terrbear.org

Before Sara and I got married, or before we even got engaged, I’d been talked to by several family members (on both sides) about my lack of commitment to God. It wasn’t that I was anti-God or anything; I just hadn’t given it much thought. The only debates I’d engaged in were over passages from the Bible, and the debates centered entirely around a Christian god.

After we got engaged, I decided that I wanted to be a Christian. So, I prayed about it. I read about it. Probably not nearly at the length that other people do, but I did, nonetheless. I went to church (not as often as I could have, but hey, I made an effort).

Sara and I were married by my grandpa, who’s a baptist pastor. He’s a hardcore, hellfire and brimstone pastor. He told Sara not to marry me unless I accepted Jesus. When I asked Sara’s dad to marry her, he told me it always bothered him that I wasn’t openly committed to Jesus. I told him that there seemed to be too much to be going on for it to be random. I hadn’t really thought it out, but it seemed to be the right answer at the time.

Clearly, there was a lot of pressure. I just went along, and figured it was part of the conversion process. For someone who hadn’t thought about it much, it seemed normal.

Sara and I finally moved back to Austin, got a house out in Leander, and started attending the same church as her sister and brother-in-law. They’re committed to the church. I don’t know what else to say about it beyond that.

After starting to attend the church, we were invited to their small group. It’s essentially a bunch of people who meet on Wednesday nights (in our case) for a few hours, discussing God and how the previous Sunday message applies to our life, and how everybody can help each other. They’re a really good group of people, so I’m not poking fun at them at all. Most of them are still friendly and helpful to me, even now, after I think it’s clear that we don’t see eye to eye.

While I’m sure Laura (sister) and Shelby (brother-in-law) are slightly disappointed that I’ve given up on the whole Christianity thing, it’s important to note that their small group did a lot for me. It was there that I finally started to think how church messages, the bible, God, and everything else fit together.

…And that’s when it started to make no sense. About the same time as I was starting to think about this, I started reading some blogs concerning the autism/vaccine debate. I started to read a lot about logical fallacies, and try to structure my thoughts without them. Then I realized - why? Why would I think there’s a god, when there’s no evidence for one?

Saying “well you can’t explain how X happens” is called an argument from ignorance. It’s a statement of fact, but it has no bearing on any other arguments. Consequently, saying that “you can’t explain the existence of atoms,” while true, adds nothing to the debate. I realized that just having an answer for something doesn’t mean it’s true.

I read a lot of blogs, and I share a lot of stuff on Google Reader. To the point that a few of the posts offended some of my family members the other day. While I agree with their message, I’m not a fan of the hostility on the blogs. There’s no point to calling someone a “fucking idiot.” You’re not gaining anything in debate, and only adding more hate to an already combustible situation.

So, for the few readers who are theists and read my blog or my shares, I’m not out to offend you. I’m out to share my point of view. Generally I can convey it without any profanity or attacks, though occasionally an asshole like Jerry Falwell requires it.

My next post is going to be about the common arguments against Scientific reasoning for our existence, etc.

I feel like going on a blogging spree tonight. This should be interesting.