Christian Beliefs
Religion
I was so Christian that I wouldn’t even look at a scantily clad woman on tv. I would literally look away. Ahahahaha.
Crazy, right?
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There is a lot of genuinely important stuff on this page.
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This is a part of my life history, just for the sake of your understanding my life better.
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I was very reluctant to date a non-Christian in High School. It was strongly discouraged by, and in, the books I read. It wasn't a strict rule that I was totally obliged to follow. But I was extremely reluctant to date a non-Christian. I was even reluctant to date Catholics.
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Some more backstory
Dating in high school
Back in High School, I had a rule that I wasn’t going to date anyone who wasn’t a Christian. You’re not supposed to be “unequally yolked” in a relationship with a non believer. I also wasn’t going to date anyone who was a Catholic, because I was a little unsure of Catholics and Catholicism.
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Bible Verse
I believed in scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 6:14, “do not be yolked together with unbelievers.”
“Warning Against Idolatry
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.”
2 Corinthians 6:14-16
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It wasn’t a sin to have a non-Christian girlfriend. But it was something probably best avoided. The Christian books I read at the time advised against it.
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Lust and sex
I thought that lust and dwelling on lustful thoughts was wrong. And that it was important to avoid sexual immorality.
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I used to believe in scriptures such as:
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
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Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Matthew, sermon on the mount
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I used to memorise scripture, and try to live according to it.
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Should I have a girlfriend at all? Back then..
Ummm. But I thought that I probably wouldn’t get one at all. There was some logic to it: celibacy was compulsory. I was going to remain celibate. And if one is celibate, then getting girlfriend is a waste of time. Because what is the point of having a girlfriend if you can’t sleep with her. Why not just have a friend?
Also, if you have a girlfriend, there will be the temptation to have sex. And sometimes… It just kind of happens? So… why run the risk (This was my reasoning as a teenager). And accidental pregnancy is an issue.
Also, given that I was supposed to avoid “lust”, and the dwelling on sexual thoughts and fantasies of women that aren’t mine (take captive every thought), it simplifies things to not have a girlfriend. If I were to have a girlfriend, I’ll get too close to her, and feel desires and have thoughts that I’m not supposed to have.
No girlfriend = reduces “attack surface” for lust, and unwanted sinful sexual thoughts and fantasies.
If I had a girlfriend, even to fantasise about sleeping with her was a sin. Or to dwell on the wrong thoughts was a sin.
Even to dwell on the thought (mentally) of having sex with someone who didn’t belong to be, and I wasn’t married to, was technically wrong.
(I also wanted a smart girl, which limited the size of dating pool quite a bit. That is, if I had anyone at all.)
Soooo, that’s some background to why I wasn’t chasing girls back when I was young.
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Up until 2016, I was a Christian.
I quit being a Christian in 2016, when I came to believe that it was false. I.e. that my beliefs did not comport with reality. I was approximately 26 at the time of de-conversion. I became irreligious.
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Beliefs
I was what other people would call a “born again” Christian. I preferred the term “evangelical”.
I believed in the literal birth, sinless life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ. And that he would come again. I believed in the forgiveness of sins. And that eternal life and the eternal everlasting soul exists, that we have eternal life in heaven as believers. That God hears and answers prayers. And that miracles exist. And that angels and demons literally exist as spiritual entities. I believed that hell exists also, but had some other beliefs there (maybe it was just eternal separation from God, followed by non existence?).
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Apostles Creed
Although it was not my preferred creed, I believed in the apostles creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places
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Ten Commandments
I believed in the Ten Commandments
1. You shall have no gods before me.
2. You shall not make any idols to worship.
3. You shall not take the Lord's name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
5. Honour your father and your mother.
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.
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Updates to the Ten Commandments:
And I believed the “updated” version, from Christ in the sermon in the mount, which turned lust into adultery. “If you so much as lust after a woman, you have commit adultery with her in your heart.” Which is to say, you have committed a sin for which you need to ask forgiveness.
And in the alternate version of murder, which means you can commit the equivalent of murder in your heart by hating. If you hate a brother or sister in Christ in your heart, you have “murdered” him. And so you must repent and reconcile as soon as possible. That is, hate is important, as is the heart.
I also believed in do not covet. Seriously. Do not covet wealth, intellect, looks, athletic ability, status, musical talent, career, success (yes, even academic success or acclaim, like a professorship, a PhD, a fields prize or a Nobel prize).
Do not steal (which included intellectual property, music and software, and employer time - and yes, slacking can sometimes be considered theft of employer time).
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Sermon on the mount:
I believed in the divorce segment of the sermon on the mount, the no oaths segment, and the storing up treasure in heaven segment. I believed I the “no eye for an eye” segment, and the love your enemies segment. I also believed in chapter 7:1-6 (segment about hypocrisy and casting judgement). Although there is some room for interpretation on that last bit. Divorce is not allowed.
I believed in going out of my way to be good to people and fair towards people. Even if they were not good to you.
I very strongly believed in “blessed are the peacemakers”.
I liked the sermon on the mount. I used to read the Bible a lot.
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Back when I was a Christian:
I believed in being actively nice to people, be kind to them, even if they aren’t nice to you. Be kind to people even if they are different to you. Always. Actively. Go out of your way to treat others well, even if it is inconvenient. Be loving and kind to all people “because they are made in the image and likeness of God”. Umm. But you don’t have to be a wet dishcloth about it. Genuine version of being _decent_ to people. I was sarcastic, witty, but genuinely loving and kind.
I could over explain, but choose not to.
Umm. Fornication was unacceptable. Celibacy or marriage with total faithfulness was the deal.
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For reference sake, some scripture:
Matthew Chapter 5, sermon on the mount, NIV
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
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"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’[f]32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Eye for Eye
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?Are not even the tax collectors doing that?47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
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I also believed that people could be forgiven by God for sinning (aka doing something wrong).
I believed that as a Christian that you could “miss the mark” (I.e. sin), but then acknowledge you had done wrong, ask for God’s forgiveness, be forgiven, and move on.
Ps: miss the mark is another definition of sin…
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Umm. I was a decent person, and I tried to do what is right. I wasn’t “infallible”, I was subject to normal human mistakes! But I always tried to be a good person and do whatever was right.
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In mid to late 2016, I quit Christianity because I came to see that it was false. I had been listening to the atheist experience radio show, the thinking atheist radio show, and some debates of people like Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. I also read Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman.
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When I quit, I felt like throwing up.
Within a couple of weeks to months, I was crippled and unable to walk down the street. They ruined my health so badly, so quickly.
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PS: shortly after I de converted I thought that I should have slept with more women! Particularly in high-school! Including Jess MacKenzie! But then they broke my health completely.
PPS: I did not know what the cause of my declining health had been.
Note: I hope I wrote this well enough!
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Ummmmmm.
I wasn’t “whatevering” women back before the age of 26. I was avoiding relationships by choice!!? And then I was married and faithful lol.
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Added note: this is silly, but one of the first things I said after I deconverted was “I have wasted my life”, “I should have slept with more women” and then I thought of Jess (one of the reasons I lost my friendships with Jess Mackenzie when young is because I took the admonition to “flee from temptation” seriously 2 Timothy 22-23, 1 Corinthians 2:18). Don’t take this not as my final and ultimate point of view, more just a throw away line.
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I used to read books like “Prayer” and “Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering” by Timothy Keller. And “The Overcoming Life” by D.L. Moody.
I used to read books like “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis, “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.
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I read a kids book called “what would Jesus do” when I was young. I have been told that, “it shows”.
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I used to believe scriptures such as:
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
And
Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
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I used to memorise scripture, and try to live according to it. Being a Christian is kind of weird in hindsight, but it was okay.
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“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Matthew, sermon on the mount
I also believed that to “look at a woman lustfully” was a problem, or to dwell on thoughts of lust. But it wasn’t a problem if a thought flitted through, only if I “dwelled on it”. Basically, you aren’t supposed to lust.
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I was also supposed to avoid lasciviousness, which is where you become characterised by lust. Seriously.
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I was a Christian. I didn’t believe in divorce. When you say “till death do we part”, you stick to it.
{With very few exceptions (like infidelity, meaningful physical violence [lol], or severe drug use, severe gambling addiction, severe alcoholism, or perhaps severe long lasting abuse, i.e. premeditated deliberate ongoing cruelty, of an intolerable nature). I think that’s it. Otherwise, you stay married.}
And she was taking care of me!! Keeping me going! Keeping me alive, because I thought she cared. And I was really, really unwell.
My point of view was that I became sick when we were young, but she stuck by me. And was one of the few people who actually believed me when I said that I was sick. And I had been sick* since before we started university.
*sometimes I coped better than others, but I had been sick from 18 onwards. They often did something to me daily.
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Gossip:
In Christianity, gossip is considered a serious sin, condemned throughout the Bible for its destructive nature—ruining reputations, causing division, and betraying trust, with scripture urging believers to stop it, speak life, and focus on building others up rather than tearing them down, often by applying the Golden Rule: treat others as you wish to be treated. Key rules involve refusing to spread rumors, directly confronting gossip, seeking truth over idle talk, and remembering that words reflect the heart, leading to accountability for every idle word spoken.
Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. Verse in James
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Golden Rule:
Matthew 7:12, is: "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets"
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I consumed an enormous number of sermons, Bible studies and podcasts from Christian teachers and writers.
Especially, I consumed an enormous number of sermons from pastors and preachers, as well as Christian books.
I had a very strong belief in the supernatural.
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