is a big one for me. Why is it necessary for anyone to be saved, and for there to be a whole complicated story about it? Competing stories, I might add.

Permalink Reply by clinton lopez on March 18, 2011 at 7:28am

the blood jars me now, the idea of the saving blood of a unblemished innocent that must be shed really does my head in, bonkers!

Permalink Reply by Diana on March 18, 2011 at 5:23pm

Me too. From the hymn "Power in the Blood" that I grew up with to the current rock praise song "Paint the Town Red (With the Blood of Jesus)", it really sickens me now. How could I ever have thought it was normal to sing gory lyrics like that? And with an impassioned, joyful attitude?

Permalink Reply by John Kiernan on March 18, 2011 at 3:37pm

And if you don't get it just right, to hell you go.

Permalink Reply by Andree Saxby on March 18, 2011 at 1:16am

One thing? One thing leads to more things, but if I had to start somewhere I'd say Noah's ark. Thirty million species? Even if we assume "parent" species which differentiated into the present population, tell me how these postdeluvian creatures gave rise to the current estimate in 4500 years.

If all species alive today were alive on the ark . . . Adam named them all? And the animals which have clearly evolved to live in extreme conditions (penguins, etc) somehow survived in the Garden of Eden's ambient temperatures, alongside naked humans, with all that blubber? And the animals who are carnivores with canine teeth and an inability to digest cellulose miraculously developed those features the moment Eve ate the fruit? And plants and animals grew defenses such as spines and poisons instantaneously? And humans suddenly felt discomfort, and women's pelvises became too small to birth children painlessly?

Which reminds me, as I mentioned briefly in an earlier post . . . the Tower of Babel? Despite fascinating research that shows beautiful phylogenic trees based on clear linguistic similarities traceable to about 50,000 years ago, I'm supposed to believe the Tower of Babel did it?

I forget, though. This is God we're talking about. Anything is possible because he's God. Omnipotent and such. Rules of logic don't apply.

Really, nearly every single thing about the Biblical Christianity and religion as a whole is so intellectually unpalatable to me that I'm embarrassed it didn't bother me sooner. Nearly daily I'm hit with a conceptual nugget that causes me to stop and wonder, "People [believers] are okay with that? I was okay with that?" Objections range from technical holes as mentioned above to larger issues of salvation, evil, sin, redemption, and such. It's like re-watching an old movie from my childhood now, as an adult, and seeing the creative plotwork and mature jokes that I never saw before. It's actually quite exciting.

Permalink Reply by clinton lopez on March 18, 2011 at 7:26am

i too am constantly boggled by what i used to believe, what was I thinking? or maybe i wasn't thinking at all, i'm beginning to suspect that just believing in the concept of god lead me to not thinking, when 'god did it' is always the cop-out, we don't have to sweat out a real answer, how scary

Permalink Reply by John Kiernan on March 18, 2011 at 9:14am

Where to start? Early God was only God to Isrialites and he did not hesitate to have the other folks killed.Such as the ammenites. Men, Women Children and animals.

Permalink Reply by Diana on March 18, 2011 at 5:26pm

I can't believe I ever though EGW was a "true prophet". I actually bought the line that bible god "used the weakest of vessels" in choosing a woman who suffered a severe head injury as a child and only had a third grade education. That supposedly proved that her "beautiful" writings were inspired and couldn't have possibly been her own. Not that they were. LOL.

Permalink Reply by Andree Saxby on March 18, 2011 at 6:04pm

Ahh yes, this too.

Permalink Reply by Will Faithless Sophia on March 19, 2011 at 12:42am

Faith, I cannot believe in faith. Really the biggest, and first turn off from religion for me would have to be the fact that my prayers were never answered, ever.

Permalink Reply by Diana on March 19, 2011 at 2:55am

Here's an embarrassing admission: Because I was taught that God could read our minds but Satan couldn't, I was cautious not to say/pray certain things out loud that might tip him (Satan) off.

The world is a much friendlier place without an invisible lion roaming around seeking whom he might devour.

Not to mention that I no longer have to worry about which friends, neighbors or even relatives might turn me in when the Sunday Laws get passed. :)

Permalink Reply by Vera on March 19, 2011 at 3:31am

I was careful about what I said out loud, too. Although I also used to think that Satan has had a lot of experience (thousands of years!) observing humans, so there was a good chance he already knew what I was thinking.