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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
 Posted - 05/29/2009 : 04:37:59
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Atheist reader Santiago
has a friend (let's call him Bob) who is a fundamentalist Christian… or used to be, anyway. After several years of the two men discussing and debating faith, Bob has finally admitted that his faith is under severe stress and that he has “very serious doubts about the validity of Christianity” — Bob now accepts evolution, among other things.
But this has led to a major problem.
Santiago writes:
The problem is this: he's feeling miserable at the moment. He has a fundamentalist wife who will not be converting to atheism (or even moderate Christianity) anytime soon. Almost his entire family is also like this, as well as most of his friends. His parents already believe he is going to hell because of his belief in evolution.
You can probably imagine the situation, relatives calling to say they're praying for him, and so on. In particular I think he is also devastated by the fact that he has made every major decision in his life based on what he thought was God's will, but now finds that there is no comforting divine plan and that he may well have made important decisions in his life for the wrong reasons.
In short, he was much happier being religious.
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My answer:
If the word ‘happiness' has any meaning or importance, then it does so only in dealing with the world that exists. What meaning is there in a ‘happiness' that is grounded in unreality? Why is that kind of ‘happiness' something to be sought or valued?
If ‘happiness' is important, then the important thing that we need to remember from his upbringing is not that you learned religion, but the extent to which you learned to be happy or unhappy with reality.
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I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 05:14:41 [Permalink]
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| It's a tough one for sure, not sure if that marriage can be saved without his pretending everything is normal. The wife married a fundie and has a legit beef IMO about this, it's a deal breaker for most people who dedicate their life to their religion. I know if my woman turned up Southern Baptist one day, it would not go well. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 08:39:44 [Permalink]
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Yep....I'm am pretty sure that happiness can have nothing to do with reality. Remember "Ignorance is Bliss".
This relates directly to the first statement in my sig. Dealing with reality might not be the happiest route to take but I'll take it every time. (At least until REALLY convincing virtual reality shows up) |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 16:41:33 [Permalink]
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This guy's in such a fix. If I were in his peculiar situation, I'd consider simply pretending to be a Christian, and keeping my critical thinking to myself around fundy family and friends. If even that doesn't work, I'd hit the road, and find real friends, and a new family.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 05/29/2009 16:42:03 |
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I've successfully deconverted him - now what?
