Belief Archives - Page 2 of 2 - The Gravity of Guilt

How I Experience Church Now That I No Longer Believe in God

Alex Carlyle | May 14, 2019

If the church you attend/attended is/was anything like mine, the mantra “Bring your bible, notepad, pen and a friend” would have been repeated to you so many times that it’s going to stay with you until your dying day. Those who managed to fulfil this edict were celebrated by the leadership team each week as though they were the best performing salesman at an internet security company. Walking said friend “down the front” at the end of the service to…

Christianity, God

Sometimes, I Miss Jesus

Ruby Claire | January 25, 2019

Sometimes, I miss Jesus. I miss the sense of assurance I felt in pain and heartbreak, in sickness and death. I miss the sense of assurance I felt during the joyful moments, too. A birth, a wedding, reaching the peak of a mountain. For 22 years of my life, I believed everything had a God-ordained purpose and was working for the good of His Kingdom. Even the poverty, the natural disasters, the bloodshed of millions of innocents… that was for…

Atheism, Christianity

I Tried To Read A Book By An Atheist But Couldn’t

Ruby Claire | August 21, 2017

I sat down to read a book by an atheist the other day. What better way to validate my religious hesitations than by reading someone who vehemently opposes the core of Christian teaching? I briefly mentioned my desire to expand my reading in a post recently, and a religiously affiliated person commented that while external reading, or more specifically, diverse forums of discussion might be what I think might be helpful, it is not what I need. (What I need…

God

A Letter To God

Ruby Claire | July 2, 2017

Dear God, On my bookshelf, I have a lot of books about you. I have a dusty old children’s Bible with lots of pictures in it, I have a Gideon’s Bible from the top drawer of an old motel, and I have a softbound NIV Bible with wide columns to write all my questions. I also have a black, hardcover Quran and some Dawkins and Harris (who write a lot about you, but in a you-don’t-exist kind of way). I have…

Abuse, Atheism, God

Trauma As The Catalyst For Loving Or Losing Religion

Ruby Claire | June 22, 2017

In the many conversations I’ve had about religion in the last two months, trauma seems to be a reoccurring catalyst for spiritual change. Many who were once active participants in the church left, and many who hadn’t been religiously affiliated started filling the pews on a Sunday morning. For both of these groups, God played a role. I think trauma has a way of making us feel more human. All of a sudden, we’re forced to pry open the storage…

Belief

How I Experience Church Now That I No Longer Believe in God

Sometimes, I Miss Jesus

I Tried To Read A Book By An Atheist But Couldn’t

A Letter To God

Trauma As The Catalyst For Loving Or Losing Religion

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