So right now, I’m watching my wife, who was raised in a traditional Presbyterian home, start to open her mind, and really question the beliefs that she has held (due to indoctrination) her entire life. She’s been starting down this path for a long time, but the reason I blog about it right now is that last night, she made the first MAJOR step: she began to reject Christ’s divinity.
Hallelujah! I am ecstatic at this news! But it gets even better:
And last night she and I sat down and finally talked about it. She told me that, what she’s come to realize, is that by letting go of the divinity of Christ, she finally feels at Peace about religion.
As we were driving around chain-smoking (our typical habit while having deep conversations), she looked at me in the dark of the car, and she said to me, with tears in her eyes, that she finally felt at peace.
Congratulations to Olly and his intelligent and brave wife for taking such a huge step.
While rejecting the divinity of Christ is a wonderful accomplishment, Olly doesn't think that his wife will reject God and the afterlife in totality:
I think my wife will always believe in God. She’s the first person to admit that she needs that comfort (she used those words herself). She will also probably always believe in an Afterlife, again she needs the comfort that is brought.
But in the comments section of Olly's post, Sean Prophet of BlackSun Journal isn't so sure about that. And if anyone knows about deconverting from superstitions, it’s Sean Prophet:
Maybe, maybe not. She’s already started down the road to freedom. Once ‘faith’ begins to unravel, where does it end? She might eventually find that the false certitudes she was raised on will lose their attraction. This is how humanity will wake up to who we really are…one person at a time.
Amen Sean, amen.
While Olly knows his wife better than any of us bloggers do, Sean knows what he is talking about when it comes to freeing one's mind. It often doesn't stop until it hits the logical end: materialistic atheism. Sometimes it takes many more years to get that far, but the unraveling usually doesn't stop until there's nothing left to unravel.
I hope that, one day, Olly's wife no longer feels the emotional need to believe in the afterlife and God. But that's a big bridge that only she can cross. While this incident doesn't count as a point for atheism, it definitely counts as a hit against Christianity and Jesus and indeed all theistic dogma. And that's half the battle right there.
Congratulations to all the wonderful deconversions taking place amongst my circle of friends, both in real life and over the Internet. The war of ideas is going well for us reality-loving types. Let's keep the momentum going!
14 comments:
Oh my God I got over 1100 hits yesterday!!!! What the hell happened, and how do I make it happen again? I could use that kind of traffic! :-)
Aaron,
Thanks so much for the kind words, both from myself and from my wife. The biggest thing that I love about this situation is that she's gone from accepting something because she was indoctrinated, to accepting a personal level of religion. As I said, maybe she will or won't ever fully go down the path of Atheism. But she's now in control of her OWN beliefs, rather than having them taught to her. One of the more mundane things we talked about, and yet not so mundane, is that she is fully convinced now that she will never take our future kids to a worship institution of any kind. If they wish to go on their own, that's fine, they will have the free will to do so (because unlike the Christian God, we not only OFFER free will, but we GIVE IT as well ;) ), but they will not go because we force them to.
:)
-olly
I guess that last comment wasn't exactly clear (forgive me, I'm hung over in Vegas right now), but what I'm saying is that all religious choices for my wife are now her own, she's not ever going to be indoctrinted again. She's in control of her own choices.
-olly
Hell yea Olly, I am very impressed and encouraged by these events. Independent thought is a beautiful thing to see take hold especially in a person that is close to you.
Wherever her thoughts lead her, Im sure that your wife will feel great in the knowledge that they are HER thoughts now, not anyone elses!
Now if we can only get the rest of the world to think for themselves... ;-)
Haha, agreed Aaron!
BTW,congrads on 1100 hits, where'd all the traffic come from?
-olly
Congratulations to olly and his wife! I've also had some athevangelical success with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. Both were raised in a Catholic environment, but are always eager to hear my opinions of religion. My father-in-law seems to be on the verge of declaring his atheism, were it not for the deep cultural block against that, but my brother-in-law is much more enthusiastic, even joining me at the North Texas Church of Freethought.
My wife remains an apatheist, for those who are curious.
Zach -- thanks for the support, much appreciated. I was curious, as I've never heard the term, how you would define 'apatheist'.
Thanks!
-olly
This was the best thing I've read today. Thanks for blogging, Aaron, and Olly, have your wife read about eternity and see if that's what she really wants!
That is great news! I'm always happy to hear about someone letting go of irrational supersitions. Puts a big smile on my face every time, so thank you.
I finally figured out (check the comments section of this link) that the extra traffic came, as it always does, from PZ Myers.
PZ occasionally posts stuff that references and links to my little ol' Kill The Afterlife blog. Every time PZ references my blog in a post of his, I get at least 1000 unique hits that day, and usually much more than that.
I guess it helps to have the #1 science blogger on the net to be a regular reader of your blog. I have given PZ many thanks for the mentions :)
Wow, Olly and his wife have put some big smiles on a lot of peoples faces. Group hug!!!!!
haha, thanks all, group hugs all around!
-olly
The concept each of us being a piece of people and that there isNo afterlife is supported by no religion. However, there is one well-known book which is very supportive of the concept: The Old Testament. When will people learn to read? Each of us will die. Our children, however, will outlive us. The repetitive process of birth/sex/death is obvious for every living entity yet none acknowledge it.
THE CONCEPT OF AN AFTERLIFE IS INHUMANE AND IMMORAL.
There isNo need to reject god in order to accept the above fact. In the well heard-of, but not-so-well-read book of Genesis, god refers to himself as "we" and "us" and "our" and states clearly that he made man "male and female" in his image. It is also reported repetitively that god is "one". Ecclesiastes repeats on and on about how there isNo afterlife. Faith is blind. The Old Testament is obvious: Generation to generation is life.
THE CONCEPT OF AN AFTERLIFE IS INHUMANE AND IMMORAL.
Why must there be an association between god and a belief in an afterlife?
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