A Manual for Creating Atheists by Peter Boghossian (page 2)

cofty

I reasoned my way out of faith. I am not alone in that.

The facts didn't come from within me.

Apognophos

But the desire to look at the facts did.

A manual for creating an athiest! Take one part little boy subject him to unspeakable horrors, lie to him, send him to school and stir in some doubt, brought about by how he's been treated, let him observe the outside world, beat well, when he starts thinking on his own beat several more times (pound it in). Then out of sheer disbelief he turns to science for real questions. Note: I said real questions not answers the answers are for future celebration.

My recipe

fulltimestudent

Cofty

I reasoned my way out of faith. I am not alone in that. The facts didn't come from within me.

Me also.

For decades my faith was deep and strong. And I accepted the biblical teaching that 'faith' should be based on reason* and not be merely blind belief. And, I imagined (as we all do) that I had love for Yahweh and love for Jesus.

Not long before I finally saw the light, I recall I spent nearly a whole day in solitude (out in the bush) praying with rock-solid belief.

But finally, I saw the light (grin) and began to reason. This commenced during the 1975 fiasco, and a close up observation of the body language between Nathan Knorr and Freddy Franz as Nathan attempted around September 1975, in a talk to elders at the Greenacre Asembly hall, to "let us down gently." The next year they sent Canadian Doug Held (a former Aussie Branch overseer) out here to tell us that the big A could be 20 years away, but to "hold onto faith." Faith in that case would be conflated with credulity, like my friend, who has "faith" that soon he will win the lottery.

(These days I'm amazed, in occasional clashes at street stalls, that credulous witnesses will tell me that the WTS never claimed that the big A would come in 1975. What weak-minded bullshit.)

I re-read the signs, including Luke 21:32 and thought over the illogical explanation that the WTS gives to explain away the plain statement:

"Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. (RSV)"

And, realised that it could not apply to a generation over 1900 years later. Thayer's Lexicon says of the word "this". "This one, visibly present here." If we accept the gospels as being divinely inspired, then we must accept that Jesus was A FAILED prophet. His prediction simply did nto come true, just as the JWs/WTS is a failed prophet through its own failed predictions. Just as the many other Christian cults who have predicted the end (as, in the year 2000) are also clearly false prophets.

I thought again of Romans 10:17:

"So faith follows the thing heard." (NWT).

And, realised that if I followed the reasoning implicit in the text, I could believe in Buddhism, Manicheanism or Communism or any ism that managed to gain my ear.

Slowly but surely, reason prevailed over my failing faith - so they chucked me out

And, I became a free man again. Free from superstition, free from enslavement to Yahweh, free from an imaginary Jesus who I imagined had asked me to be his footstep follower.

suavojr

Thank you cofty. This is something that can help me in my journey. It might be scary to challenge our beliefs at first but reason can overcome many obstacles if we allow ourselves to think for just one moment at a time.

truthseeker674

I reasoned my way out too at an ealy age and I still have a problem with why others can't? I've been happily out since 1985 and it was only a fluke that that I found this web site. Sometimes this site reves up old childhood memories for me that make me sooooo sad. I am not sure this site is good for me, that's what my wife tells me.

Night Owl

Oh, so you guys are preaching now?

Sounds like a religion.

NightOwl

fulltimestudent

Nope, just explaining how lucky we were to escape the dead hand of jeeezuz.

Night Owl

Why do you care?

NightOwl

A Manual for Creating Atheists by Peter Boghossian

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