Born into a catholic setting. Participated quite a bit in extracurricular church activities (mission trips, soup kitchens, etc) mostly because my best friend was the son of a religious education teacher (public school students who wanted to play on our sports teams had to take after school religion classes)
The values resonated with me. The faith didnt. I never once felt anything akin to a God-like presence when I tried to pray or any other time. I thought everyone was faking, like how we pretend Santa is real. It was just tradition, I guess.
The early 2000s rolled around and I had a major edgy atheist phase thanks to Reddit. I was always anti-authority, a bit contrarian, and a massive wannabe intellectual. Listening to Sam Harris made me feel like the world’s smartest 20 year old.
Some time passed, I got some life experience, got a little wiser, and realized that not every #Atheist was a beacon of free thought and virtue. In fact, many of them were really shitty people. That was a bummer to accept.
Then I happened to meet a Christian and another one and a few more. Before I knew it I had a small epiphany one day that most of my closest friends were devout Christians. How did that happen? Not sure. I just held my tongue politely if their faith ever came up but it almost never did and if it did they were extremely understanding and accepting of our differences. I was forced to recognize that most of my atheist friends turned out to be dirtbags whereas most of the best people I knew were Christians. What a reality check that was.
I found Jordan Peterson. Gobbled up everything I found from him. He helped me reconcile some of the disdain I had for religion, faith, and the church. I fell in love with a Christian girl. I was willing to play along with her and her family just to be with her. Went to some services with her. Didn’t feel any God-like presence there though. We hit a rough patch that brought me to the point of trying to pray for the first time in like twenty years. I could swallow my pride and ask for help even from someone I didn’t believe existed if there was any chance at all it might keep us together. It didn’t, but I don’t blame anyone but myself for that.
That was a few years ago. These days with all the attacks on America, whites, Christianity, western civilization and western values, masculinity, etc I feel compelled to protect the Christian church/faith to some degree even though it doesn’t resonate with me in any direct way. I just know that has played a large part in making a lot of the best people I’ve ever known who they are and it can’t just be a coincidence that many of them are based, humble, hard working patriots that make America the place I’m willing to die to save
I haven’t
Born into a catholic setting. Participated quite a bit in extracurricular church activities (mission trips, soup kitchens, etc) mostly because my best friend was the son of a religious education teacher (public school students who wanted to play on our sports teams had to take after school religion classes)
The values resonated with me. The faith didnt. I never once felt anything akin to a God-like presence when I tried to pray or any other time. I thought everyone was faking, like how we pretend Santa is real. It was just tradition, I guess.
The early 2000s rolled around and I had a major edgy atheist phase thanks to Reddit. I was always anti-authority, a bit contrarian, and a massive wannabe intellectual. Listening to Sam Harris made me feel like the world’s smartest 20 year old.
Some time passed, I got some life experience, got a little wiser, and realized that not every #Atheist was a beacon of free thought and virtue. In fact, many of them were really shitty people. That was a bummer to accept.
Then I happened to meet a Christian and another one and a few more. Before I knew it I had a small epiphany one day that most of my closest friends were devout Christians. How did that happen? Not sure. I just held my tongue politely if their faith ever came up but it almost never did and if it did they were extremely understanding and accepting of our differences. I was forced to recognize that most of my atheist friends turned out to be dirtbags whereas most of the best people I knew were Christians. What a reality check that was.
I found Jordan Peterson. Gobbled up everything I found from him. He helped me reconcile some of the disdain I had for religion, faith, and the church. I fell in love with a Christian girl. I was willing to play along with her and her family just to be with her. Went to some services with her. Didn’t feel any God-like presence there though. We hit a rough patch that brought me to the point of trying to pray for the first time in like twenty years. I could swallow my pride and ask for help even from someone I didn’t believe existed if there was any chance at all it might keep us together. It didn’t, but I don’t blame anyone but myself for that.
That was a few years ago. These days with all the attacks on America, whites, Christianity, western civilization and western values, masculinity, etc I feel compelled to protect the Christian church/faith to some degree even though it doesn’t resonate with me in any direct way. I just know that has played a large part in making a lot of the best people I’ve ever known who they are and it can’t just be a coincidence that many of them are based, humble, hard working patriots that make America the place I’m willing to die to save
It's easier to be an atheist in a Christian country than an atheist in an atheist country.