Hardcopies ready! Thankyou to all who helped.

[peshitta_enthusiast]

Hi Sean,

Well, there are a number of reasons, which are outlined in my new book iGod (http://www.iGodBook.com ). They include the lack of evidence for Yahweh and Jesus and the mounds of evidence against their existence. Both the OT and NT have clear ties to older, pagan myths. I show how the hierarchy of gods in the Bible is virtually identical to the hierarchy in Greek mythology, for example (Yahweh isn?t the chief god according to Semitic mythology, Gnosticism, and even parts of the Bible itself ? he is an imperfect lower god).

As I said earlier, I took the "one or none" approach to a higher level and applied it to all religions, including my own. I had to honestly conclude that I had no grounds to believe/promote literalist Christianity over any other religion.

The fact that the Bible is full of contradictions (with itself, with history, with science etc.) didn't help either. The late dates of the Biblical books also make its use for historical truths appalling. And it's amazing how virtually the entire school of Jewish archaeology now agrees that the historical record goes totally against the Bible. There's no evidence of Moses, Abraham etc. In fact, they generally agree that the Israelites were Canaanites, and that the Exodus (itself totally unsupported by history) was a gross exaggeration of an event that occurred centuries earlier where Semites were DRIVEN OUT from Egypt (not enslaved).

Seeing so many of Jesus' life story details in other myths/religions and seeing his best messages echoed in Gnosticism, Buddhism and Taoism (all earlier religions) was a clear sign too. The Dao De Jing (Bible of Taoism) has more wisdom in its 20 pages than the entire Bible has in its 66 books - with none of the violent commands, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.

It also didn?t help seeing the relative successes (if you consider equality, justice, liberty and peace successes that is) of more secular and atheistic countries like Australia and those comprising Scandinavia, as opposed to highly fundamentalist countries, like Iran, Israel, and certain Christian countries? When looking at happiness, crime levels, education etc. it simply isn?t true that atheism and secularism leads to darkness while religion leads to the light. Go to a country where they still chop people?s heads off regularly and you?ll see what I mean.

One of the biggest reasons why I turned from Christian fundamentalism was one of the biggest reasons why I got into the whole Aramaic primacy movement! The search for the early church. I finally found the early Christians and it destroyed my belief in literalist Christianity. I found that the earliest Christians didn't believe in a literal Jesus, that it was all based on myth and was later taken on board as historical fact (without any justification, but plenty of political motive ? a similar story occurred with the Old Testament). Hence my position now as a Christian atheist.

After my estrangement from my father, and especially after he passed away recently, I really considered how fundamentalist religion ruined his life and how it was ruining mine. I thus set out on a "spiritual journey" to find the truth and to find the meaning of life.

I started out in Theism of course (as a fundie) and was introduced to Deism. I fell in love with the idea of a creator-god who sort of loves us, but who really doesn?t expect anything of us. I then realised that this belief system combines the liberty of atheism, with the irrationality of believing in a god without any evidence. I thus followed full-blown Atheism. Note that atheism is not a position that there is no god, it is simply a lack of belief in any particular god ? a position fully grounded in honesty and reason.

I then stumbled onto the philosophy of Pantheism (naturalistic) which to me was essentially the same as atheism, but had a positive message of unity and peace (atheism itself is only the lack of belief in god ? it doesn?t tell you to be good or bad). Technically pantheism is the idea that all that is, is god, which pretty much rules out the idea of a personal god like Yahweh, but still leaves open all possibilities.

I also found it horrendous that people often setup a false dichotomy: there?s atheism, there?s Christianity and that?s it (often while throwing Pascal?s Wager at you). This is an arrogant approach that ignores the great diversities of belief systems, religions, and sub-religions. The only rational approach is to hold to the default (atheism and arguably naturalistic pantheism) and to hear out ALL the different religions, accepting one of them only when sufficient evidence has been presented. So far, none have provided sufficient evidence. See my website, http://www.ProofThatGodExists.net for a quick look at the evidence that does exist.

I then started to study the Eastern religions and found that they generally were not religions at all ? not as we in the West tend to see religion, as fundamental truths. Polytheism plays a big part in Eastern Hinduism for example but is admittedly (by them!) based in myths, astrology, atheism, and pantheism ? much like the mysteries religions of Egypt, Greece and Rome. Buddhism is pretty much secular, and Taoism is so secular I wouldn?t call it a religion at all, more of a peaceful philosophy. Yet they all have wonderful pantheistic messages of peace and unity. I then saw how the ORIGINAL Christ was based on these Eastern philosophies, and so I am happy to call myself at once a Christian, a Gnostic, an atheist, an agnostic, a pantheist, a Taoist, etc. This journey also inspired the structure of my book. In fact, this little post is my book in a nutshell.

Finally. To be frank, when I was a fundie, I was a c*nt. Well, I was still a fairly good guy who believed in morals, hard work and charity; but I discriminated against gender, race, sexual orientation and religion. Now, as an atheist, I can honestly call myself a good person. I am a much better person, and ironically, a much better Christian.

Best Regards,

Raphael Lataster

p.s. I recently have been examining the arguments for God by William Lane Craig, one of the most famous Christian apologists out there and perhaps the religion?s ?best? debater. On my website, http://www.PantheismUnites.org , I demolish his arguments. I expose the numerous logical fallacies he employs, and demonstrate how 4 of his ?5 points? are not specific to Christianity (you could make claims of creation, fine-tuning etc. for Zeus, Allah and other gods) and how the remaining point (Jesus? alleged resurrection) uses circular logic, and itself is full of assumptions and inaccuracies. This didn?t help my dwindling faith either: the painful performance of educated Christians in rational discussions. I had to face the truth. They look foolish because they can?t argue from evidence. They simply don?t have any.

p.p.s. From an emotional perspective, since shedding my fundie beliefs, I have never felt so free, and have never been happier. I have never had so much purpose and meaning in my life (I have dedicated my life to charity and to learning/teaching philosophy). I also am married to a wonderful woman (herself a generous and kind Christian, in the Salvation Army) who I would not have even considered dating had I stuck firmly to my once impregnable fundamentalist beliefs.