Hi Arkenaten,
I have just started a post “An Exchange about the Underlying Philosophy at the Core of Atheism and Christianity”.
It just includes some comments I made to you earlier. Just log onto my blog and start the conversation, we can take our time, and I’ll do my best not to be antagonistic.
Also WSA, we have several (many?) Christian deconverts here at Ark’s blog, myself included, who not only spent many years in the religion/faith, but several of us also graduated from Christian seminaries and many years service on church staffs as ministers, elders, deacons, etc, and years abroad in missionary work — yet, in the end we left the Christian ideology for many various reasons. I cannot speak for all of us, but the most common primary reason we left/deconverted was the/your Bible’s terrible inability to be reliable and verifiable throughout 1 CE to 700 CE, especially your 4th-century CE Canonized New Testament. And that is true no matter WHAT you personally believe about the Holy Spirit’s behavior and/or practice.
Nevertheless, I do hope you’ll come back around here to Ark’s blog or any of our blogs to productively and courteously discuss our big and biggest issues/problems with your faith.
But some people (like Ben), leave simply because there’s “no one there.” Of course, this puts that “reliable and verifiable” bible a bit out-of-sync with real life.
True Nan. And as you, myself, Ben, and many many other deconverts know all too well, the “Holy Spirit” that I believe WSA is enthralled by (based on his blog), is a “spirit” of random inconsistency. As Ben will attest to — God or his “spirit” is not there. I, on the other hand, having worked years in a psych/A&D inpatient hospital witnessed the “Holy Spirit” in so many countless ways, not one episode identical to another. This is what medical-psych professionals and researchers around the world agree upon: divine hallucinations (auditory & visual) come from unique human brains and neurology. Not some consistent, repeatable, verifiable external entity. 🙂
After that you are welcome to read these two posts below. Combined they all represent the culminations of 28-years of research, some studies abroad, and 20+ years of discussing/debating with Christian apologists about all the problematic Scriptural and non-Scriptural tenets of Christendom/Christology. And prior to my deconversion, it includes my 11+ years of Christian under-grad, seminary, church ministry, and missionary work. But here are the additional blog-posts:
There are at least 7-12 more posts and blog-pages WSA, but these three would suffice as an introduction to my journey of deconversion. A “salvation” to be perfectly honest. What’s very encouraging for me and hundreds of thousands, millions more is that we are not alone AND our numbers are growing every year. That speaks volumes in and of itself the necessary fate of Christology in the coming decades. Hopefully the eventual fate of all three Abrahamic religions!
Feel free to comment on these blog-posts should you have any questions. Fyi, Ark has provided a link for me to your blog. I will post this comment there as well.
Ark, I have about 10 or more blog-post titles and blog-pages to give to WSA above, but that many hyper-links will go straight into your Spam folder I’m sure. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Hahahaha! Right, that ain’t gonna happen. 😄 And we’ve already discussed this about HOW to adequately (expertly?) cover exhaustively a minimum of 5 different cultures in the Fertile Crescent, a time-period of 515 BCE – 75 CE then to 787 CE… and all the extant sources, evidence, and historicity now available and continues to become available, as well as what is inferred by what is NOT available (today) — Independent sources of Christianity’s first seedlings and roots.
Will you Approve or remove from your Spam folder my reply to WSA that will include 10+ hyper-links? 🙂
You may post whatever you wish on my blog, you should know that by now
However, if my granny complains don’t say you weren’t warned.
Although … why not post it in bite-size portions?
Maybe this will sustain interest longer and drive home the point better?
Mmmm, yes… your lack of severe censorship here (vs. Xian abuse of it) is certainly refreshing and promotes excellent exchanges between bloggers. 👏👍
Your Granny is safe, trust me! For now. 😈 Bite-size? That’s a good idea. I welcome him to comment over on my blog so that out of courtesy it doesn’t clutter up this blog-post’s comments, not to mention it is an entirely different subject, huh?
Regarding a person’s attention-span, well… I’ve almost never abided by any spoken or unspoken internet rule for writing/blogging for an average attention span of 7-10 mins, tops! LOL 😆 That would be like having an 4th-grade Twitter discussion with our U.S. President! 😴😠
That I am admittedly verbose? Excessively pedantic? While wanting to do everything within my powers to get the gullible, naive to THINK on their own!? 😉
I’ll pare down my 10+ links for him and submit that comment-reply soon. Thank you Sir.
Thank you. I might do both: here and there on his blog-post, but certainly here. I must keep to a tolerable minimum my time invested with Faith-Believers. You can appreciate that I’m sure. 😉
I much prefer to do this sort of discourse/debate in person or live on the phone. Those 2 methods are much more productive for me — I was never an excellent writer. It’s a work-n-progress… likely until the day I die or Dementia & Alzheimer’s rudely moves in without permission! 😛 But that was exactly the reason I began blogging; not just to connect with people around the world and learn, but also to be critiqued, scrutinized, and push myself to IMPROVE my amateur writing skills. You and Nan are my best, welcomed critics! 😁
Anyway, many thanks Ark. Look for my comment-reply to WSA soon, possibly in your Spam or Moderation folder.
Also Ark, I should have included our late dear friend Roughseas with you and Nan as my welcomed best critics. Wow was she super tough on me, to put it mildly! 😳🤭 And then as we developed a 2-year close friendship off WordPress she had no issues whatsoever for any sensitivity I might have for blunt, brutal criticism. Hahahaha! But that was exactly what I loved most about her. ❤
Me too. Now Kate will be on my mind all evening.
Since her passing there are times when I may have pushed the envelope a bit in a comment and Carmen ( at least once) has reminded me that Kate would not have approved!
That’s so very true Sir. But you know, in all fairness her approvals and support were equally pure gold! It is directly because of her that I am (gradually?) getting increased interest, invites, and support to write much, MUCH more about my Alternative Lifestyles, not just from an educational/guidance standpoint for newbies or those neo-explorers, but wide-open from the male perspective… as she vehemently encouraged me to do after reading all of my Memoirs. She always complained that that market-sector was too saturated with female POV’s and too… sappy(?), too tender(?) and badly needed my version. HAH! Imagine that. Who’d a thunk, huh? 😉
I owe her so much gratitude for that support and continued (still limited right now) success/encouragement from those circles. She put me in touch with a few publishers too! 😮
Yeah, yeah, yeah… don’t worry Ark. Your Granny is safe. (for now)
Hahahaha! 😄 No, not from you Nan. In fact, you have not participated ever over on my 1.5 year old Private blog: The Professor’s Lifestyles Memoirs – Experiencing & Exploring the Rabbit-holes of Eros, Swinging, Polyamory and BDSM-Kink
And naturally, that is perfectly fine. It is not everyone’s cup-o-tea. That’s why I made it Private. 😉 The other reason, as you can certainly appreciate, is because of where I live and my ex-wife’s acute readiness to make my life harder, miserable via our kid’s Visitation Rights using a hyper-conservative Atty General’s Office that is ALWAYS itching to throw Dad’s in jail for 1 or 2 infractions. I kid you not Nan! This state of “legal policing/harassing” is compounded by the fact that Texas is an At-Will labor laws state and has banned all worker unions or the attempts to create one.
Hence, a hyper-conservative Mom with a serious vendetta or temper (and resources to do it) can and will take a father’s testicles into a vise-grip cruncher in a heart beat. I’ve watched many of my buddies (father’s) suffer for years because of how biased Texas Family Laws are to mothers. And you and I both know the ultimate reason(s) this State behaves in those ways. $$Amen Hallelujah PRAISE tha baby Lawd Jebus$$
Bonny.
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Adorable little kitty. 😍
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Very sweet.
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Just gorgeous! 🙂
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The kittens, too,right?
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Again, be warned: rub their inviting tummy and soft furry becomes instant sharp pointy—five out of six ends.
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I think he knows he won the lottery.
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Hi Arkenaten,
I have just started a post “An Exchange about the Underlying Philosophy at the Core of Atheism and Christianity”.
It just includes some comments I made to you earlier. Just log onto my blog and start the conversation, we can take our time, and I’ll do my best not to be antagonistic.
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Not to intrude, but I did want to leave a link to my blog-page entitled “<a href="https://professortaboo.com/library/why-christianity-will-always-fail/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank“>Why Christianity Will Always Fail.“ I am pretty sure Ark will not mind me doing this. 🙂
Also WSA, we have several (many?) Christian deconverts here at Ark’s blog, myself included, who not only spent many years in the religion/faith, but several of us also graduated from Christian seminaries and many years service on church staffs as ministers, elders, deacons, etc, and years abroad in missionary work — yet, in the end we left the Christian ideology for many various reasons. I cannot speak for all of us, but the most common primary reason we left/deconverted was the/your Bible’s terrible inability to be reliable and verifiable throughout 1 CE to 700 CE, especially your 4th-century CE Canonized New Testament. And that is true no matter WHAT you personally believe about the Holy Spirit’s behavior and/or practice.
Nevertheless, I do hope you’ll come back around here to Ark’s blog or any of our blogs to productively and courteously discuss our big and biggest issues/problems with your faith.
Best regards WSA.
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Grrrrrr, Ark… I really really don’t like HTML coding! It is about as easy to use or speak as Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, or Latin. LOL
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But some people (like Ben), leave simply because there’s “no one there.” Of course, this puts that “reliable and verifiable” bible a bit out-of-sync with real life.
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True Nan. And as you, myself, Ben, and many many other deconverts know all too well, the “Holy Spirit” that I believe WSA is enthralled by (based on his blog), is a “spirit” of random inconsistency. As Ben will attest to — God or his “spirit” is not there. I, on the other hand, having worked years in a psych/A&D inpatient hospital witnessed the “Holy Spirit” in so many countless ways, not one episode identical to another. This is what medical-psych professionals and researchers around the world agree upon: divine hallucinations (auditory & visual) come from unique human brains and neurology. Not some consistent, repeatable, verifiable external entity. 🙂
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Tks prof,
What post do you suggest I should read? I would be particularly interested to hear about particular reasons for deconversion.
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Yes, WSA. If you are referring to my blog and “deconversion posts” explaining the first event/start of MY deconversion in 1991-1992 then start here:
The Incarnation of G-Man
After that you are welcome to read these two posts below. Combined they all represent the culminations of 28-years of research, some studies abroad, and 20+ years of discussing/debating with Christian apologists about all the problematic Scriptural and non-Scriptural tenets of Christendom/Christology. And prior to my deconversion, it includes my 11+ years of Christian under-grad, seminary, church ministry, and missionary work. But here are the additional blog-posts:
Origins and Orthodoxy
Constantine: Christianity’s True Catalyst/Christ
There are at least 7-12 more posts and blog-pages WSA, but these three would suffice as an introduction to my journey of deconversion. A “salvation” to be perfectly honest. What’s very encouraging for me and hundreds of thousands, millions more is that we are not alone AND our numbers are growing every year. That speaks volumes in and of itself the necessary fate of Christology in the coming decades. Hopefully the eventual fate of all three Abrahamic religions!
Feel free to comment on these blog-posts should you have any questions. Fyi, Ark has provided a link for me to your blog. I will post this comment there as well.
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Tks Prof,
I hope we have a more productive exchange. Ark and I have come to some bruising words I’m afraid.
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I have left a comment. It is still in moderation.
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Ark, I have about 10 or more blog-post titles and blog-pages to give to WSA above, but that many hyper-links will go straight into your Spam folder I’m sure. Thoughts? Suggestions?
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Write more concise blog posts?
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Hahahaha! Right, that ain’t gonna happen. 😄 And we’ve already discussed this about HOW to adequately (expertly?) cover exhaustively a minimum of 5 different cultures in the Fertile Crescent, a time-period of 515 BCE – 75 CE then to 787 CE… and all the extant sources, evidence, and historicity now available and continues to become available, as well as what is inferred by what is NOT available (today) — Independent sources of Christianity’s first seedlings and roots.
Will you Approve or remove from your Spam folder my reply to WSA that will include 10+ hyper-links? 🙂
LikeLike
You may post whatever you wish on my blog, you should know that by now
However, if my granny complains don’t say you weren’t warned.
Although … why not post it in bite-size portions?
Maybe this will sustain interest longer and drive home the point better?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mmmm, yes… your lack of severe censorship here (vs. Xian abuse of it) is certainly refreshing and promotes excellent exchanges between bloggers. 👏👍
Your Granny is safe, trust me! For now. 😈 Bite-size? That’s a good idea. I welcome him to comment over on my blog so that out of courtesy it doesn’t clutter up this blog-post’s comments, not to mention it is an entirely different subject, huh?
Regarding a person’s attention-span, well… I’ve almost never abided by any spoken or unspoken internet rule for writing/blogging for an average attention span of 7-10 mins, tops! LOL 😆 That would be like having an 4th-grade Twitter discussion with our U.S. President! 😴😠
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I can manage 5 minutes so what are you implying?
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That I am admittedly verbose? Excessively pedantic? While wanting to do everything within my powers to get the gullible, naive to THINK on their own!? 😉
I’ll pare down my 10+ links for him and submit that comment-reply soon. Thank you Sir.
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If you prefer and it makes it easier for you …..
https://waterandthespiritapologetics.wordpress.com/2019/02/10/an-exchange-about-the-underlying-philosophy-at-the-core-of-atheism-and-christianity/
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Thank you. I might do both: here and there on his blog-post, but certainly here. I must keep to a tolerable minimum my time invested with Faith-Believers. You can appreciate that I’m sure. 😉
I much prefer to do this sort of discourse/debate in person or live on the phone. Those 2 methods are much more productive for me — I was never an excellent writer. It’s a work-n-progress… likely until the day I die or Dementia & Alzheimer’s rudely moves in without permission! 😛 But that was exactly the reason I began blogging; not just to connect with people around the world and learn, but also to be critiqued, scrutinized, and push myself to IMPROVE my amateur writing skills. You and Nan are my best, welcomed critics! 😁
Anyway, many thanks Ark. Look for my comment-reply to WSA soon, possibly in your Spam or Moderation folder.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Also Ark, I should have included our late dear friend Roughseas with you and Nan as my welcomed best critics. Wow was she super tough on me, to put it mildly! 😳🤭 And then as we developed a 2-year close friendship off WordPress she had no issues whatsoever for any sensitivity I might have for blunt, brutal criticism. Hahahaha! But that was exactly what I loved most about her. ❤
Anyway, I really do miss her.
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Me too. Now Kate will be on my mind all evening.
Since her passing there are times when I may have pushed the envelope a bit in a comment and Carmen ( at least once) has reminded me that Kate would not have approved!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s so very true Sir. But you know, in all fairness her approvals and support were equally pure gold! It is directly because of her that I am (gradually?) getting increased interest, invites, and support to write much, MUCH more about my Alternative Lifestyles, not just from an educational/guidance standpoint for newbies or those neo-explorers, but wide-open from the male perspective… as she vehemently encouraged me to do after reading all of my Memoirs. She always complained that that market-sector was too saturated with female POV’s and too… sappy(?), too tender(?) and badly needed my version. HAH! Imagine that. Who’d a thunk, huh? 😉
I owe her so much gratitude for that support and continued (still limited right now) success/encouragement from those circles. She put me in touch with a few publishers too! 😮
Yeah, yeah, yeah… don’t worry Ark. Your Granny is safe. (for now)
LikeLiked by 1 person
getting increased interest, invites, and support to write much, MUCH more about my Alternative Lifestyles
Not from me!
Suggestion: why not set up a separate wordpress blog just for the above? Perhaps you could call it professorandchains.com. 😈
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Hahahaha! 😄 No, not from you Nan. In fact, you have not participated ever over on my 1.5 year old Private blog: The Professor’s Lifestyles Memoirs – Experiencing & Exploring the Rabbit-holes of Eros, Swinging, Polyamory and BDSM-Kink
And naturally, that is perfectly fine. It is not everyone’s cup-o-tea. That’s why I made it Private. 😉 The other reason, as you can certainly appreciate, is because of where I live and my ex-wife’s acute readiness to make my life harder, miserable via our kid’s Visitation Rights using a hyper-conservative Atty General’s Office that is ALWAYS itching to throw Dad’s in jail for 1 or 2 infractions. I kid you not Nan! This state of “legal policing/harassing” is compounded by the fact that Texas is an At-Will labor laws state and has banned all worker unions or the attempts to create one.
Hence, a hyper-conservative Mom with a serious vendetta or temper (and resources to do it) can and will take a father’s testicles into a vise-grip cruncher in a heart beat. I’ve watched many of my buddies (father’s) suffer for years because of how biased Texas Family Laws are to mothers. And you and I both know the ultimate reason(s) this State behaves in those ways. $$Amen Hallelujah PRAISE tha baby Lawd Jebus$$
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I’m in love!
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That pic of him on laid out on his left-side makes you just want to tickle his belly — then possibly lose a finger or a pint of blood, huh? 😉
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Cutie – reminds us to take time for ourselves
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