Julia Sweeney was born into a Catholic family and considered herself a good Christian. However, when she experienced an emotional healing experiece decided to pay more attention to the bible, she was disturbed by the facts in the bible and eventually became an athiest after asking many questions and not recieving satisfactory answers.

Excerpts From An Interview About Her Story
I was 38, and I was going through a personal crisis where this guy I'd been dating for four years and totally expected to marry and have a family with abruptly broke it off. It really sent me into a tailspin. I was praying quite a bit -- "God, help me through this time" -- and waking up crying a lot.

"And then I had one night where I had an experience that I considered to be religious -- it's not like God's face came and talked to me or anything, but I just felt a presence in the room, and then I felt really kind of healed. "

I felt like I was being taken care of by God, and then after that, I thought, you know, I'm 38. It's time to get serious about religion. Let's go join the church and get those little envelopes and be a giver and sign up for some committees, you know? And so I did, and then one of the things I signed up for was Bible study class, and that was the beginning of the end.

My mom said, "Well, you're brilliant, but you're wrong!" And then my sister Meg, who is so sweet and wonderful, said, "Well, I just think most people haven't thought about it as much as you have" -- which I thought was a very nice thing to say.

And then my brother Jim was very funny. He said, "Well, Julia's looked into it -- I guess there is no God!" He goes: "She does good research. I believe her, because I would never read all that stuff! Well, she just saved me a lot of time!"
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/08/15/findrelig.DTL

Listen to her conversion story, titled "Letting Go of God"? Visit this page to stream the audio.

What do you think about this story? Please listen to the story before clicking the reply button! (Quicktime required)

different strokes for different folks.

what are her unanswered questions?

is she really converted to atheism or she is is experiencing reaction formation?

she once believed in God but now "letting go of God" her statement still reeks of the fact that their is a God but which to her has demonstrated mutiny towards her,

again i asked, what are her unanswered questions?

Please listen to the story before clicking the reply button! (Quicktime required)

Visit this page to stream the audio (click the icon under the picture of Abraham about to kill his son)

Excerpt: "why would a God create people so imperfect, then blame them for their own imperfections, then send his son to be murdered by those imperfect people, to make up for how imperfect those people were, and how imperfect they were inevitably going to be?"

faith is like a glass of water. when your young, the glass is small, and filled. but as your grow, the glass gets bigger and the same amount of water dosent fill it anymore.

it is good to question your religion. when you are a kid, oyu never question anything about god. but as your grow mentaly, you start finding missing links and loose ends that arnt tied down.

good for her.

Anyone that has taken a critical look at the Bible will come away with disappointment. It is so full of contradictions that indeed, it takes a suspension of reason or logic to embrace it.

How can one be expected to believe something is true by suspending reason? It's like telling a hungry child there is food in an plate only if she believes very very hard that the food is there. Ridiculous! Poverty!

I feel so sorry for Nigerians. These pastors have completely brainwashed them while making themselves rich. Tell me, with all the influence Adeboye and Oyedepo has, what has changed? The pastors, imams and politicians are living lavishly, the muslims are still killing christians and the christians are still starving and stylishly disguising it as fasting, Abeg jo! Was Jesus rich and his disciples poor? You think about that one for one second,

don't be ridiculous u talking abt the things of God, it says sins against the holyspirit shall not be forgiven!

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things that are not seen. Thats the whole purpose, God loves all men but he'll take the ones who believe even without seeing. I've been sick and by prayer in my room i've been healed. i've been broke and by giving to the church i've become so blessed. I believe not just because of what the bible tells me anymore but because i have experienced Jesus Christ in my physical, not just spiritual life.

i don't care even if i'm the last person on earth, Jesus Christ came in the flesh and i know he still lives because it "just cannot be a coincidence that he answers my prayers every single time. And i mean every single time.

I am still not surprised at seuns attack of Christianity. I wonder how God is blamed for every imperfection/harm, pestilence/tsunamiarian circumstances yet when something is done good they say its not Him who did the act.

I will still maintain my original saying, " How many of us sitting behind our computer put papers in the printer and print out test pages, and seeing that we no longer need it, crisp/tear it and throw it into the dustbin. How i wish those pieces of paper can revolt in anger as to why been disposed away and i will see how we react to that.
@seun, did u get that at all?.

Why don't you just listen to the woman's story first? I won't answer your questions until after you listen to her story a.k.a. testimony. Listen first, talk later.

I av anyway, so i wont comment if i avent. To me i am not in a position to defend GOd whatsoever. I wonder how possible is it for u to Judge a person based on human feelings rather than using the laws of the land. That is my analogy for people trying to prove God with sceince or reasoning.
God has not revealed that to us.
One funny thing is that, even if the whole world turns against God, it doesnt change His supremacy at all whatsoever. The fact that some set of people worship God in a wrong way doesnt make God wrong.

Seun, i really dont know what the essence of all this particular thread is all about.
But I aint listening to Nada. And my advise to others,
Dont listen to what you cant handle. Believe on/ in whatever you believe in/ on and if it works for you, Kool
You keep goin on with it.

This thread doesnt make sense to me Seun.

I beleive in God and thats how its gonna be till i die. Am not gonna let your confusion get me thing trash.

gbengaijot:

I av anyway, so i wont comment if i avent. To me i am not in a position to defend GOd whatsoever. I wonder how possible is it for u to Judge a person based on human feelings rather than using the laws of the land. That is my analogy for people trying to prove God with sceince or reasoning.
God has not revealed that to us.
One funny thing is that, even if the whole world turns against God, it doesnt change His supremacy at all whatsoever. The fact that some set of people worship God in a wrong way doesnt make God wrong.

words right out of my mouth!!!! . true talk!!!!

@seun, u seem not to get my point, what i am saying is that God owns us all, just like u own a piece of paper that lies on your desk. He can do whatsoever he wants concerning us(just like u would to any piecve of paper), God is not a person to answer to us. You seem to see God like a president bush and the Citizen of the US, who (bush) has to defend everything he does before his citizen. I mean considering a piece of paper that is on your table, will you answer to it?, definitely not, coz you own it and you can decide whatsoever to do with it.
God is not a God of guilt, i will still requote layi, When God does miracle, people say its coincidence, when something bad happens, we blame it on God.
God never incite pestilence nor kill. Satan does kill and human avalanche and stupidity. God only allows to fulfill His purpose and he is not answerable to anyone of us including u.

I will still say i am not defending God, but God loves us so much and gave us another chance. He made us perfect from the scratch, but we chose imperfection through our forefathers.
And one thing i know for sure is God disciplines those He loves, and thats what He does.
Do u get this right?

Its absolutely funny how someone can "let go of God'. Atheism is the denial of the existence of God, so how canyou let go of what you say doesn't exist.
Some people feel dissappionted by God, because he doesnt conform to the imagination in their head that he should strike out all evil at once, so they claim atheism. Do you say, because your dad did'nt buy yu a bike in school that he doesn't exist. Its absolute escapism and they greatest form of satans deception closely followed by homosexuality.
God is the greatest form of love i have ever experienced , no one can take that away.

nightrider:

Its absolutely funny how someone can "let go of God'. Atheism is the denial of the existence of God, so how canyou let go of what you say doesn't exist.

No, it isn't. It's the lack of belief in a supreme being. There is no need to deny something that is imaginary to start with.

nightrider:

Some people feel dissappionted by God, because he doesnt conform to the imagination in their head that he should strike out all evil at once, so they claim atheism.

I'm certainly not one of those caricatures of atheism you portray here. It's actually very simple: there is no good enough reason to believe in a God, so I don't. You have to believe in the whole conceptual framework of God-Devil-Evil-Good to even try to make sense out of this statement. If you don't believe in it, it's just plain nonsense.

nightrider:

Do you say, because your dad did'nt buy yu a bike in school that he doesn't exist. Its absolute escapism and they greatest form of satans deception closely followed by homosexuality.

The true loving and tolerant nature of your belief shows
There is one fundamental difference between your dad and God: there is hard, undeniable evidence of your dad's existence. There is no such thing for God.

nightrider:

God is the greatest form of love i have ever experienced , no one can take that away.

Love for oneself, yes, but certainly not for those deviants, like homosexuals. To elevate oneself by kicking down on others, a true sign of love.

hmmm, Atheism is the belief in no God. Most Atheist acknowledge there is a God but they choose not to belief in God. So i guess with that you can say Atheism is the denial of the existence of God.

[No, it isn't. It's the lack of belief in a supreme being. There is no need to deny something that is imaginary to start with./quote]

The conceptual frame work of God - deveil -good-evil makes complete sense in this life.
If it doesnt, how come you can do good to a person and evil to another one.
Why do you class a thing as bad and another as good. What is behind good and what is behind evil.
On what grounds do u prove that an act is true or good. Everything boils down to a divine supreme being.

[I'm certainly not one of those caricatures of atheism you portray here. It's actually very simple: there is no good enough reason to believe in a God, so I don't. You have to believe in the whole conceptual framework of God-Devil-Evil-Good to even try to make sense out of this statement. If you don't believe in it, it's just plain nonsense./quote]

Funny, You wan see God eh

Hard undeniable evidence of the existence of God.
How do u explain the air you breath
How do you describe events that beat natural laws aka miracles
How do u explain your existence
How do u explain the fact that man is body soul and spirit?

[The true loving and tolerant nature of your belief shows
There is one fundamental difference between your dad and God: there is hard, undeniable evidence of your dad's existence. There is no such thing for God./quote]

God is the ultimate love not man's love. Homosexual shouldnt seek for man's love or approvalbut God's love and approval. Thats where the healing starts.

[Love for oneself, yes, but certainly not for those deviants, like homosexuals. To elevate oneself by kicking down on others, a true sign of love. /quote]

Can the Christians tell us what they feel about this woman's testimony?

Eddy Tells, I can explain all that you ask for and more, but not in this thread. Open another one and invite me to answer your questions, or maybe read a basic book on physics first before you start asking silly questions like How do u explain the air you breath.

Am not the one confused so i don't need to open another thread.
My questions were to help you reason beyond what physics told you.
i guess Physics or maybe biology also told you how the world came to be huh Daft


A man who thinks he knows but knows not deceiveth himself
But a man who knows that he knows not and still says he knows is worse than a fool.

[Insert Quote
Eddy Tells, I can explain all that you ask for and more, but not in this thread. Open another one and invite me to answer your questions, or maybe read a basic book on physics first before you start asking /quote]

Human beings were created and given free will and that's confusing a lot of people (like this ex-catholic chick and Seun). The other important and distinct feature we have that differentiates us is our frontal lobe, the ability to think and come up with rational decision. That has not been given to any other creature except Man and Jinn.

So lets stop making excuses of being ignorant and coming up with conclusive remarks about God (believing in him etc) whilst little time is spent on constructive reading, research and deep thinking.

Seun, if you believe whatever you say about the bible is right, why not study the Quran/torah and try and apply the same deductive reasoning. See what they says and whether they appeal to you. Bashing the bible won’t get you anywhere hence spend your valuable time studying something else.

Eddy Tells:

Am not the one confused so i don't need to open another thread.
My questions were to help you reason beyond what physics told you.
i guess Physics or maybe biology also told you how the world came to be huh Daft

The faculty of reason is logic. Your mind games are anything but logical and thus have nothing to do with reason. What exactly is there to know beyond the physical, because all you consider non-physical is a product of the physical
Showing off your ignorance about science is only revealing what you really are: an ignoramus.

Eddy Tells:

A man who thinks he knows but knows not deceiveth himself
But a man who knows that he knows not and still says he knows is worse than a fool.

And yet you make all these claims about God with the utmost certainty about their validity? What does that make you?

May i just point out that being smart is not the ability to put gramma/vocabs together in a sentence. Rathe, its that sentence actually making a realistic point.

The faculty of reason is logic - Daft Daft Daft 

All birds can fly because they have wings. Eagles fly high up in the sky.
But Chickens can hardly fly above a high fence.

The world they say rotates but why don't we all go round and round. If you speak of mind games, you should ask yourselves how sure you are that what you say is white is actually white or if that face of yours is actually how you look or perhaps how you have choosen to look which has gradually taken the form of how others see you.

Again , resolving to insults as a point only shows your a weak willed person struggling to stand firm by exacting opression.
It also shows you always want to be right and never wrong even when u know your wrong. 

[
The faculty of reason is logic. Your mind games are anything but logical and thus have nothing to do with reason. What exactly is there to know beyond the physical, because all you consider non-physical is a product of the physical
Showing off your ignorance about science is only revealing what you really are: an ignoramus./quote]

I spoke on what i know because i have stood by this knowledge all my life unlike you who was a dedicated catholic and turned atheist because a priest molested your father. Denying the existence of God so as to suppress the hurt of childhood can't change the fact that you once served God and that He still exist.

so i guess my second statement suits you 

[And yet you make all these claims about God with the utmost certainty about their validity? What does that make you?/quote]

Eddy Tells:

May i just point out that being smart is not the ability to put gramma/vocabs together in a sentence. Rathe, its that sentence actually making a realistic point.

And that's exactly what you are not doing. Your points are based in fantasy, not realism. You have no evidence for your claims about God.

Eddy Tells:

The faculty of reason is logic - Daft Daft Daft

You can't get by without insults, can you? And then you dare accuse me of insults?

Eddy Tells:

All birds can fly because they have wings. Eagles fly high up in the sky.
But Chickens can hardly fly above a high fence.

And is this supposed to be your representation of logic?

Eddy Tells:

The world they say rotates but why don't we all go round and round. If you speak of mind games, you should ask yourselves how sure you are that what you say is white is actually white or if that face of yours is actually how you look or perhaps how you have choosen to look which has gradually taken the form of how others see you.

Really, I advise you to get an introductionary book into physics. A new world of things unseen will open for you

Eddy Tells:

nferyn link=topic=6786.msg208431#msg208431 date=1139912892:

Showing off your ignorance about science is only revealing what you really are: an ignoramus.

Again , resolving to insults as a point only shows your a weak willed person struggling to stand firm by exacting opression.
It also shows you always want to be right and never wrong even when u know your wrong.

You may call that an insult. I call it a factual observation. You are ignorant when it comes to science and thus may rightly be called an ignoramus, especially when you try to show of that ignorance. I must be more precise, though, as this only applies to science. My appoplogies for using too broad a brush, I should call you a scientific ignoramus

I have no problem admitting when I am wrong. It will take more than your scribblings though to do that. Other Christians on this board have shown that they can conduct an argument in an intellectually fitting manner, you on the other hand do nothing but proudly exclaiming your ignorance about the most basic facts of science.
And please shed of your persecution complex. Where exactly have I been exacting oppression?

Eddy Tells:

hmmm, Atheism is the belief in no God. Most Atheist acknowledge there is a God but they choose not to belief in God. So i guess with that you can say Atheism is the denial of the existence of God.

Can you round me up those atheists that acknowledge there is a God, because they do not exist. If they would exist, they wouldn't be atheist.
Once more, atheism is not a positive denial of the existence in God, it is simply the lack of a belief in God and these are not the same. I am an [b]agnostic [/b]atheist, meaning that I take the position that I cannot have [b]knowledge [/b]of God and I have no belief in God.

Eddy Tells:

I spoke on what i know because i have stood by this knowledge all my life

You speak of what you believe in, what you have faith in, not what you know. Knowledge requires evidence.

Eddy Tells:

unlike you who was a dedicated catholic and turned atheist because a priest molested your father. Denying the existence of God so as to suppress the hurt of childhood can't change the fact that you once served God and that He still exist.

I have never in my life been a dedicated catholic. Stop lying about me and using these lies in an trying to attribute false motives to my position. When I wrote about what happened to my father, it was meant as background information to differentiate between my position and that of my father, not to be used as slander and insult by your kind. How deep can you sink in defense of your positions?

Eddy Tells:

so i guess my second statement suits you

What second statement

It seems to me as if this is a pretty uneven discussion.

Whilst (most of) those who refuse to align themselves with any particular religious group have contemplated the idea of 'God', those who claim 'faith' have not even thought about anything contrary to what they've been taught.