I Let Go Of Faith Ten years Ago Today

cofty

After more than 30 years as a JW and 9 as a born-again christian I finally let go of faith 10 years ago today...

It was on Boxing Day 2004 that news of the Asian Tsunami put the final nail in the coffin of my relationship with god. Since that time I have listened attentively to every possible argument in defense of faith; there has never been a single moment that I have felt any discomfort with my decision.

Life without god has been liberating. No longer do I have to defend the indefensible. My beliefs are now commensurate with available evidence. It is ok to say "I don't know yet", and yet there are now a thousand times more awe-inspiring truths to be grasped.

I am no longer compelled to comply with the moral edicts of an ancient book. Now I have to wrestle with complexities of real life, ponder the possible consequences of actions, and live with uncertainty.

The biggest change of all has been freedom from the pernicious lie of the christian gospel. We were not born in sin. We are not "imperfect" and we need the forgiveness of no deity.

We are part of the most wonderful species ever to inhabit planet earth. Our potential is beyond our imagination and our progress is exponential. There are atoms in your right hand that were forged in the core of exploding stars, millions of light-years from the crucible that forged atoms in your other hand. We are lucky enough to be part of the drama for a short time. It is not a rehearsal, it is the only moment of consciousness we will ever have.

Losing faith in god was deeply distressing. The loss of comforting certainties is stressful. I can honestly say that a decade without god has been more rewarding than the 4 preceding decades combined.

NVR2L8

My story is similar to yours Cofty. I no longer believe in anything that requires blind faith. I know this life is all we have and I am at peace with the fact that it will all end when I die. Today my life is less complicated and I enjoy being the master of my destiny.

DJS

Cofty,

Thank you for sharing. Having observed (and learned so much from you) you the past 18 months, the only thing surprising to me about your sojourn is the born again part. (WTF WERE you thinking?!!! LOL).

Losing my belief in god was such a systematic methodological process that, by the time I no longer believed, it was anti-climactic. A non-event. Otherwise, you capture so much of what so many of us on this site have experienced.

Thank you for being you, and thank you for being on this site. Your presence has without a doubt helped many.

millie210

I still believe in things that cannot be measured. Love being one.

I no longer believe in anything the JWs teach as "truth. That is as far as I have gotten so far. Strangely enough, just that much feels huge.

I will continue to read every word you write though Cofty because I want to challenge myself and not "rest" my belief system in some fairy tale. From here on I am open to what life will teach me.

The biggest fear I have at this point is bouncing to non belief as a reaction to being fleeced by naively believing previously. I dont want ANYTHING I do from now on the be a reaction to anything else.

Act, not react. That is my current motto.

Witness My Fury

Ditto, thanks for being here and an inspiration to many including me.

i flirted briefly with wishing there was a god and a need for the spiritual once I'd learned the TTATT, but it was an emotional response to the gaping hole in my wasted cult life and nothing more. Instead I consciously chose to to be true to myself and only go where the evidence led. It led to a god free life and the freedom to actually think is fantastic. :D

KateWild

Losing faith in god was deeply distressing. The loss of comforting certainties is stressful. - cofty

It think this is where I am at. I truly believe there is a creator, but I do because it's comfortable. You made things sound so logical to me when I came here and you don't try and push your atheism too much, you do a bit cofty, but you also get that some of us are believers and that's okay with you.

Thanks for this year cofty.

Kate xx

adjusted knowledge

I felt this way after nearly 15 years involved as a JW. I was in my early twenties and was already faded. I moved to the thought that there was still a God but we were too insignificant to matter to that being. I try to focus that this is it and live an enjoyable life. It saddens me though. Since as a child I was taught I would see my Great Aunt again. She died when I was six but I have found memories of her. I accept the fact I will never see her again. I accept the fact that when I look in my daughter's eyes that at any moment cruel fate could take either of us away. That is the reality we live in. Nature is cruel and unloving. That is our God. So live for each day and love those closest to you. It is one good reason I keep cruel and unloving people out of my life.

breakfast of champions

Interesting.

It was my faith in God that was the first to go in March of 2005, when I got sick.

As much as I knew that God most likely did not exist after that point, I still held on to the idea that I had "the truth" and somehow it was my fault for feeling the way I did.

When I "stepped down" about a year later, the reason I cited is that when I called out to God in the only true time of need I had ever had in my life, there was nothing there but a black hole.

It was in the summer of 2010 I realized "the truth" was utter bullshit. God had been gone for years by that point!

kaik

In April it will be 21 years for me what I walked away from JW faith. I stopped believing in Xtian BS couple years later. Although I do still believe in the existence of Deity, I still consider liberating from religious indoctrination and nonsense of bible.

ozbrad

I was maybe 8 or 9 and got into a discussion with another kid over the flood and creation and I said 'Well if god didn't create it who did?' and he said 'who created god'. My journey to atheism began at that point.

I Let Go Of Faith Ten years Ago Today

Share this