Pt. 2 The Exodus of My Deconversion

As I began to question my faith in Christ, I started to learn more about the world's major religions without any Christian bias clouding what I discovered.

Here are some of the highlights of what I discovered:

1. I learned that the oldest religion in the world is Hinduism.
2. I learned that the religions in the Mesopotamia region and Persia gave us a blueprint for many of the stories that would end up in the Bible.(flood story, Adam and Eve story, Garden of Eden)
3. I learned that the God of the Old Testament was a composite of many of the ancient Canaanite gods(mainly El Shaddai, El Elyon, Adonai, and Yahweh)
4. The OT did not have a concept of hell as eternal damnation or heaven as eternal bliss
5. The Adam and Eve story had a talking snake, but not a Satan
6. Hinduism has many gods which are all a manifestation of Brahma, the ultimate reality
7. Buddhism had its roots in Hinduism, like Christianity did in Judaism
8. Buddhist ideas spread from India into the Hellenic world through interaction with the troops from Alexander the Great
9. Platonic as well as other Greek philosophical ideas influenced Jewish thinkers during this period
10.The oldest vegetation-rising and dying savior god is Asaru(Osiris). His story influenced other stories about vegetation gods and goddesses throughout the Near East, including Jesus
11. The oldest religious cults were based on the divine feminine principle
12. There are only seven Pauline letters that are accepted as genuine, The other letters are thought to be forgeries
13. Generally eastern religions seek god internally and western religions seek god externally
14. There have been people throughout history who have been skeptical of gods and religion
15. I learned that Jesus is a mythical figure based off of various Greek, Egyptian, and Near East gods and goddess

After taking all of this and even more information in, I knew that at best Christianity was a remix of other religions.  I also learned that various concepts about god would change to meet the latest scientific discoveries of the day.  This lasted until scientists and philosophers had the courage to suggest that god wasn't needed to explain natural phenomenon.

I knew that my freedom and deliverance from Christianity came as a result of me actually thinking, challenging my beliefs and not just blindly following what I had been taught. The deprogramming, dismantling and destruction of my old belief system was in full swing.

Atheism 101 Pt.1 Definitions

I would like to inform you of what atheism is and what it is not along with other useful definitions. Please pay attention the bolded words.

Let's start with some basic definitions:(All definitions from the New American Oxford Dictionary unless otherwise noted)

Belief: an acceptance(emphasis added) that a statement is true or that something exists; something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion(emphasis added) or conviction

Faith: complete trust(emphasis added) or confidence in someone or something; strong belief(emphasis added) in God or in the doctrines of a religion(emphasis added), based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof

Trust: firm belief(emphasis added) in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something; acceptance(emphasis added) of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation(emphasis added)

Religion: belief in and worship(emphasis added) of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods: ideas about the relationship between science and religion

Theism: belief(emphasis added) in the existence of a God or gods, esp. belief in one god as creator of the universe, intervening in it(emphasis added) and sustaining a personal relation to his creatures

Monotheism: the doctrine or belief(emphasis added) that there is only one God

Polytheism: the belief(emphasis added) in or worship of more than one god

Deism: belief(emphasis added) in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene(emphasis added) in the universe

Pantheism: a doctrine that identifies God with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God

Agnostic: a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable(emphasis added), or that human knowledge is limited to experience(Dictionary.com)

Skeptic: a person who questions(emphasis added) the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual(Dictionary.com)

Unbelief: the state or quality of not believing(emphasis added); incredulity or skepticism, especially in matters of doctrine or religious faith(Dictionary.com)

Atheism: disbelief or lack of belief(emphasis added) in the existence of God or gods

Humanism: an outlook or system of thought(emphasis added) attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters

Theists make a claim of ultimate supernatural authority based on belief without evidence or investigation, atheists deny the claim of supernatural authority based on belief. Atheists require investigation and evidence of supernatural claims because belief is not enough.

Thanks for bearing with me through all of these definitions! I will refer to them in future Atheism 101 posts.