I'm an ex-Muslim and even though there are many differences between Islam and Christianity there are also many similarities and it's fascinating how my own journey of coming to doubt and eventually rejecting Islam has so many parallels to yours . Thank you for sharing.
Hey, Hassan. Thanks for sharing. Very different indeed but both suffer from obviously immoral and incorrect holy books and a very contradictory god in nature. Thats a recipe for deconversion ha! Appreciate you being here.
There is a good book by Dr D Ray called "The God Virus" it is a very good analogy, comparing religious thought to a virus. You get infected via vectors, its only aim is to propagate itself and to do so can sacrifice hosts, put up defenses and immunize against rationality. A real Thinking stimulus. All the best from Down Under.
Hassan: Glad that you're free now! Both religions are "slavery contracts with a jealous god/owner" , only that the Christian one is somewhat more "benevolent", due to centuries of reformation. All the best to you.
As an ex-Muslim, what have you experienced from your Muslim family and friends? I have heard some Muslims say they want to kill ex-Muslims. I have never heard Christians say that. Some Christians want atheists to leave the country, even though the U.S. was NOT founded as a Christian nation, despite what some Christians think.
I deconverted because I saw that you can take any religion and half of its doctrine was invented to make people feel better about their problems and half is invented to control other people. All over the world in all different times, people made up different stories to address these desires. All these different stories don’t have any common factor that points to a real god speaking to us all. But the stories do all point to a human desire for explanations and for control.
Watching this over again, I'm struck by your frustration with what religion does to the mind, how it made your wife cry over your newfound belief in evolution or how it made your best friend feel like he lost you. And I respect how you realize where they are coming from and don't hold that against them, because too many new atheists cut off their family for things like that. For myself, I find one of the most important things after my deconversion is to hold on to that sense of perspective. It really helps me from being bitter with people who still believe.
Thank you for that and for rewatching. Perspective is the right word and is a powerhouse for good decisions and protecting friends and family etc. Still all sucks, but truth is truth and its not worth living a lie.
@@Cuffsmaster This one won't prey on him, but I sure will point out his needless and tragically-costly oversights and resulting misconceptions, like that apologetics is all God has left Himself to prove Himself with, to answer His call to reason with Him and taste and see that He's good, as I privately pray for all former Christians. You would do well to check 'em out too.
@@MindShift-Brandon It sure isn't. If only you knew, I mean really knew, which you're doing now. Oh, if only you knew. If you stick with me as I answer your questions, maybe you'll begin to at least see the possibility of seeing otherwise.
@@AighEnoughAlready You believe is unfounded in fact and or evidence. But I know you have been conditioned to ignore that and let that information skip off your mind like a flat rock skipping across water. None of the supernatural events claimed in the bible are anything but lies and often based on older religions. I know you reject that without even thinking about it which is sad because you reject simular claims of supernatural events in other faiths. You willfully ignore facts in order to keep a false believe system more than likely caused by brainwashing from Childhood.
This made me realize just how deeply religion has traumatized me. I feel like I need to make a video talking through all these feelings I didn't know were still affecting me...
Please do. Im sure it would help others and be cathartic for yourself. My video this sunday is about what to do after a deconversion. Maybe that can also help further. Thanks for being here.
I awoke from mormonism about 15 years before your eyes were uncovered. It was like being released from a prison I hadn’t realized I was in. But I stepped outside and saw with new eyes and have never stopped rejoicing.
I also had a moment of feeling like I literally "woke up" near the beginning of when my deconstruction journey really started. I was raised in Evangelicalism, which is also a cult.
Well I'm glad you awoke from Mormonism because Mormonism is a complete lie and you don't really know Jesus when you're a Mormon or a Jehovah Witness it's a cult so you never truly experienced Jesus you were in a cult.
Wow. I watched this with tears in my eyes as you just told my story too. I hear from many well-meaning Christian friends "Why did you leave?". Like it was something I wanted. It wasn't. Like you, I just kept pressing in, and found more and more issues. And I 'knew' that My God must have had the answers - so I pressed in further still. I pressed in so hard, that I found myself on the other side. It was painful. Everything I thought I knew about myself and reality was gone. I lost everything. But. I could build again. I discovered a world outside of my bubble, more rich, more wonderous and yes, more loving. And I discovered a better me too. Thank you for your channel Brendan. May you keep speaking to the land of drought so beautifully, honestly and passionately.
Jesus says you must be born again to enter the kingdom in John 3. I notice as usual w/ these reconversion stories the presence of God is never talked about, answered prayer or prayers is never experienced and talked about, never the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians. If there is no faith then there is no Holy Spirit. Romans teaches only the children of God are led by the Spirit of God. You never fully embraced the Gospel of Jesus. I'm native American myself. I've had the similar thoughts about my ancestors but God was still able to reach them through dreams and the general revelation. It's not impossible that they weren't saved in ancient America. I almost became an atheist myself but Jesus says In John 28-29 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. Holy Spirit spoke with me simultaneously one night when I said John 8:12 out loud. John 8:12 I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life. You've never been blessed with salvation! I was also in Jesus manifest presence that night as too. The manifest presence of God is the most powerful presence of God possible.
Same here. You are not alone. Was a evangelical Christian for over 40 years. Have advanced degrees in biblical theology, preached, taught many Bible classes, etc. Eventually found the courage to admit it was all human made, individualized, subjective interpretation of the god idea.
@@Giwii-ojimin Do you really think I haven't memorized, quoted, read, taught this verse dozens of times in my 40 years of Christianity? Just quoting a verse from a book that we now know is a purely human product from long, long ago written in superstitious times says nothing. "God's spirit" and "born again" are abstract, indefinable, undemonstrated, ideas. Nothing more.
@@stefansevcik1877 Understanding evidence, history, humanity, science. Understanding myth and legend and lies. Understanding a mind virus that STEALS your humanity. The conclusion is about the now and reality. Wrong? Show evidence that changes our minds.
Im so glad i was raised athiest. My mother was brought up with much religious trauma and even though she deconverted it still showed up in crazy ways i didnt see until i got older. Religion is a heavy thing to take off your shoulders!
I am a pastors kid too, who married a pastors kid. You are so right about the total indoctrination, every day, all day. So glad we both thought our way out of this. I related to so much of what was said in the video.
Hey everyone! Many of you have seen this one from my old channel, but like I said, I want to get my previous videos moved over one by one. I did cut the time down and cleaned it up. I hope this helps many people who are going through something similar. Thanks for your support!
I didn't know anything about your old channel but I had watched a few of your videos on this channel and the thought had crossed my mind, "Damn, that's quite the bookshelf." 🤣🤣🤣
Are you aware you have the one on hell left to move over? Well either way, be aware I've posted some comments above and will be giving you the answers you haven't gotten and likely think don't exist. So make sure you stick with me as I do, and expect your eyes to finally be opened. Will I need to add @MindShift or @MindShiftSkeptic to make sure you see them?
Yet you don't consider that the self-programming of DNA is dumb nor that your ancestor was a fish is dumb, nor that everything came from nothing is dumb..
@@Radrook353Drastic oversimplification of science Are you more content believing that one family (Noah) inbred among themselves to eventually make you? 😹
It’s been a little over a year since I deconverted. I really can’t wrap my head around it anymore and the verbal gymnastics Christians will give to excuse God or the Bible leaves me dumbfounded. I’m grateful for channels like yours because it helps me feel normal.
This is a fascinating story. I’ve been an atheist since I was a kid and have looked at religion from the outside. It’s always been hard for me to understand how anyone could believe in any of them. This story certainly helps with that. Great video.
Same! I vividly remember the day I became an atheist. I was 5. It was the day I learnt Santa Claus is not real. It was just a very easy connect the dots moment from one bearded old man who grants wishes to another.
Human beings are capable of finding evidence for anything they want to believe. If I feed you evidence for 18 years that the moon is made of cheese, the moon will be made of cheese, as far as you're concerned. The evidence for Christianity is overwhelming, from the point of view of someone who has only been living on one side of the fence. A fish is irrational if he thinks the world is not made of water, and a Christian is irrational if he thinks there is no evidence for god.
Although I started questioning at an early age my mother was able to convince me it was all true. I finally let it go in my 50’s. My beat friend told me I was going to hell, my uncle told me I was going to hell. Basically my two best friends. Talk about being hurt. Life is so weird… thanks for being you. I would love to have a friend like you.
I’ve been deconverting for the past year and recently had the conversation with my husband about it, its ROUGH! Please share more of your experience with how you and your wife are managing this together specially with your kids. Thank you for sharing your experience and for your channel!
I greatly appreciate your videos. I am very passionately atheist for most of the same reasons that you are. What Christians don't understand is that your beliefs aren't a choice, it's what makes intellectual sense to you. I appreciate the way you convert these ideas in a way that I find difficult to consider at times for lack of putting them together in a comprehensive way, but I wholeheartedly agree with your position on all of it and your videos really speak to my personal thoughts.
Another thing that Christians fail to realize is that the most vocal and passionate atheists were once the most passionate and dedicated Christians. That is something that is not apparent to those that still believe.
"Once I left fundamentalism, there was no stopping atheism" Same with me. In retrospect, no way was I going to make it through a full life on this earth as a christian. I'm just not wired for self-deception that way. For me, the best thing about leaving chrisitanity was being able to meet new people and not have to classify whether they were christian or not. Now I just meet people and it's cool.
When I hear stories like yours, and how much you had to go through to arrive at your current position, I feel incredibly lucky to have been raised without any comment on God either for or against by my parents ever. It wasn't until I was 13 and firmly in a skeptical mindset before I had my first real exposure to Christianity by way of a girl that I was dating whose father was a pastor. While immediately I was enamored ( both with the girl and with the religion- surprise surprise) it did not take long for my critical faculties to realize that the things they were teaching us couldn't possibly be true, and that they were simply trying to manipulate our emotions. My conversion and deconversion occurred over a short 6-month period and left me the rest of my life up until now to learn all about the various world religions without having to fight any deeply ingrained beliefs. My parents weren't the greatest people ever, but I really do thank them for that.
@@MindShift-Brandon I have been in theology and philosophy publishing in England for decades, very serious stuff. I am on the border of agnostic and atheist and I have to say you have a very rationalist line. I have conservative evangelical friends and they are full of shame and Christian nationalism.. I used to know the philosopher John Hick, have you read him?
Very well presented. The process of discovering that we had been lied since birth is a painful and traumatic one. My process was a very long one. At the end I made my last prayer to this god. I was 57 and I told this god that I had been talking with him for the last 57 years of my life. Now its his turn to respond. I’m 62 and still haven’t heard nothing from him. It’s curious that you can have a relationship with something that does not respond. My final conclusion was that Christians have a relationship with a story, they warship the story, but as all stories the book can not respond, neither the characters in the book.
Christians have a relationship with an idea. The "God" and "personal Jesus" idea. Ideas can be powerful and meaningful, right. Doesn't make them true. God and Jesus are personified ideas.
I'm married to the same woman for thirty years now. I left the same denominational background as you 2016, my wife was a lot more indoctrinated than me. The same year I came down with a very painful neurological disorder, things got really rough for a few years, but I refused to pray about it. We've had to learn to navigate around this subject. We have two teenage boys, and another son who's 25, years old. I leave god out of my mouth and say things the way they are in real life using tact, and being mindful of common ground that won't offend as much. But I'm honest and things are working out pretty good at this point, i think being honest with myself and those around me is the way I approach all subject matter, I always leave out gods, and religious language. Great video!!
That is encouraging to hear! How did it go with your younger kids at the time? Did you tell then how you believed or lack there of. Were they religious,? Was it difficult to watch them do that?
It's teaching all my kids, that religion doesn't get to dictate my life for me anymore. I now do that without the aid of religion. But it's also teaching them, that dad's not this evil monster, because I don't believe. I'm still the same dad and they know I love them religion I don't need a religion, to love them.
If you substitute "God" or "Jesus" with "Flying Spaghetti Monster" it helps to make the ridiculousness stand out. Of course then they will think you're nuts. Go figure.
@@grepora "If you substitute "God" or "Jesus" with "Flying Spaghetti Monster" it helps to make the ridiculousness stand out." LOL. Really? There is good evidence the spaghetti monster doesn't exist, even a child knows this. Same with santa and other myths. Demonstrably false. But there is very good evidence that God does exist, historical, scientific, philosophical, moral, etc... This also means that almost all other religions are false. Religions is one of the best weapons satan has to hide the truth.
What a powerful video. The effect on your relationships really touched me. As difficult as it all sounds, I wish this journey for all Christians. It feels like a story of escape from bondage. I’m so glad you’re out,but I’m sorry that it’s struggle with friends and family.
I was a Baha'i for 40 years, but it find it so interesting that the deconvertion process/steps was so similar. Also, as a recent atheist, and because vocal ex-Baha'is are so rare to be almost mythical, channels like yours is where I had to turn, and I have to tell you how much I enjoy your straightforward approach. Many thanks.
Thanks for sharing. This isnt messy at all. The struggle is very real. Trying to answer the questions of young children make you revisit everything to try find a way to explain it, and religion is not an easy topic to explain.
My Dad, Stepdad, Brother and Sister in Law are all preachers. They ALL believe differently. Yet they ALL look down on me for stating the obvious. I THANK YOU for making these videos. They are informative, well researched, and you have the background to ward off most arguments. The world NEEDS people who aren’t scared to speak truth.
Been on your journey too. Was bought up in a fundermental cult - jw. Then left when I read the bible for myself and also they're history etc. Joined a church. For this I was shunned by my parents and friends, nearly cost me my marriage too. But like you I only wanted the truth and to be true to myself. I was a born-again Christian for 7 years. Then took a step back and critically examined the bible! So for the first 34 years a born in jw, the next 7 years a born-again christian. Now I believe similar as you especially after reading Greek mythology and seeing it so similar to the bible stories. I am an A-theist, that is I do not believe in a personal god. I have a belief in the source or absolute which we are a part of. I am convinced that we are more than our sum parts. So I am spiritual. Tomorrow I may think differently. Life is after all a path. Having been on a journey like this makes me more tolerant of others beliefs, mainly because I was once where they are now. But I find that it is very hard to convince anyone until they own their doubts and are ready to reason - not just defend their beliefs. So I will not challenge jws at their little stands or Christians who shout about Jesus in the street. It just ends up in a heated arguments. (They tend to be heated not me, which tells you something). Well that's my 1/2 pence worth. Peace and love my bro. 😜 from England
love it, thanks for sharing. what a crazy story. Having to deconvert twice essentially. I too am open to the possibility of a higher power, but at this point, until something reveals itself, i am done on the believing in invisible beings game. If a creator or force does exist, i do not think it has revealed itself and thus I have 0 responsibility in that for now. Again thanks for sharing. A pleasure having you here.
I just recently found your channels. I remember going through my deconversion, losing what friends I had, my wife thinking I betrayed her and not wanting a future with me. It was a rough time.
@@MindShift-Brandon it was about 13 years ago. Didn't go well with my wife, she didn't want to be with or have kids with someone that wasn't a Christian so we got divorced soon after.
@@MindShift-Brandon it's all good now. I have had several friends that have decoverted and were able to maintain a happy marriage and raise their kids, so I know it can work.
It's so nice to live without perpetual anxiety and paranoia, immersed in resolving doubts, thinking your faith has been restored only for the doubts to return even stronger as your subconscious dismantles the clever rationalizations you found in the internal church literature that week. It's such a blessing to just believe whatever appears to be true, change those beliefs as needed without drama, and draw no conclusions where none are required.
You are much to be admired for your courage and intellectual honesty, despite your pursuit of truth leading you in the opposite direction to your family and friends. That shows extraordinary strength. Well done, Sir.
I just recently discovered your channel and this video almost brought me to tears. After over two years of struggle and deconstruction, I decided I no longer identify as a Christian. I’ve told a few of my family and friends only after being asked about my struggles and where I find myself currently. Some have been very supportive while others have completely cut me off and labeled me as “dishonest.”
and i deconverted from islam when i was 15- so just a year ago! im glad i have center-left parents who dont judge me for my deconversion (and the fact that im LGBT as well)
Fantastic video! I've been deconstructing for about 2 years now and I 100% align with your frustrations. I'm excited to watch the rest of your videos, keep up the great work!
I re-watched Nonstampcollector's videos on Noah's Ark. You're right. Who in their right mind could possibly continue believing that the story is true. 🤗
Brandon, you and I have such a similar story - every word resonated with me. I was a missionary kid, was prophesied over, always had questions.. married and had 4 kids in the faith, atheist at 30 ish. I'm now 59. My wife is still a Christian - 3 out of my 4 fantastic children are strong atheists, they were brought up in church with my wife, and attended Christian school. My Christian son is a fantastic person. It hasn't been easy .. I lost friends, was threatened by 2 good friends to not talk to their kids. I have often felt frowed upon and pitied by family. I have a wonderful wife but it has definitely caused a strain and diminished our relationship. But ... I have made plenty of new friends, love my sunday mornings! ... and recently 2 of my daughters expressed their gratitude to me for always being true to what I believed, they saw their friends being sucked into Christian conditioning and were so thankful that I had shown them an alternative. Thanks so much for your eloquent and thoughtful videos. Life is good.
I think the best thing I did when I finally left the church is that I cut all my relationships off immediately. I didn't talk to pastors, or acquaintances and friends that I had, I just went AWOL immediately and permanently. It was so freeing for me and I was on my happy train right away.
I am still in the stage that I don’t want anyone to know i am closer to non belief than to belief in the christian god, or any god. The fear, stress and uncertainty is very real. More power to you as you continue to work with your spouse for the benefit of your family
@@MindShift-BrandonI appreciate the honesty and sincerity of your words. I practice African spiritually after being raised a Christian and even an altar boy in Catholic church. It's funny how the easiest way to discredit the scriptures is through history. What I find priceless in African spirituality is the correlation between science and spirituality especially in Egyptian/kemetic spiritual systems.
@@MindShift-Brandon ancient spiritually used stories/parables to explain creation and moral principles but somewhere in history these stories/parables were twisted to be taken literally and frankly it's childish and ignorance in its essence to ignore common sense and take the things literally
Thanks so much for sharing. When I got “unsaved” after a similar upbringing I went through a very tough transition of hopelessness and anxiety. I found that for the first time I don’t want anyone to do what I did. I don’t have conversations with parents or old Christian friends about why they should stop believing bc I don’t want them to go through what I did when I lost that basic fundamental part of my life since childhood. I was blown away that your wife is still in it. Coodos to u guys for valuing your relationship and the kids throughout that transition
This was very inspiring! good on you for taking the path of intellectual honesty and not compromising in your journey for truth! I wish you all the best, and enjoy your videos very much!
Great to hear your story. The mental gymnastics you went through seemed very familiar. I finally lost my faith after desperately trying to cling onto it around a couple of years ago. It was slowly crumbling but the church community just about convinced me to stick with it. I was descending into depression for the first time, but didn't recognise it as that. During Covid, like many it would seem, the lack of church attendance, and time to think independently for the first time, was enough to set the ball rolling. I had to drop my faith because it was driving my anxiety and depression. I experimented on myself by pretending I didn't believe. I stopped praying, reading the bible, etc, basically just pressed pause on my faith. Then my whole life immediately shifted into a state of freedom and liberation. The depression went and I was out of there! My wide was thankfully on a similar path to me, but doesn't managed to get the time she needs to process everything. I so glad to get my 3 young kids out of the evangelical church in the UK. It's been a hard few years, I've lost a lot of friends, and haven't told everyone in my family, but life is the best it ever has been.
Thank you for sharing! I am jealous of your wife coming along for the most part. That is singlehandedly the hardest part for me. Again, appreciate your willingness to open up and wish you all the best on this journey!
@@MindShift-Brandon Thanks man. It must be hard going it alone. For me I felt the most alone I ever had while I was still in church (and a worship leader too) while my faith was slipping away. Coming out of it all, and realising that I'm actually the same as every other human was such a life giving experience. It's a bloody tough road isn't it! Keep up the good work
I just came across your content and I’m finding it very relatable. Thank you for sharing your experience. It is messy and difficult but feels good to genuinely be myself without all these questions and contradictions always hanging over me! I’ve never felt such peace. I’m finally right with myself!
When you said "someone smarter than me has addressed this, and theyre still a believer, so ill move on"... wow that hit hard. This is exactly what I do. Long confusing journey ahead for me I think. Glad I found this channel
@MindShiftSkeptic thank you! I'm beginning to admit to myself what I've known for a while, but as you once were I'm dreading the conversations ahead. An entire life seems poised to unravel if I give this up...
My mother used to threaten me with stoning when I was a kid. Well, she said if it wasn't illegal now, that i would be in danger of a stoning. Great childhood.
Thank you for your story. My husband and i became less religious and more politically left together over 10 years, but had we not independently gone in the same directions i don’t know where our marriage would be now. I admire your resolve in coming out to your wife when it must have felt like you were risking your family.
Thank you for sharing your testimony. I’m a Christian in the PNW who grew up mostly around Atheists and your story really reasonates with many of theirs. I’m so glad to hear that even though your friends were hurt, you and your wife still have love for each other and are staying together. I found your channel from the video discussing issues with Heaven and I immediately subscribed. I love watching your videos and hearing your thoughts on Christianity. I like to pretend that it’s a dialogue and offer my own thoughts on the matter intermittently, and I find that the topics that you present are great practice for having respectful dialogue! You aren’t over-the-top, you’re passionate because you care and not just because “someone hurt you” or whatever. I like to hear your side and thoughts, please keep sharing.
Whew! That’s amazing you’re still married to a believer (and she with an unbeliever). I was married to the pastor’s brother and who grew up in the church. When christianity wasn’t adding up for me, I knew our marriage wasn’t going to hold. My parents, siblings and friends were all Christians and tried to “help” me either with kind words or by shunning. I left the country and the marriage and over a period of 10 years, I left the faith. It’s been a hard road because indoctrination is real. I’m no longer afraid of an afterlife and am grateful for each day of a life free of religion.
I totally resonated with the free grace theology and then transition to the liberal/moderate Christianity. My last attempt to hold onto Christianity was Christian Universalism, aka David Bentley Hart’s “That all shall be saved.” Free grace theology really emphasizes assurance of salvation, which I still never had when I was a believer because I was always questioning, “What if the Calvinists are right? What if the Armenians are right?” Love your videos Brandon. Really liked the one on free will. Keep it up!
Thank you for sharing your story, it's not usually easy for most to do because of the ramifications, but I appreciate it. For me, the whole journey has finally led to my freedom and that is worth everything!
It’s amazing to me that you mentioned NonStampCollector. That’s the channel that started my deconversion. His quiz show about biblical contradictions physically hurt me to watch because I realized that I didn’t know what my Bible actually said and how it disagreed with itself. No amount of apologetics searching could give me satisfactory answers, and as I went down the atheist UA-cam rabbit hole, it scared me how much sense the arguments made against Christianity. All because of a couple of stick figure drawings.
My mother is and has always been an unwavering believer. But what's odd to me is that she is very logical and clear-thinking about everything else in life. Except her faith. It's annoying, and it actually does keep a small distance between us. I mean she did tell me she's afraid I'm going to hell because I don't believe, so clearly, she judges me. The fact that I live a normal decent, honest life doesn't make me good enough for her god.
Decency has nothing to do with Christianity. It's all about knowing when to bow down to the invisible overlord and saying the correct magical name. ( Even if that name was invented over 1500 years after the magical guidebook was written.)
When I finally told my wife 10 years ago that I no longer believed, that I was an atheist. And that I had lost my belief a year before, she did not understand how I could choose not to believe. But what was worse is in her mind I broke her trust by not trusting that she would accept me for who I was. We are in the middle of a divorce over many different reasons. But I suspect that the biggest fissure started then.
This is the best deconstruction video I’ve ever seen. I haven’t left christianity. But I’m wrestling with a lot. Much of which came out after becoming a mom. And a lot of what you’re saying are things I’m really facing right now. For example, the idea of the rapture was literally invented to give the people of that time hope. Had I not been raised in North America I’d probably have another religion due to culture. The concept of hell was invented well after Jesus to keep the people in that time accountable while they are alive since “the end” never came, which is what they believed back then. I don’t know what will happen with my faith but I found this video helpful in the context of pure logic.
I must say, your story is very similar to mine, I was born in Guatemala and lived breath and studied in a Christian school, a home study once a week, Saturday was youth study, Sunday was the main service and Bible study in school three days a week, not only was I unmerged in it, but I truly believed I was in the right path, I was in the holy Spirit, speaking in tongues etc, until I started to study other fields to defend my faith and oh boy I was shocked in how little christian foundation is based on facts and truth, but more importantly, the horrific truths in the bible that made me realize I was actually brainwashed to believe in all that nonsense just for the fear of eternal torment, I feel liberated, I feel completely free yet I am a very moral well educated person and didn't leave the faith to pursue a sinful life.
Man... could we ever have a great conversation. My story, of course, is not identical. But your mind set and path have such similarities. I REALLY identify the feeling of embarrassment. When I finally realized I no longer believed, it was my strongest emotion: Embarrassment. Dang.
My experience is much like yours. The personal relations are the hardest parts to navigate- especially the spouse. You say it well when you point out that your Christian friends/family are still acting in good faith in trying to save your soul. The most frustrating part is they can’t wrap their minds around the idea that you were once just as sincere in your beliefs as they are now. They think you are lying or that you secretly still believe and are denying reality.
yes, they cant accept that we were really the same, because then that means they might be able to lose their faith too. Its a defense mechanism for sure. Thanks for sharing and for being here.
You said to reach out if going through a similar process and journey. It’s been a while I’ve had cognitive dissonance and started my doubts and questioned the Christian lifelong faith. I’m 47 now and April this year I declared to myself, husband and children that I’m out’! This your UA-cam deconversion story made me cry for my own dumbed down worldview. Hand up I was indoctrinated and I feel so bad and guilty for beginning to indoctrinated my own children. Would appreciate sharing more……
Keep going eyeswideopen! I feel for you as I 'came out' at a similar age. The journey is hard and painful, but oh so rewarding. To be yourself, to be free. Its never to late to start again. Lots of love to you.
I can relate. I stopped being able to believe this stuff at age 46 and am now 53. The family relationships are a hard part of all of this. But Jesus did say "I have come so that a son will be against his father, a daughter will be against her mother, a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law. A person's enemies will be members of his own family." He also said "“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." I don't think most Christians actually believe this deep down, but it is supposedly what Jesus taught. FAMILY VALUES!!!
welcome to the world of logic and critical thinking. I’m proud of you for being able to break your shackles of indoctrination and cognitive dissonance, congratulations..
I had a similar story. Went to a Christian High School, tried my hardest to believe. Fasted through lunch sometimes to goto the chapel. Something I noticed about my personality, I never really get sucked into social emotional atmospheres, if that makes sense. I can't get into concerts at all, so its no surprise I couldn't get into the emotional aspects of worship at church.
My son is similar. He struggled with depression so he just couldn’t “FEEL” church like the rest of us. This actually helped him to look at things more logically rather than depending on his feelings. (Those feelings are merely elevation emotion caused by brain chemistry rather than any supernatural witness of truth.) As the youngest of a large family he was the first to deconvert. It took most of the rest of us many years to follow him. I have observed that the more of a “Feeler” a person is the more likely they are to stay in religion. I was given a medication that blocked Dopamine and Serotonin. Immediately God disappeared. I felt nothing at church and realized how little it all made sense. I thought “why does God need Serotonin and Dopamine to communicate with me?” It was the beginning of my own deconversion. If you take the feelings out of it there isn’t enough left.
Many thanks for telling this moving story so cogently and with such honesty. I have only recently discovered your videos and find them without exception captivating, very well researched, and confidently presented. You speak fast but always clearly and you present your arguments so intelligently.
Hi there- I was raised in an independent fundamental baptist church, and currently deconstructing much of my upbringing and your videos have been so validating and helpful. I’m feeling very alone, but watching your videos is helping me feel less alone in this process.
Welcome to the wonderful world of atheism my friend. The only person you should believe in now is yourself. You’re making the right choice doing this. It’s a lot better than being a judgmental Christian.
Good point, finding God or jesus is also known as giving up on yourself. Believers should have more confidence in themselves. Indoctrination, brainwashing or a mid life crisis is what gets most people to believing in a God. Simple minds want Simple answers....God did it.
Watched this again because I just love a good character arc. 😄 I must confess I don't actually count myself an atheist, rather I think of myself as somewhat gnostically inclined now; I do believe in higher things than what we perceive, but like you I decided a long time ago to no longer ignore verifiable scientific evidence simply because it contradicts the faith I was raised in. I think knowledge is what I'm after now, be that what it may. And plus there came a point where I just couldn't make it work for me in an ethical sense anymore. 20:30 - 26:40 pretty much covers it. I dunno; we're all of us on a journey, and I've enjoyed hearing of yours - someone who was brave enough to no longer ignore their own heart and mind, and to ask questions no matter how painful they might be.
Ha! Appreciate all that. We are probably in very close space. Like i have no reason to believe in a higher power but i wouldn’t deny its possibility at all. I can deny the abrahamic god but as for what else might he out there, i dont know, and so far i dont think we can know. That could change though.
Having been a former true believer in Jesus Christ, I can relate to this on so many levels. An excellect presentation and explanation of what a person goes thru when leaving something that was once so foundational to one's almost every thought about anything.
My experience feels so similar to yours! I just kept looking around the room and pinching myself because I thought I was dreaming because you articulated everything I went through. It has been so hard to not talk about deaths in the family, because I know what they think because I was told the same story - That it’s very sad, but he’s with Jesus now, and there’s comfort in that. They even think that simply by NOT saying “well he’s in heaven now…” I am somehow being blasphemous and disrespectful.
I was an athiest my whole life, even though I was raised Catholic. I was creeped out by the religious stories and thought it sounded insane, as a kid. Then at around age 40 some things happened to make me feel like I could have been wrong about Christianity. A ton of crazy coincidences. When I accepted Christianity & that I was a sinner, my phone immediately lit up with a random message "be blessed and know that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior" from an unknown number. Like what???? It was crazy, I was fully convinced. Then I attended a church for a year, prayer group, etc. I started diving deep into reading and studying the Bible. That's where the issues started. The Bible is illogical, strange, God in the Bible is violent, petty, angry. It started falling apart. I don't know what I believe anymore.
This is what I’m currently going through, I’ve had a lot of hardships in my life and one night randomly felt the urge to learn about Christianity which I thought was a sign, for a while my life seemed to change for the better when I started praying, and I felt my anxiety ease for awhile. My sister in laws family own a church so I went with them a few times and as soon and I started doing that and reading the bible I started questioning everything because of the same reasons you put and now I feel like I’ve become more fearful then at peace which leaves me confused because other Christian’s I know seem full of life and so peaceful and I’m an anxious wreck and worry I’ll go to hell every time I make a mistake but of course when I try speak to others about it it’s always ‘you gotta just have faith’ and not much else 😢
I am just walking down this same road. I've been harmed so much by Christianity. I've cried and left so many good things because they weren't okay with Jesus. The faith is seductive because it presents things that humans need, like community and emotional bonding and purpose. If only all those energies were directed towards saving our planet and making a real paradise on earth. Your video is a deep comfort and I will be watching them all and benefiting greatly. I'm so sorry about your struggle with your family. You are not alone.
I'm very happy for you, I used to believe that hardcore endoctrinated people could never see through the mind control and you proved it to be wrong, you are a hero!
Thank you so much for the way you're approaching this. I've struggled with belief and non-belief my whole life and my personal experience is that it's been hard to find someone like yourself who can approach these topics with a lot of knowledge, clarity, and humility, illuminated by your personal experience. At least for me, your upbringing and biblical literacy gives you a uniquely valuable position in the community that can't be dismissed as "an outsider who doesn't really get it." I mean, of course there are always those in the comments who will pull the "no true Scotsman" card on you not matter what, but for someone wrestling in the middle, your experience lends weight to your words that is worth as much as the soundness of your logic. I know this has been a difficult process, but you are helping people, so thank you for that.
dude. our stories are so similar. thank you for your content. i felt so alone having pledging so much of my life to religion and coming out of it. so bro... keep going
Welcome! and thank you. I am sure deconverting in Alabama is as hard as it gets in the states just in terms of how many people around you believe and how dogmatic/fundamentalist they are. Thanks for being here!
@@MindShift-Brandon Very hard here in the Bible Belt. But there are more agnostic country boys like me than you’d think. It’s just hard to determine until you actually engage in one on one conversation with someone.
@@MindShift-Brandon Bible Belt steeples high, pierce the sky, of this paradise we’re in, gives us hope to hold on to, until Sunday comes again, these county roads, are all we know, just how it’s always been, with welfare pay and mansions made, out of corrugated tin, we’re living in, Chorus rely on our salvation, to survive this desolation, we don’t need no education, when we know heaven waits, get by on what we can, it’s all a part of his master plan, blinded, through eyes of faith, but it seems like it ain’t fair, when we ain’t fared too well, what a blessing that we’re in the Bible Belt, mom ain’t well, if you can’t tell, she’s morbidly obese, but in her mind her health is fine, because of her belief, that Jesus Christ, will come one night, and make her body new, but until then she has her faith, and maybe an excuse, that’s the truth, Chorus (Repeat) clothes are old and ragged, that we make the kids put on, just hand-me-downs from someone’s house, who had a loving home, lunch is free and luckily, it’s the meal they get each day, spent supper at the liquor store, and in the offering plate, let us pray, let us pray, kinda seems like it ain’t fair, when we ain’t fared too well, what a blessing that we’re in the Bible Belt…
@@MindShift-Brandon Including me, as I’m afraid of how it could negatively affect my law practice, and the fact that I wrote the current #3 country gospel song in the country. Lol 😂
I appreciate your honesty, and I will continue to view what you are sharing with the world. I'm 66 and was forced to be a Catholic ☹️. I had my doubts due to conflicting scripture, and stopped attending at age 14 and have never regretted it. Many are not aware of your channel yet, I believe your channel will continue to grow as others find you and seek to recover from organized religion.
I almost wish I had a better understanding of what it was like to be a fundamentalist Christian (like from personal experience) so that perhaps I could be a little more empathy for why they can use good reasoning and logic in certain aspects of their lives and yet confidently toss that to the side when it comes to their religion. It always baffled me how otherwise very intelligent people don't recognize that contrast in their thinking.
I feel that "good reasoning and logic" is somewhat of an overstatement. No one is born with those skills, and they require quite a bit of deliberate, conscious effort to acquire, while on the religious side there is a deliberate effort to prevent one from thinking rationally. Religious people may sound rational, but that's because they have learned how mimic rationality, but they sure don't understand it. I am saying it from personal experience, I was over 40 when I began learning bits and pieces of what rational reasoning actually is, and it was like a whole new world opened up before me.
@ezbody I think you're misunderstanding the point the OP was making, or rather that you're overgeneralizing. I'm speaking as someone who escaped religious thinking, and also as someone raised by a very religious father who taught and encouraged me to apply critical thinking to almost all areas of my life EXCEPT to the question of whether the religion we were both indoctrinated into was true. I was praised in school for applying critical thinking skills to academics, but it doesn't mean I automatically applied those skills when it came to the beliefs I valued most deeply. When you're indoctrinated, you're taught to avoid thoughts that could lead to doubts like they're the devil (literally). It's not that the critical questions don't arise (see Brandon's examples from his childhood), and it's not that I didn't give room to the ones that weren't central to my belief, it's more that the anxiety of questioning a core belief leads to finding ways around the critical thoughts, from shutting them down to coming up with fallacious rationales that allowed me to keep them (I.e., apologetics) This is a basic human flaw that isn't exclusive to the religious. All of us have pockets of unexamined or protected beliefs that we don't fully apply logical thinking to in the way we might with other areas of our lives, whether it's religion, relationship, politics, or some assumed knowledge that we've had for a long time. It's all a matter of degrees. Fortunately, since I've let go of my indoctrination I no longer have as strong a need to avoid confronting the pockets when they're brought to my attention, but it doesn't mean I'm completely free of the very human tendency to be uneven in my application of rationality. That keeps me humble and compassionate. Also, even as a Christian I recognized that any side of a debate is going to have proponents who are just as smart or smarter than both me and the person I'm debating. There are many people who are capable of heights of logic most of us can't achieve but have yet to escape their indoctrination into religion, bigotry, a toxic relationship, etc..
I’m glad you spoke a little on the reaction of your friends and family. No doubt the hardest part of my journey has been the friction between some of my closest family members. People I love unconditionally, and yet it’s obvious that there’s now a slight wedge between me and them. They’re scared for my soul, and that my eternity is at stake. They worry about me all the time now that I’ve stopped going to church. I just want to love them unconditionally like I always have, and not have to deal with any barriers.
Mine wasn't as hardcore as yours. Raised in the "Starbucks" Christianity church, but never felt it. Youth group, boy scouts, all that, and l tried to believe it, but couldn't. I legit believed in Santa longer than Jesus. And as a teen and young adult, l was really hostile towards religion and those who believed. As an adult, able to see, learn, self assess and use critical thinking, I'm now with the mindset of it's almost like sexual orientation, you're either born with it or not. I was raised in a religious house, like I said, but I never believed, despite trying to. I've met others who are deeply religious or spiritual but were raised in deeply atheist families. So, to me, if one is born without a religious inclination, all the church and outward shows won't help, you'll always feel like it's a lie, but if you were born with that inclination, you'll always feel like something is missing until you find it. That's how I can now better understand those whom I respect and respect their intelligence, but who believe. They were simply born with a need that l don't have. My wife has that need, and I go to church with her--and l enjoy it. I don't believe it, but I do enjoy it. It's good people and usually, while I doubt the basis of message, a lot of times, the message is helpful, like going to a philosophy class. Just my $.02.
I went to church angry for several years before I finally admitted to myself and to my husband that I needed to leave. It was very liberating, but my husband and I fight about it a lot, especially because we have 3 kids who identify as lgbtq+
Amen Brother! I am with you all the way. I was raised Pentecostal Holiness. I can really relate to your story. Little by little you just realized you have been indoctrinated to mythology. Thankfully we decided to use our brain!
Dude, I have such a similar story as you in the first half. I am deconstructing, have been for about 5 years. I saw your video on free will the other day and oh boy, I can’t stop thinking about it. You’re such a clear speaker and you don’t mince your words, and I appreciate how you always pull in something the apologetics would say, and I’ve heard them all, it’s scary how accurate you are. Thank you for making these videos, I will continue to watch them as they are becoming very helpful to me in putting into words doubts I’ve held onto for years.
Thank you SO much for this video. It’s helpful to see that someone else went through the struggle I am currently in and survived. Today church members basically blocked the door and prevented me from leaving because I said I didn’t want to be a member anymore. Did you ever have problems with people trying to pull you back in like that? It feels like endless confrontation. I’m ready to get restraining orders.
So glad to help normalize your experience. I for sure had people who simply could not accept my new reality but maybe being a guy, i had less confrontation. So sorry to hear about the insanity around you. Reach out if you need anything.
Look at those books 😍. Thanks for this informative and candid video. Sometimes I miss the false certainty I had when I was religious/spiritual, but no amount of comfort is worth sacrificing truth for.
I think what well not really surprised me but well let's say was very noticible to me, was how much your journey is similar to working oneself through childhood trauma. That takes courage, strength and resiliance and is never to be underestimated.
![Why I Left Christianity [Deconstructing Dubblup]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kRelMCB88Js/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm an ex-Muslim and even though there are many differences between Islam and Christianity there are also many similarities and it's fascinating how my own journey of coming to doubt and eventually rejecting Islam has so many parallels to yours . Thank you for sharing.
Hey, Hassan. Thanks for sharing. Very different indeed but both suffer from obviously immoral and incorrect holy books and a very contradictory god in nature. Thats a recipe for deconversion ha! Appreciate you being here.
There is a good book by Dr D Ray called "The God Virus" it is a very good analogy, comparing religious thought to a virus.
You get infected via vectors, its only aim is to propagate itself and to do so can sacrifice hosts, put up defenses and immunize against rationality. A real Thinking stimulus.
All the best from Down Under.
Hassan: Glad that you're free now! Both religions are "slavery contracts with a jealous god/owner" , only that the Christian one is somewhat more "benevolent", due to centuries of reformation. All the best to you.
As an ex-Muslim, what have you experienced from your Muslim family and friends? I have heard some Muslims say they want to kill ex-Muslims. I have never heard Christians say that. Some Christians want atheists to leave the country, even though the U.S. was NOT founded as a Christian nation, despite what some Christians think.
I deconverted because I saw that you can take any religion and half of its doctrine was invented to make people feel better about their problems and half is invented to control other people. All over the world in all different times, people made up different stories to address these desires.
All these different stories don’t have any common factor that points to a real god speaking to us all. But the stories do all point to a human desire for explanations and for control.
Watching this over again, I'm struck by your frustration with what religion does to the mind, how it made your wife cry over your newfound belief in evolution or how it made your best friend feel like he lost you. And I respect how you realize where they are coming from and don't hold that against them, because too many new atheists cut off their family for things like that. For myself, I find one of the most important things after my deconversion is to hold on to that sense of perspective. It really helps me from being bitter with people who still believe.
Thank you for that and for rewatching. Perspective is the right word and is a powerhouse for good decisions and protecting friends and family etc. Still all sucks, but truth is truth and its not worth living a lie.
Good luck in your path in the future. I wish you luck. But I will not pray for you LOL. I hope the Christians don't prey on you. Keep it up
@@Cuffsmaster This one won't prey on him, but I sure will point out his needless and tragically-costly oversights and resulting misconceptions, like that apologetics is all God has left Himself to prove Himself with, to answer His call to reason with Him and taste and see that He's good, as I privately pray for all former Christians. You would do well to check 'em out too.
@@MindShift-Brandon It sure isn't. If only you knew, I mean really knew, which you're doing now. Oh, if only you knew. If you stick with me as I answer your questions, maybe you'll begin to at least see the possibility of seeing otherwise.
@@AighEnoughAlready You believe is unfounded in fact and or evidence. But I know you have been conditioned to ignore that and let that information skip off your mind like a flat rock skipping across water.
None of the supernatural events claimed in the bible are anything but lies and often based on older religions. I know you reject that without even thinking about it which is sad because you reject simular claims of supernatural events in other faiths.
You willfully ignore facts in order to keep a false believe system more than likely caused by brainwashing from Childhood.
This made me realize just how deeply religion has traumatized me. I feel like I need to make a video talking through all these feelings I didn't know were still affecting me...
Please do. Im sure it would help others and be cathartic for yourself. My video this sunday is about what to do after a deconversion. Maybe that can also help further. Thanks for being here.
So, did you ever make the video? I've been thinking of doing the same.
I would love to see that video for encouragement to do one myself
I awoke from mormonism about 15 years before your eyes were uncovered. It was like being released from a prison I hadn’t realized I was in. But I stepped outside and saw with new eyes and have never stopped rejoicing.
I also had a moment of feeling like I literally "woke up" near the beginning of when my deconstruction journey really started. I was raised in Evangelicalism, which is also a cult.
Well I'm glad you awoke from Mormonism because Mormonism is a complete lie and you don't really know Jesus when you're a Mormon or a Jehovah Witness it's a cult so you never truly experienced Jesus you were in a cult.
Wow. I watched this with tears in my eyes as you just told my story too. I hear from many well-meaning Christian friends "Why did you leave?". Like it was something I wanted. It wasn't. Like you, I just kept pressing in, and found more and more issues. And I 'knew' that My God must have had the answers - so I pressed in further still. I pressed in so hard, that I found myself on the other side. It was painful. Everything I thought I knew about myself and reality was gone. I lost everything.
But.
I could build again. I discovered a world outside of my bubble, more rich, more wonderous and yes, more loving.
And I discovered a better me too.
Thank you for your channel Brendan. May you keep speaking to the land of drought so beautifully, honestly and passionately.
Thank so sincerely for this comment. I feel a kindred mind. Appreciate you sharing and your very kind and encouraging words.
Jesus says you must be born again to enter the kingdom in John 3. I notice as usual w/ these reconversion stories the presence of God is never talked about, answered prayer or prayers is never experienced and talked about, never the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians. If there is no faith then there is no Holy Spirit. Romans teaches only the children of God are led by the Spirit of God. You never fully embraced the Gospel of Jesus. I'm native American myself. I've had the similar thoughts about my ancestors but God was still able to reach them through dreams and the general revelation. It's not impossible that they weren't saved in ancient America. I almost became an atheist myself but Jesus says In John 28-29 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
Holy Spirit spoke with me simultaneously one night when I said John 8:12 out loud. John 8:12 I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.
You've never been blessed with salvation! I was also in Jesus manifest presence that night as too. The manifest presence of God is the most powerful presence of God possible.
Same here. You are not alone. Was a evangelical Christian for over 40 years. Have advanced degrees in biblical theology, preached, taught many Bible classes, etc. Eventually found the courage to admit it was all human made, individualized, subjective interpretation of the god idea.
@@dmichael100 You must be born again of God's Spirit.
@@Giwii-ojimin Do you really think I haven't memorized, quoted, read, taught this verse dozens of times in my 40 years of Christianity?
Just quoting a verse from a book that we now know is a purely human product from long, long ago written in superstitious times says nothing.
"God's spirit" and "born again" are abstract, indefinable, undemonstrated, ideas. Nothing more.
Seth Andrew’s said something years ago that summarized what I went through.
“Atheism isn’t a choice; it is a conclusion.”
I love that!
Well that hits the nail on the head for me
Conclusion of what?
@@stefansevcik1877 Understanding evidence, history, humanity, science. Understanding myth and legend and lies. Understanding a mind virus that STEALS your humanity. The conclusion is about the now and reality. Wrong? Show evidence that changes our minds.
@@stefansevcik1877Conclusion of the inanimate becoming animate 😂 silly
Im so glad i was raised athiest. My mother was brought up with much religious trauma and even though she deconverted it still showed up in crazy ways i didnt see until i got older. Religion is a heavy thing to take off your shoulders!
Indeed. So light and free now
@@RandomStuff-i4i Noted
??????????😂😂😂😂
@@egry3922
Who raised you an atheist
@@egry3922
Who raised you an atheist
Pastor's kid here. 100% indoctrinated since birth. Really appreciated this video. Thank you.
Oh man. Good on you for making it out!
same
I am a pastors kid too, who married a pastors kid.
You are so right about the total indoctrination, every day, all day.
So glad we both thought our way out of this.
I related to so much of what was said in the video.
@@bobbydewbury1223it' seems like you've followed Christianity not Christ ✝️
Hey everyone! Many of you have seen this one from my old channel, but like I said, I want to get my previous videos moved over one by one. I did cut the time down and cleaned it up. I hope this helps many people who are going through something similar. Thanks for your support!
Can you take on the recent video by sabine hossenfelder on is being trans a social fad among teenagers? Thank you very much for your content!
Ill have to look it up. Thanks so much for making a suggestion. Love that.
I didn't know anything about your old channel but I had watched a few of your videos on this channel and the thought had crossed my mind, "Damn, that's quite the bookshelf." 🤣🤣🤣
Lol! Thats how it all started ha. But i couldnt help myself from talking about what i really wanted too
Are you aware you have the one on hell left to move over? Well either way, be aware I've posted some comments above and will be giving you the answers you haven't gotten and likely think don't exist. So make sure you stick with me as I do, and expect your eyes to finally be opened. Will I need to add @MindShift or @MindShiftSkeptic to make sure you see them?
It was so liberating to dump all those impossible and unacceptable beliefs and the guilt that came with them.
Liberating is the perfect word! Thanks for being here.
Yet you don't consider that the self-programming of DNA is dumb nor that your ancestor was a fish is dumb, nor that everything came from nothing is dumb..
the new testamennt is a historical document.... and it has the last word on you life
@@raysalmon6566 Have you noticed that believers love to assert their faith, but almost never justify it?
@@Radrook353Drastic oversimplification of science
Are you more content believing that one family (Noah) inbred among themselves to eventually make you? 😹
It’s been a little over a year since I deconverted. I really can’t wrap my head around it anymore and the verbal gymnastics Christians will give to excuse God or the Bible leaves me dumbfounded. I’m grateful for channels like yours because it helps me feel normal.
This is a fascinating story. I’ve been an atheist since I was a kid and have looked at religion from the outside. It’s always been hard for me to understand how anyone could believe in any of them. This story certainly helps with that. Great video.
Glad to help offer perspective. I cant imagine what growing up atheist would be like!
Same! I vividly remember the day I became an atheist. I was 5. It was the day I learnt Santa Claus is not real. It was just a very easy connect the dots moment from one bearded old man who grants wishes to another.
Lol!
Love that.
Human beings are capable of finding evidence for anything they want to believe. If I feed you evidence for 18 years that the moon is made of cheese, the moon will be made of cheese, as far as you're concerned. The evidence for Christianity is overwhelming, from the point of view of someone who has only been living on one side of the fence. A fish is irrational if he thinks the world is not made of water, and a Christian is irrational if he thinks there is no evidence for god.
Although I started questioning at an early age my mother was able to convince me it was all true. I finally let it go in my 50’s. My beat friend told me I was going to hell, my uncle told me I was going to hell. Basically my two best friends. Talk about being hurt. Life is so weird… thanks for being you. I would love to have a friend like you.
I’ve been deconverting for the past year and recently had the conversation with my husband about it, its ROUGH! Please share more of your experience with how you and your wife are managing this together specially with your kids. Thank you for sharing your experience and for your channel!
It is indeed! Thank you for this comment. I hope to do a video on it soon
Give him short UA-cam vids, show him the similarities of ALL the Gods worshipped b4 Jesus
I greatly appreciate your videos. I am very passionately atheist for most of the same reasons that you are. What Christians don't understand is that your beliefs aren't a choice, it's what makes intellectual sense to you. I appreciate the way you convert these ideas in a way that I find difficult to consider at times for lack of putting them together in a comprehensive way, but I wholeheartedly agree with your position on all of it and your videos really speak to my personal thoughts.
Another thing that Christians fail to realize is that the most vocal and passionate atheists were once the most passionate and dedicated Christians. That is something that is not apparent to those that still believe.
What a story man! Thank you for your vulnerability and thoughtfulness. This is the perfect version of a deconversion story.
My pleasure. The aim here is to help others who are going through it. Glad to hear its resonating.
This felt perfectly structured. It was organic and from the heart, or at least, seemed to be
Beautiful irony. Now you are speaking to the land when there is drought. I appreciate you. You are helping me.
Thank you. I am very pleased to hear that!
"Once I left fundamentalism, there was no stopping atheism" Same with me. In retrospect, no way was I going to make it through a full life on this earth as a christian. I'm just not wired for self-deception that way.
For me, the best thing about leaving chrisitanity was being able to meet new people and not have to classify whether they were christian or not. Now I just meet people and it's cool.
When I hear stories like yours, and how much you had to go through to arrive at your current position, I feel incredibly lucky to have been raised without any comment on God either for or against by my parents ever. It wasn't until I was 13 and firmly in a skeptical mindset before I had my first real exposure to Christianity by way of a girl that I was dating whose father was a pastor. While immediately I was enamored ( both with the girl and with the religion- surprise surprise) it did not take long for my critical faculties to realize that the things they were teaching us couldn't possibly be true, and that they were simply trying to manipulate our emotions. My conversion and deconversion occurred over a short 6-month period and left me the rest of my life up until now to learn all about the various world religions without having to fight any deeply ingrained beliefs. My parents weren't the greatest people ever, but I really do thank them for that.
This is absolute genius-well done!
Thanks so much!
@@MindShift-Brandon I have been in theology and philosophy publishing in England for decades, very serious stuff. I am on the border of agnostic and atheist and I have to say you have a very rationalist line. I have conservative evangelical friends and they are full of shame and Christian nationalism.. I used to know the philosopher John Hick, have you read him?
Very well presented. The process of discovering that we had been lied since birth is a painful and traumatic one. My process was a very long one. At the end I made my last prayer to this god. I was 57 and I told this god that I had been talking with him for the last 57 years of my life. Now its
his turn to respond. I’m 62 and still haven’t heard nothing from him. It’s curious that you can have a relationship with something that does not respond. My final conclusion was that Christians have a relationship with a story, they warship the story, but as all stories the book can not respond, neither the characters in the book.
Thank you! Man so glad to hear you made it out, no matter the age.
Damn that's a huge eye opener
Christians have a relationship with an idea. The "God" and "personal Jesus" idea. Ideas can be powerful and meaningful, right. Doesn't make them true.
God and Jesus are personified ideas.
If this God turned out to be real he is one rude God not replying to millions of us.
I'm married to the same woman for thirty years now. I left the same denominational background as you 2016, my wife was a lot more indoctrinated than me. The same year I came down with a very painful neurological disorder, things got really rough for a few years, but I refused to pray about it. We've had to learn to navigate around this subject. We have two teenage boys, and another son who's 25, years old. I leave god out of my mouth and say things the way they are in real life using tact, and being mindful of common ground that won't offend as much. But I'm honest and things are working out pretty good at this point, i think being honest with myself and those around me is the way I approach all subject matter, I always leave out gods, and religious language. Great video!!
That is encouraging to hear! How did it go with your younger kids at the time? Did you tell then how you believed or lack there of. Were they religious,? Was it difficult to watch them do that?
It's teaching all my kids, that religion doesn't get to dictate my life for me anymore. I now do that without the aid of religion. But it's also teaching them, that dad's not this evil monster, because I don't believe. I'm still the same dad and they know I love them religion I don't need a religion, to love them.
If you substitute "God" or "Jesus" with "Flying Spaghetti Monster" it helps to make the ridiculousness stand out. Of course then they will think you're nuts. Go figure.
@@grepora "If you substitute "God" or "Jesus" with "Flying Spaghetti Monster" it helps to make the ridiculousness stand out." LOL. Really? There is good evidence the spaghetti monster doesn't exist, even a child knows this. Same with santa and other myths. Demonstrably false. But there is very good evidence that God does exist, historical, scientific, philosophical, moral, etc... This also means that almost all other religions are false. Religions is one of the best weapons satan has to hide the truth.
@@elkhuntr2816no, you have no evidence, you're not being honest. You ignore the truth put before you and change topic. That's dishonest.
Wow! I am so sorry for all you had to go through. What a toll. You have handled this so well and with so much integrity. Thank you for your story!
Thank you for your empathy and the compliments. It is my pleasure to share this story.
What a powerful video. The effect on your relationships really touched me. As difficult as it all sounds, I wish this journey for all Christians. It feels like a story of escape from bondage. I’m so glad you’re out,but I’m sorry that it’s struggle with friends and family.
Thats very kind of you. Thank you!
I was a Baha'i for 40 years, but it find it so interesting that the deconvertion process/steps was so similar.
Also, as a recent atheist, and because vocal ex-Baha'is are so rare to be almost mythical, channels like yours is where I had to turn, and I have to tell you how much I enjoy your straightforward approach. Many thanks.
Appreciate that. Thank you much!
I meditated with a Baha'i couple in a hotel garden in Mexico 25 years ago. Never met a Baha'i before or since. Super good people.
Best wishes.
Thanks for sharing. This isnt messy at all.
The struggle is very real. Trying to answer the questions of young children make you revisit everything to try find a way to explain it, and religion is not an easy topic to explain.
Thank you for that. Appreciate your kindness here!
Thank you so much for this Brandon. You and I have so much in common in our deconversion journeys. I appreciate you, and your candor.
Thanks for watching again and the kind words. Excited to catch up
My Dad, Stepdad, Brother and Sister in Law are all preachers. They ALL believe differently. Yet they ALL look down on me for stating the obvious. I THANK YOU for making these videos. They are informative, well researched, and you have the background to ward off most arguments. The world NEEDS people who aren’t scared to speak truth.
Thank you for this!
This is one of the best videos I've seen on why a person leaves their faith. I'm looking forward to hearing much more from this insightful person.
Oh wow. What a compliment. Thank you so much! Appreciate the support.
Been on your journey too. Was bought up in a fundermental cult - jw. Then left when I read the bible for myself and also they're history etc. Joined a church. For this I was shunned by my parents and friends, nearly cost me my marriage too. But like you I only wanted the truth and to be true to myself. I was a born-again Christian for 7 years. Then took a step back and critically examined the bible! So for the first 34 years a born in jw, the next 7 years a born-again christian. Now I believe similar as you especially after reading Greek mythology and seeing it so similar to the bible stories. I am an A-theist, that is I do not believe in a personal god. I have a belief in the source or absolute which we are a part of. I am convinced that we are more than our sum parts. So I am spiritual. Tomorrow I may think differently. Life is after all a path. Having been on a journey like this makes me more tolerant of others beliefs, mainly because I was once where they are now. But I find that it is very hard to convince anyone until they own their doubts and are ready to reason - not just defend their beliefs. So I will not challenge jws at their little stands or Christians who shout about Jesus in the street. It just ends up in a heated arguments. (They tend to be heated not me, which tells you something). Well that's my 1/2 pence worth. Peace and love my bro. 😜 from England
love it, thanks for sharing. what a crazy story. Having to deconvert twice essentially. I too am open to the possibility of a higher power, but at this point, until something reveals itself, i am done on the believing in invisible beings game. If a creator or force does exist, i do not think it has revealed itself and thus I have 0 responsibility in that for now. Again thanks for sharing. A pleasure having you here.
I just recently found your channels. I remember going through my deconversion, losing what friends I had, my wife thinking I betrayed her and not wanting a future with me. It was a rough time.
Thank you for being here. How long ago was it for you. How have things gone with your wife since?
@@MindShift-Brandon it was about 13 years ago. Didn't go well with my wife, she didn't want to be with or have kids with someone that wasn't a Christian so we got divorced soon after.
Oh wow. So sorry to hear that. What a tough situation for everyone. Thanks for sharing.
@@MindShift-Brandon it's all good now. I have had several friends that have decoverted and were able to maintain a happy marriage and raise their kids, so I know it can work.
It's so nice to live without perpetual anxiety and paranoia, immersed in resolving doubts, thinking your faith has been restored only for the doubts to return even stronger as your subconscious dismantles the clever rationalizations you found in the internal church literature that week. It's such a blessing to just believe whatever appears to be true, change those beliefs as needed without drama, and draw no conclusions where none are required.
You are much to be admired for your courage and intellectual honesty, despite your pursuit of truth leading you in the opposite direction to your family and friends. That shows extraordinary strength. Well done, Sir.
I really appreciate those kind words and support! Thank you for being here.
Your story is really eye opening and helpful. Thanks for being honest and transparent.
Glad to do so. Thank you!
I just recently discovered your channel and this video almost brought me to tears. After over two years of struggle and deconstruction, I decided I no longer identify as a Christian. I’ve told a few of my family and friends only after being asked about my struggles and where I find myself currently. Some have been very supportive while others have completely cut me off and labeled me as “dishonest.”
It is a very hard journey. But you are doing it. Just keep learning!
I deconverted at 12- I read the Bible cover to cover and when I finished so was my belief.
I am jealous. Proud of you for figuring it out so early on!
Lucky! Only stopped when I was 23. Now 28
@@LadyOfTheEdits Better than never! You still have a whole life of free thinking ahead. Happy for you.
@@wickjezek5093 ww thank you so much!
and i deconverted from islam when i was 15- so just a year ago! im glad i have center-left parents who dont judge me for my deconversion (and the fact that im LGBT as well)
Great video! I’m actually kind of going through my own deconstruction now. Your story is very relatable.
Thank you. Here if you need anything on your journey.
@@MindShift-Brandon thank you sir, you are too kind!
Keep going on your journey for truth. You are not alone.
Fantastic video! I've been deconstructing for about 2 years now and I 100% align with your frustrations. I'm excited to watch the rest of your videos, keep up the great work!
Thank you so much, Lacey and welcome to the channel. Congrats on your recent freedom as well!
It's always great to hear deconversion "testimony" It's refreshing. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
@@MindShift-Brandon
You're very welcomed.
I re-watched Nonstampcollector's videos on Noah's Ark. You're right. Who in their right mind could possibly continue believing that the story is true. 🤗
lol no doubt. its just embarrassing how long I held on to it. His work is amazing. My favorite is his video on context
@@MindShift-Brandon Haven't seen that one before. You're right again. 🤗
The correct context is one where killing children is okay, okay? LOL
Brandon, you and I have such a similar story - every word resonated with me. I was a missionary kid, was prophesied over, always had questions.. married and had 4 kids in the faith, atheist at 30 ish.
I'm now 59. My wife is still a Christian - 3 out of my 4 fantastic children are strong atheists, they were brought up in church with my wife, and attended Christian school. My Christian son is a fantastic person. It hasn't been easy .. I lost friends, was threatened by 2 good friends to not talk to their kids. I have often felt frowed upon and pitied by family. I have a wonderful wife but it has definitely caused a strain and diminished our relationship. But ... I have made plenty of new friends, love my sunday mornings! ... and recently 2 of my daughters expressed their gratitude to me for always being true to what I believed, they saw their friends being sucked into Christian conditioning and were so thankful that I had shown them an alternative.
Thanks so much for your eloquent and thoughtful videos. Life is good.
Oh wow. Similar indeed. Thank you so much for being here and for sharing!
I think the best thing I did when I finally left the church is that I cut all my relationships off immediately. I didn't talk to pastors, or acquaintances and friends that I had, I just went AWOL immediately and permanently. It was so freeing for me and I was on my happy train right away.
Just came here from your other channel that I just found today. Looking forward to the videos!!
Thanks for dealing with the move! Appreciate you coming over!
I am still in the stage that I don’t want anyone to know i am closer to non belief than to belief in the christian god, or any god. The fear, stress and uncertainty is very real. More power to you as you continue to work with your spouse for the benefit of your family
Appreciate that. Glad to hear you are waking up to it all but i know how hard the in between part is. Keep learning!
@@MindShift-BrandonI appreciate the honesty and sincerity of your words. I practice African spiritually after being raised a Christian and even an altar boy in Catholic church. It's funny how the easiest way to discredit the scriptures is through history. What I find priceless in African spirituality is the correlation between science and spirituality especially in Egyptian/kemetic spiritual systems.
@@MindShift-Brandon ancient spiritually used stories/parables to explain creation and moral principles but somewhere in history these stories/parables were twisted to be taken literally and frankly it's childish and ignorance in its essence to ignore common sense and take the things literally
Thanks for being candid about your difficulties Brandon.
Thanks so much for sharing. When I got “unsaved” after a similar upbringing I went through a very tough transition of hopelessness and anxiety. I found that for the first time I don’t want anyone to do what I did. I don’t have conversations with parents or old Christian friends about why they should stop believing bc I don’t want them to go through what I did when I lost that basic fundamental part of my life since childhood. I was blown away that your wife is still in it. Coodos to u guys for valuing your relationship and the kids throughout that transition
This was very inspiring! good on you for taking the path of intellectual honesty and not compromising in your journey for truth! I wish you all the best, and enjoy your videos very much!
Thats so very kind. Thank you!
This is one of the best deconversion stories I've listened to. Well done, your work is important
Thank you. I appreciate that!
Great to hear your story. The mental gymnastics you went through seemed very familiar. I finally lost my faith after desperately trying to cling onto it around a couple of years ago. It was slowly crumbling but the church community just about convinced me to stick with it. I was descending into depression for the first time, but didn't recognise it as that. During Covid, like many it would seem, the lack of church attendance, and time to think independently for the first time, was enough to set the ball rolling. I had to drop my faith because it was driving my anxiety and depression. I experimented on myself by pretending I didn't believe. I stopped praying, reading the bible, etc, basically just pressed pause on my faith. Then my whole life immediately shifted into a state of freedom and liberation. The depression went and I was out of there!
My wide was thankfully on a similar path to me, but doesn't managed to get the time she needs to process everything. I so glad to get my 3 young kids out of the evangelical church in the UK.
It's been a hard few years, I've lost a lot of friends, and haven't told everyone in my family, but life is the best it ever has been.
Thank you for sharing! I am jealous of your wife coming along for the most part. That is singlehandedly the hardest part for me. Again, appreciate your willingness to open up and wish you all the best on this journey!
@@MindShift-Brandon Thanks man. It must be hard going it alone.
For me I felt the most alone I ever had while I was still in church (and a worship leader too) while my faith was slipping away. Coming out of it all, and realising that I'm actually the same as every other human was such a life giving experience.
It's a bloody tough road isn't it!
Keep up the good work
I am amazed you were in such a church in the UK nut am glad your out
I just came across your content and I’m finding it very relatable. Thank you for sharing your experience. It is messy and difficult but feels good to genuinely be myself without all these questions and contradictions always hanging over me! I’ve never felt such peace. I’m finally right with myself!
So glad to hear you fully have made it out and have peace! And thanks for being here!
Thank you for sharing. I admire your intellectual rigour and honesty.
My pleasure and thank you for that!
When you said "someone smarter than me has addressed this, and theyre still a believer, so ill move on"... wow that hit hard. This is exactly what I do. Long confusing journey ahead for me I think. Glad I found this channel
Its a journey worth taking. Good luck. Reach out if you get stuck!
@MindShiftSkeptic thank you! I'm beginning to admit to myself what I've known for a while, but as you once were I'm dreading the conversations ahead. An entire life seems poised to unravel if I give this up...
My mother used to threaten me with stoning when I was a kid. Well, she said if it wasn't illegal now, that i would be in danger of a stoning. Great childhood.
Thank you for your story. My husband and i became less religious and more politically left together over 10 years, but had we not independently gone in the same directions i don’t know where our marriage would be now. I admire your resolve in coming out to your wife when it must have felt like you were risking your family.
Thank you for the kind encouragement. So cool that you and tour spouse were able to make the moves together
Thank you for sharing your testimony. I’m a Christian in the PNW who grew up mostly around Atheists and your story really reasonates with many of theirs. I’m so glad to hear that even though your friends were hurt, you and your wife still have love for each other and are staying together.
I found your channel from the video discussing issues with Heaven and I immediately subscribed. I love watching your videos and hearing your thoughts on Christianity.
I like to pretend that it’s a dialogue and offer my own thoughts on the matter intermittently, and I find that the topics that you present are great practice for having respectful dialogue! You aren’t over-the-top, you’re passionate because you care and not just because “someone hurt you” or whatever. I like to hear your side and thoughts, please keep sharing.
Whew! That’s amazing you’re still married to a believer (and she with an unbeliever). I was married to the pastor’s brother and who grew up in the church. When christianity wasn’t adding up for me, I knew our marriage wasn’t going to hold. My parents, siblings and friends were all Christians and tried to “help” me either with kind words or by shunning. I left the country and the marriage and over a period of 10 years, I left the faith. It’s been a hard road because indoctrination is real. I’m no longer afraid of an afterlife and am grateful for each day of a life free of religion.
You did a good job. I left Christianity, four years ago. I'm so happy. I'm 60 years old.
Right. EXERCISING faith is not passive. It’s a work, if even a work done by God in us. I never understood people saying faith is not a work.
I totally resonated with the free grace theology and then transition to the liberal/moderate Christianity. My last attempt to hold onto Christianity was Christian Universalism, aka David Bentley Hart’s “That all shall be saved.” Free grace theology really emphasizes assurance of salvation, which I still never had when I was a believer because I was always questioning, “What if the Calvinists are right? What if the Armenians are right?” Love your videos Brandon. Really liked the one on free will. Keep it up!
Thank you so much. Man, do I agree. i was always in doubt. Shouldnt be that way if it was real, ha!
Grace is the overall theme of the Bible!
@LeoB you have to see the forest and trees!
Thank you for sharing your story, it's not usually easy for most to do because of the ramifications, but I appreciate it. For me, the whole journey has finally led to my freedom and that is worth everything!
Congrats!!
It’s amazing to me that you mentioned NonStampCollector. That’s the channel that started my deconversion. His quiz show about biblical contradictions physically hurt me to watch because I realized that I didn’t know what my Bible actually said and how it disagreed with itself. No amount of apologetics searching could give me satisfactory answers, and as I went down the atheist UA-cam rabbit hole, it scared me how much sense the arguments made against Christianity.
All because of a couple of stick figure drawings.
Yup! That quiz show one and the one on context really killed me
My mother is and has always been an unwavering believer. But what's odd to me is that she is very logical and clear-thinking about everything else in life. Except her faith. It's annoying, and it actually does keep a small distance between us. I mean she did tell me she's afraid I'm going to hell because I don't believe, so clearly, she judges me. The fact that I live a normal decent, honest life doesn't make me good enough for her god.
Decency has nothing to do with Christianity.
It's all about knowing when to bow down to the invisible overlord and saying the correct magical name. ( Even if that name was invented over 1500 years after the magical guidebook was written.)
I was not a better person when I was a Christian. I was judgmental. I’m a better person now.
More emotional arguments.
When I finally told my wife 10 years ago that I no longer believed, that I was an atheist. And that I had lost my belief a year before, she did not understand how I could choose not to believe. But what was worse is in her mind I broke her trust by not trusting that she would accept me for who I was. We are in the middle of a divorce over many different reasons. But I suspect that the biggest fissure started then.
Really sorry to hear that man. Im sure its been such a long and tough journey this last decade.
This is the best deconstruction video I’ve ever seen.
I haven’t left christianity. But I’m wrestling with a lot. Much of which came out after becoming a mom.
And a lot of what you’re saying are things I’m really facing right now.
For example, the idea of the rapture was literally invented to give the people of that time hope.
Had I not been raised in North America I’d probably have another religion due to culture.
The concept of hell was invented well after Jesus to keep the people in that time accountable while they are alive since “the end” never came, which is what they believed back then.
I don’t know what will happen with my faith but I found this video helpful in the context of pure logic.
Thank you for spreading our word!! I am a true believer in atheism.
I must say, your story is very similar to mine, I was born in Guatemala and lived breath and studied in a Christian school, a home study once a week, Saturday was youth study, Sunday was the main service and Bible study in school three days a week, not only was I unmerged in it, but I truly believed I was in the right path, I was in the holy Spirit, speaking in tongues etc, until I started to study other fields to defend my faith and oh boy I was shocked in how little christian foundation is based on facts and truth, but more importantly, the horrific truths in the bible that made me realize I was actually brainwashed to believe in all that nonsense just for the fear of eternal torment, I feel liberated, I feel completely free yet I am a very moral well educated person and didn't leave the faith to pursue a sinful life.
Man... could we ever have a great conversation. My story, of course, is not identical. But your mind set and path have such similarities. I REALLY identify the feeling of embarrassment. When I finally realized I no longer believed, it was my strongest emotion: Embarrassment. Dang.
Thats interesting. Ill have to do some thinking on strongest emotion. Thanks for sharing!
My experience is much like yours. The personal relations are the hardest parts to navigate- especially the spouse. You say it well when you point out that your Christian friends/family are still acting in good faith in trying to save your soul.
The most frustrating part is they can’t wrap their minds around the idea that you were once just as sincere in your beliefs as they are now. They think you are lying or that you secretly still believe and are denying reality.
yes, they cant accept that we were really the same, because then that means they might be able to lose their faith too. Its a defense mechanism for sure. Thanks for sharing and for being here.
I went through all the same thoughts and reasoning and have landed where you are. Thank you for sharing. Totally get it.
Your intellectual fortitude is an inspiration.
Thats very kind. Thank you much
You said to reach out if going through a similar process and journey. It’s been a while I’ve had cognitive dissonance and started my doubts and questioned the Christian lifelong faith. I’m 47 now and April this year I declared to myself, husband and children that I’m out’!
This your UA-cam deconversion story made me cry for my own dumbed down worldview. Hand up I was indoctrinated and I feel so bad and guilty for beginning to indoctrinated my own children. Would appreciate sharing more……
my email is in the description of each video. Please feel free to send me what you'd like and I will absolutely reply when I can!
Keep going eyeswideopen! I feel for you as I 'came out' at a similar age. The journey is hard and painful, but oh so rewarding. To be yourself, to be free. Its never to late to start again. Lots of love to you.
@@garymorton2876
What a lovely response of encouragement, truly appreciated
I can relate. I stopped being able to believe this stuff at age 46 and am now 53. The family relationships are a hard part of all of this. But Jesus did say "I have come so that a son will be against his father, a daughter will be against her mother, a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law. A person's enemies will be members of his own family." He also said "“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." I don't think most Christians actually believe this deep down, but it is supposedly what Jesus taught. FAMILY VALUES!!!
welcome to the world of logic and critical thinking. I’m proud of you for being able to break your shackles of indoctrination and cognitive dissonance, congratulations..
Thank you much!
I had a similar story. Went to a Christian High School, tried my hardest to believe. Fasted through lunch sometimes to goto the chapel. Something I noticed about my personality, I never really get sucked into social emotional atmospheres, if that makes sense. I can't get into concerts at all, so its no surprise I couldn't get into the emotional aspects of worship at church.
Thanks for sharing snd brings up an interesting point. If god were real, making you with such a personality is at a loss for communion with him etc.
My son is similar. He struggled with depression so he just couldn’t “FEEL” church like the rest of us. This actually helped him to look at things more logically rather than depending on his feelings. (Those feelings are merely elevation emotion caused by brain chemistry rather than any supernatural witness of truth.)
As the youngest of a large family he was the first to deconvert. It took most of the rest of us many years to follow him. I have observed that the more of a “Feeler” a person is the more likely they are to stay in religion.
I was given a medication that blocked Dopamine and Serotonin. Immediately God disappeared. I felt nothing at church and realized how little it all made sense. I thought “why does God need Serotonin and Dopamine to communicate with me?”
It was the beginning of my own deconversion. If you take the feelings out of it there isn’t enough left.
Many thanks for telling this moving story so cogently and with such honesty. I have only recently discovered your videos and find them without exception captivating, very well researched, and confidently presented. You speak fast but always clearly and you present your arguments so intelligently.
What kind feedback. Thank you very much!
Hi there- I was raised in an independent fundamental baptist church, and currently deconstructing much of my upbringing and your videos have been so validating and helpful. I’m feeling very alone, but watching your videos is helping me feel less alone in this process.
Stay strong! You'll get through this.
Welcome to the wonderful world of atheism my friend. The only person you should believe in now is yourself. You’re making the right choice doing this. It’s a lot better than being a judgmental Christian.
Good point, finding God or jesus is also known as giving up on yourself. Believers should have more confidence in themselves. Indoctrination, brainwashing or a mid life crisis is what gets most people to believing in a God. Simple minds want Simple answers....God did it.
Watched this again because I just love a good character arc. 😄 I must confess I don't actually count myself an atheist, rather I think of myself as somewhat gnostically inclined now; I do believe in higher things than what we perceive, but like you I decided a long time ago to no longer ignore verifiable scientific evidence simply because it contradicts the faith I was raised in. I think knowledge is what I'm after now, be that what it may. And plus there came a point where I just couldn't make it work for me in an ethical sense anymore. 20:30 - 26:40 pretty much covers it. I dunno; we're all of us on a journey, and I've enjoyed hearing of yours - someone who was brave enough to no longer ignore their own heart and mind, and to ask questions no matter how painful they might be.
Ha! Appreciate all that. We are probably in very close space. Like i have no reason to believe in a higher power but i wouldn’t deny its possibility at all. I can deny the abrahamic god but as for what else might he out there, i dont know, and so far i dont think we can know. That could change though.
Having been a former true believer in Jesus Christ, I can relate to this on so many levels. An excellect presentation and explanation of what a person goes thru when leaving something that was once so foundational to one's almost every thought about anything.
My experience feels so similar to yours! I just kept looking around the room and pinching myself because I thought I was dreaming because you articulated everything I went through. It has been so hard to not talk about deaths in the family, because I know what they think because I was told the same story - That it’s very sad, but he’s with Jesus now, and there’s comfort in that. They even think that simply by NOT saying “well he’s in heaven now…” I am somehow being blasphemous and disrespectful.
Glad to help normalize it all for you. Thanks for watching!
I was an athiest my whole life, even though I was raised Catholic. I was creeped out by the religious stories and thought it sounded insane, as a kid. Then at around age 40 some things happened to make me feel like I could have been wrong about Christianity. A ton of crazy coincidences. When I accepted Christianity & that I was a sinner, my phone immediately lit up with a random message "be blessed and know that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior" from an unknown number. Like what???? It was crazy, I was fully convinced. Then I attended a church for a year, prayer group, etc. I started diving deep into reading and studying the Bible. That's where the issues started. The Bible is illogical, strange, God in the Bible is violent, petty, angry. It started falling apart. I don't know what I believe anymore.
This is what I’m currently going through, I’ve had a lot of hardships in my life and one night randomly felt the urge to learn about Christianity which I thought was a sign, for a while my life seemed to change for the better when I started praying, and I felt my anxiety ease for awhile.
My sister in laws family own a church so I went with them a few times and as soon and I started doing that and reading the bible I started questioning everything because of the same reasons you put and now I feel like I’ve become more fearful then at peace which leaves me confused because other Christian’s I know seem full of life and so peaceful and I’m an anxious wreck and worry I’ll go to hell every time I make a mistake but of course when I try speak to others about it it’s always ‘you gotta just have faith’ and not much else 😢
I am just walking down this same road. I've been harmed so much by Christianity. I've cried and left so many good things because they weren't okay with Jesus. The faith is seductive because it presents things that humans need, like community and emotional bonding and purpose. If only all those energies were directed towards saving our planet and making a real paradise on earth. Your video is a deep comfort and I will be watching them all and benefiting greatly. I'm so sorry about your struggle with your family. You are not alone.
Appreciate this. Thanks so much for sharing and being here.
I'm very happy for you, I used to believe that hardcore endoctrinated people could never see through the mind control and you proved it to be wrong, you are a hero!
Thats too kind, but yes we can be woken up! Theres hope for anyone if i made it out!
Thank you so much for the way you're approaching this. I've struggled with belief and non-belief my whole life and my personal experience is that it's been hard to find someone like yourself who can approach these topics with a lot of knowledge, clarity, and humility, illuminated by your personal experience. At least for me, your upbringing and biblical literacy gives you a uniquely valuable position in the community that can't be dismissed as "an outsider who doesn't really get it." I mean, of course there are always those in the comments who will pull the "no true Scotsman" card on you not matter what, but for someone wrestling in the middle, your experience lends weight to your words that is worth as much as the soundness of your logic. I know this has been a difficult process, but you are helping people, so thank you for that.
Man this message is beyond kind and so very encouraging l. Thank you for your thoughts and positive feedback here!
Excellent. My life has followed a similar path. But I was stuck down the rabbit hole for far longer. Keep up the good work! 👍
dude. our stories are so similar. thank you for your content. i felt so alone having pledging so much of my life to religion and coming out of it. so bro... keep going
also let's be friends
Ha. Friends it is. Thanks for being here. Hope this channel can help. I know how awful it is to leave once you wake up
Your basic story is so similar to my deconversion story. Love your channel and you have a new subscriber from Alabama.
Welcome! and thank you. I am sure deconverting in Alabama is as hard as it gets in the states just in terms of how many people around you believe and how dogmatic/fundamentalist they are. Thanks for being here!
@@MindShift-Brandon Very hard here in the Bible Belt. But there are more agnostic country boys like me than you’d think. It’s just hard to determine until you actually engage in one on one conversation with someone.
@@MindShift-Brandon Bible Belt
steeples high, pierce the sky, of this paradise we’re in,
gives us hope to hold on to, until Sunday comes again,
these county roads, are all we know, just how it’s always been,
with welfare pay and mansions made, out of corrugated tin, we’re living in,
Chorus
rely on our salvation, to survive this desolation, we don’t need no education, when we know heaven waits,
get by on what we can, it’s all a part of his master plan, blinded, through eyes of faith,
but it seems like it ain’t fair, when we ain’t fared too well,
what a blessing that we’re in the Bible Belt,
mom ain’t well, if you can’t tell, she’s morbidly obese,
but in her mind her health is fine, because of her belief,
that Jesus Christ, will come one night, and make her body new,
but until then she has her faith, and maybe an excuse, that’s the truth,
Chorus
(Repeat)
clothes are old and ragged, that we make the kids put on,
just hand-me-downs from someone’s house, who had a loving home,
lunch is free and luckily, it’s the meal they get each day,
spent supper at the liquor store, and in the offering plate, let us pray, let us pray,
kinda seems like it ain’t fair, when we ain’t fared too well,
what a blessing that we’re in the Bible Belt…
yes i bet. no one wants to be the first to just say it out loud!
@@MindShift-Brandon Including me, as I’m afraid of how it could negatively affect my law practice, and the fact that I wrote the current #3 country gospel song in the country. Lol 😂
I appreciate your honesty, and I will continue to view what you are sharing with the world. I'm 66 and was forced to be a Catholic ☹️. I had my doubts due to conflicting scripture, and stopped attending at age 14 and have never regretted it. Many are not aware of your channel yet, I believe your channel will continue to grow as others find you and seek to recover from organized religion.
I almost wish I had a better understanding of what it was like to be a fundamentalist Christian (like from personal experience) so that perhaps I could be a little more empathy for why they can use good reasoning and logic in certain aspects of their lives and yet confidently toss that to the side when it comes to their religion. It always baffled me how otherwise very intelligent people don't recognize that contrast in their thinking.
Indoctrination is a hell of a drug. I think thats what it all comes down to. Thanks for being here!
I feel that "good reasoning and logic" is somewhat of an overstatement.
No one is born with those skills, and they require quite a bit of deliberate, conscious effort to acquire, while on the religious side there is a deliberate effort to prevent one from thinking rationally.
Religious people may sound rational, but that's because they have learned how mimic rationality, but they sure don't understand it. I am saying it from personal experience, I was over 40 when I began learning bits and pieces of what rational reasoning actually is, and it was like a whole new world opened up before me.
@@ezbody great point! thanks for being here.
@ezbody I think you're misunderstanding the point the OP was making, or rather that you're overgeneralizing. I'm speaking as someone who escaped religious thinking, and also as someone raised by a very religious father who taught and encouraged me to apply critical thinking to almost all areas of my life EXCEPT to the question of whether the religion we were both indoctrinated into was true. I was praised in school for applying critical thinking skills to academics, but it doesn't mean I automatically applied those skills when it came to the beliefs I valued most deeply. When you're indoctrinated, you're taught to avoid thoughts that could lead to doubts like they're the devil (literally). It's not that the critical questions don't arise (see Brandon's examples from his childhood), and it's not that I didn't give room to the ones that weren't central to my belief, it's more that the anxiety of questioning a core belief leads to finding ways around the critical thoughts, from shutting them down to coming up with fallacious rationales that allowed me to keep them (I.e., apologetics)
This is a basic human flaw that isn't exclusive to the religious. All of us have pockets of unexamined or protected beliefs that we don't fully apply logical thinking to in the way we might with other areas of our lives, whether it's religion, relationship, politics, or some assumed knowledge that we've had for a long time. It's all a matter of degrees. Fortunately, since I've let go of my indoctrination I no longer have as strong a need to avoid confronting the pockets when they're brought to my attention, but it doesn't mean I'm completely free of the very human tendency to be uneven in my application of rationality. That keeps me humble and compassionate. Also, even as a Christian I recognized that any side of a debate is going to have proponents who are just as smart or smarter than both me and the person I'm debating. There are many people who are capable of heights of logic most of us can't achieve but have yet to escape their indoctrination into religion, bigotry, a toxic relationship, etc..
@@carlasmith9093 That was some great insight, and I appreciate it.
I’m glad you spoke a little on the reaction of your friends and family. No doubt the hardest part of my journey has been the friction between some of my closest family members. People I love unconditionally, and yet it’s obvious that there’s now a slight wedge between me and them. They’re scared for my soul, and that my eternity is at stake. They worry about me all the time now that I’ve stopped going to church. I just want to love them unconditionally like I always have, and not have to deal with any barriers.
@@shv8287 I haven’t told any of them yet. But the fact that I stopped going to church has them concerned.
Been there got the t shirt, I know what you are going through. To be honest with yourself is precious x
Mine wasn't as hardcore as yours. Raised in the "Starbucks" Christianity church, but never felt it. Youth group, boy scouts, all that, and l tried to believe it, but couldn't. I legit believed in Santa longer than Jesus. And as a teen and young adult, l was really hostile towards religion and those who believed. As an adult, able to see, learn, self assess and use critical thinking, I'm now with the mindset of it's almost like sexual orientation, you're either born with it or not. I was raised in a religious house, like I said, but I never believed, despite trying to. I've met others who are deeply religious or spiritual but were raised in deeply atheist families. So, to me, if one is born without a religious inclination, all the church and outward shows won't help, you'll always feel like it's a lie, but if you were born with that inclination, you'll always feel like something is missing until you find it. That's how I can now better understand those whom I respect and respect their intelligence, but who believe. They were simply born with a need that l don't have. My wife has that need, and I go to church with her--and l enjoy it. I don't believe it, but I do enjoy it. It's good people and usually, while I doubt the basis of message, a lot of times, the message is helpful, like going to a philosophy class. Just my $.02.
I went to church angry for several years before I finally admitted to myself and to my husband that I needed to leave. It was very liberating, but my husband and I fight about it a lot, especially because we have 3 kids who identify as lgbtq+
Amen Brother! I am with you all the way. I was raised Pentecostal Holiness. I can really relate to your story. Little by little you just realized you have been indoctrinated to mythology. Thankfully we decided to use our brain!
Dude, I have such a similar story as you in the first half. I am deconstructing, have been for about 5 years. I saw your video on free will the other day and oh boy, I can’t stop thinking about it. You’re such a clear speaker and you don’t mince your words, and I appreciate how you always pull in something the apologetics would say, and I’ve heard them all, it’s scary how accurate you are. Thank you for making these videos, I will continue to watch them as they are becoming very helpful to me in putting into words doubts I’ve held onto for years.
Thank you so much for that! Lobe to hear it and wishing you well on this crazy journey out!
Fascinating insights. Subscribed. Cheers to you sir!
Appreciate that. Thanks for joining!
Thank you for an honest presentation of the relevant issues relating to the believability of the Bible.
Thank you SO much for this video. It’s helpful to see that someone else went through the struggle I am currently in and survived. Today church members basically blocked the door and prevented me from leaving because I said I didn’t want to be a member anymore. Did you ever have problems with people trying to pull you back in like that? It feels like endless confrontation. I’m ready to get restraining orders.
So glad to help normalize your experience. I for sure had people who simply could not accept my new reality but maybe being a guy, i had less confrontation. So sorry to hear about the insanity around you. Reach out if you need anything.
I was just told I was Christian and never taught about Christianity. I deconverted as soon as I learned what it really was
Same thing with me rn . I started reading the Bible at 14 and I was like nah "this aint right" I'm 18 now and deconstructing.
@@jamelahallsdyerout of curiosity, what Bible verses did you read, that made you start to deconstruct?
Look at those books 😍. Thanks for this informative and candid video. Sometimes I miss the false certainty I had when I was religious/spiritual, but no amount of comfort is worth sacrificing truth for.
I think what well not really surprised me but well let's say was very noticible to me, was how much your journey is similar to working oneself through childhood trauma. That takes courage, strength and resiliance and is never to be underestimated.