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Year Without God | a former pastor's journey into atheism
A Year Without God: A Former Pastor's Journey Into Atheism | Ryan J. Bell
Apparently Ryan J. Bell is dissatisfied with his church's teachings and/or stance w.r.t. to homosexuality and other stuff.
I don't know if he is for real are not. There have been others that have 'tried atheism' and they have been hollow and dishonest about the so-called atheist experience. They made interesting observations like "I felt cold inside". Mr Bell uses words like atheist's "sacred texts", trinity of New Atheists, or non-faith. He is treating atheism like another religion or another chile recipe or new coat.
Mr Bell thinks he can 'try on' atheism. 'try on' are his words and his punctuation. Already he is demonstrating an enormous ignorance or he is being dishonest because you can't 'try on' a disbelief.
Atheism does not have a dogma to 'try on',
Atheism does not have rituals to 'try on',
Atheism does not have holy days to observe,
Atheism does not have sacred texts, saints or a trinity.
Atheism is not necessarily non-religious (*GASP wtf!. yes, several religions do not require a belief in a god.)
Atheism is disbelief, pure and simple. Atheism is disbelief of theistic claims. (It is not the assertion that gods do not exist.)
How can anyone force disbelief? How can anyone prove their disbelief? It is not possible.
Disbelief is the null position versus any claim. Why do so many people have enormous difficulty grasping this concept? If disbelief is not the null position to every claim, what is the null position? Think about that.
If disbelief is not your personal null position towards a claim, you are gullible. I have 100 acres of amazing water front property in Florida, I just know you would love, so PM me because I need to liquidate it ASAP!
Every claim must be supported by rational and justifiable evidence.
I am a nice guy. I can outplay Tiger Woods at golf. I am a millionaire. I am James T. Kirk from the starship Enterprise. I have $100 in my left pocket. Santa lives at the North Pole. Obamacare is going to work. Obamacare is not going to work. The earth is flat. Gods exist. Gods don't exist. This chair is made of wood. These are all claims that require empirical, falsifiable evidence before rational belief is justified. Some beliefs are easy to justify rationally and others not so much. Belief is binary. Either you do or you don't believe something. You can't force it, switch it on/off like a light or otherwise manipulate it. However, you can study the reasons for your belief. Are they justified? Are they rational? Does anyone want to believe in something irrationally or unjustifiably?
At best this 'experiment' amounts to a simulation of someone's experience after they have announced their disbelief in the existence of gods. It would have been more intellectually honest to actually just make the announcement and then write about the experience after a year. That would have been fascinating. It would have been like a long term experiment similar to the Mormon pastor who disguised himself as homeless man in church to test his congregation's actions. [rant]The Mormon bishop story is interesting because he doesn't blame himself for the actions of his flock. If his flock is not acting like christians, should he not be berating himself for being a pool teacher?[/rant]
If Ryan Bell is truly in crisis w.r.t. to deities, then he should study the reasons for his beliefs. Are they justified? Are they rational?
If he needs a starting point he can try The Clergy Project - Home Page which caters to active and former pastors. For just plain atheism, he can visit Agnosticism / Atheism - Skepticism & Atheism for Atheists & Agnostics. If he prefers an audio-visual input he can try The Atheist Experience TV Show or watch the many Youtube videos from Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris and Dillahunty.
A Year Without God: A Former Pastor's Journey Into Atheism | Ryan J. Bell
Apparently Ryan J. Bell is dissatisfied with his church's teachings and/or stance w.r.t. to homosexuality and other stuff.
[...]I really didn't fit within the church anymore. I had been an outspoken critic of the church's approach to our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered members -- that approach being exclusion or, at best, second class membership ("we won't kick you out but you can't participate in leadership"). Through the years, I had also been a critic of the church's treatment of women, their approach to evangelism and their tunnel-vision approach to church growth.
I don't know if he is for real are not. There have been others that have 'tried atheism' and they have been hollow and dishonest about the so-called atheist experience. They made interesting observations like "I felt cold inside". Mr Bell uses words like atheist's "sacred texts", trinity of New Atheists, or non-faith. He is treating atheism like another religion or another chile recipe or new coat.
Mr Bell thinks he can 'try on' atheism. 'try on' are his words and his punctuation. Already he is demonstrating an enormous ignorance or he is being dishonest because you can't 'try on' a disbelief.
Atheism does not have a dogma to 'try on',
Atheism does not have rituals to 'try on',
Atheism does not have holy days to observe,
Atheism does not have sacred texts, saints or a trinity.
Atheism is not necessarily non-religious (*GASP wtf!. yes, several religions do not require a belief in a god.)
Atheism is disbelief, pure and simple. Atheism is disbelief of theistic claims. (It is not the assertion that gods do not exist.)
How can anyone force disbelief? How can anyone prove their disbelief? It is not possible.
Disbelief is the null position versus any claim. Why do so many people have enormous difficulty grasping this concept? If disbelief is not the null position to every claim, what is the null position? Think about that.
If disbelief is not your personal null position towards a claim, you are gullible. I have 100 acres of amazing water front property in Florida, I just know you would love, so PM me because I need to liquidate it ASAP!
Every claim must be supported by rational and justifiable evidence.
I am a nice guy. I can outplay Tiger Woods at golf. I am a millionaire. I am James T. Kirk from the starship Enterprise. I have $100 in my left pocket. Santa lives at the North Pole. Obamacare is going to work. Obamacare is not going to work. The earth is flat. Gods exist. Gods don't exist. This chair is made of wood. These are all claims that require empirical, falsifiable evidence before rational belief is justified. Some beliefs are easy to justify rationally and others not so much. Belief is binary. Either you do or you don't believe something. You can't force it, switch it on/off like a light or otherwise manipulate it. However, you can study the reasons for your belief. Are they justified? Are they rational? Does anyone want to believe in something irrationally or unjustifiably?
At best this 'experiment' amounts to a simulation of someone's experience after they have announced their disbelief in the existence of gods. It would have been more intellectually honest to actually just make the announcement and then write about the experience after a year. That would have been fascinating. It would have been like a long term experiment similar to the Mormon pastor who disguised himself as homeless man in church to test his congregation's actions. [rant]The Mormon bishop story is interesting because he doesn't blame himself for the actions of his flock. If his flock is not acting like christians, should he not be berating himself for being a pool teacher?[/rant]
If Ryan Bell is truly in crisis w.r.t. to deities, then he should study the reasons for his beliefs. Are they justified? Are they rational?
If he needs a starting point he can try The Clergy Project - Home Page which caters to active and former pastors. For just plain atheism, he can visit Agnosticism / Atheism - Skepticism & Atheism for Atheists & Agnostics. If he prefers an audio-visual input he can try The Atheist Experience TV Show or watch the many Youtube videos from Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris and Dillahunty.