Oooooo the Christians are NOT gonna like this one 😅 “leaving the church was one of the most Christian decisions I ever made” goes HARD

@realdreamerschangetheworld7470

4 ай бұрын

Whew 😮‍💨

@TheMister123

4 ай бұрын

I think the sponsor will probably cause more rage than the topic of the video. 😂

@davidjanbaz7728

4 ай бұрын

LOL 😂 : I have left many churches: but NOT my Faith in God. U confuse the 2 as the same thing.

@davidjanbaz7728

4 ай бұрын

​​​​@@TheMister123Yes,my mistake in going there after reading your post to see why you said what you did. Hyper literalist fundamentalist interpretations will push people out of their Churches: Getting a solid Biblical education from someone like Dr.Michael S.Heiser and his videos can help solve GMS problems.

@littlebitofhope1489

4 ай бұрын

@@davidjanbaz7728 What does that even mean?

"your kids are not leaving the church because you didn't train them enough. Your kids are leaving the church because you trained them well enough to have a sense for truth and justice. You let them read the words of Jesus, and they got it. And they've recognized that the church doesn't seem to be into those words. They're not leaving because they don't know the truth, they're leaving because they do." -Rhett McLaughlin

@mariatrinitymya8618

4 ай бұрын

My father always blame my mother for not making me religious. I don't give a shit abt that cus I am who I am. He told me to read the whole bible and I did. But what did I get??? I got traumas.

@MrTrilliondollarman

4 ай бұрын

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I was once atheist until I looked into atheism’s claims closer and found out none of them added up.

@Hurricayne92

4 ай бұрын

@@MrTrilliondollarman What claims in particular?

@bugzyhardrada3168

4 ай бұрын

​@@MrTrilliondollarman lol you should consider getting into comedy, I feel slapstick would be perfect for you.

@twinnerNet

4 ай бұрын

​@@MrTrilliondollarman"Atheist" literally means "not theist." So if someone asks you, " do you believe a god exists?" and you answer ANYTHING other than yes, you are atheist.

My father, a Southern Baptist Deacon, looked at me in shock over a decade ago when he learned that I had voted for Obama. He said, “I thought I raised you better than that?” My response: “The way you raised me is WHY I am a Democrat. I believe in helping the needy, feeding the hungry, providing health care, and being non-judgemental”.

@The_Keh27

4 ай бұрын

I'm pretty certain Republicans would treat Jesus just as the Romans did if he were here today, while also calling him a socialist and unchristian

@one4320

4 ай бұрын

Are you voting for Genocide Joe this year. Fyi democrats are war mongers, not democrats. The most Christian thing to do is to vote independent.

@greenbeanb

4 ай бұрын

​@@The_Keh27 lmao yeah, if Jesus went to America today he would probably get randomly checked in the airport, a middle eastern man speaking Aramaic?? ain't no way he's getting through customs without any issues

@chrischandler889

4 ай бұрын

Ha. Democrats are Repulican lite. Still hard core right wing nonsense.

@carolbaker2773

4 ай бұрын

@@greenbeanb I live in NOLA and my family lives in STLMO, I have to drive the 55 north corridor for over 10 hours to visit them for the holidays. My husband and I have a game to see who can point out the "white Jesus" billboard first lol.

"Leaving the church was the most Christian thing I've ever done." I agree!

@Donnie-hf5du

4 ай бұрын

I so agree. I am going to listen more.

@k.a.4522

4 ай бұрын

YEP!! Been there, totally OVER that!!

@akajoshua2324

4 ай бұрын

Should we accept the people that identify as cats, as cats?. The problem with this generation is that they can't differentiate Love from stupidity. If you truly love someone, tell them the truth and don't play along with their mental illness.

@EdwardThompson-417k

4 ай бұрын

definitely my experience!

@xavierburval4128

4 ай бұрын

As a Christian, couldn’t agree more.

"You should take these values to heart, like god wants" "OK" "No wait not like that"

@Emymagdalena

4 ай бұрын

“You should study the Bible within its historical context.” “OK” “No wait not like that.”

@cobrasys

4 ай бұрын

"You should act as Christ would" "OK" "No wait not like that"

@HungryWarden

4 ай бұрын

@@cobrasys”Christ died for our sins!” “So you’re saying I should die too to save everyone from their sins even more and everyone will worship me?” “No, that’s not what I meant!”

@whathell6t

4 ай бұрын

“You should only listen to Christian music which will make you spiritually closer to God” “Okay 😊” (I’m referring to this Christian song: kzread.info/dash/bejne/YqtnrLxuoNO9o6Q.htmlsi=p9KfwxxJlbS0j_g4 , somehow its also beloved by Jews and Muslims.) “No WAIT! Not like that.”

@hearthenon

4 ай бұрын

Lol 😂 So true! For me, I had learned to listen to the quiet voice of God inside me, and they said that was good. But when that voice told me to leave the church, suddenly it was the devil's voice.

I was just joking around with my wife about this last night. People always told me my spiritual gift was discernment. So I discerned myself right out of the religion😂

@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic

4 ай бұрын

Hahahah same here! I was the smart and wise Christian until suddenly I was deceived and foolish

@dillanklapp

4 ай бұрын

@@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic I was “wise beyond my years” just for being able to repeat back to them what they already believed. When I actually started using my brain I just became too smart for my own good….

@DavidLindes

4 ай бұрын

@@dillanklappwell, too smart for their religion’s own good. I imagine it was a net good for you, though?? I hope so, anyway!

@carolbaker2773

4 ай бұрын

@@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic This was also me. We had very similar experiences (except I was in the private Lutheran school pipeline and not the evangelical homeschool one). I was always good with biology and sciences so it was pretty clear I would go that path and my highschool teachers tried desperately to get me to go to the Lutheran college in Nebraska. I said no as I did not want to go that far away from family and instead went to the public science and tech school in MO (University of Science and Technology). That was the first time I was every exposed to anything other than the Lutheran school system and boy did it change me lol. My highschool was right to me nervous about me learning science that wasn't curated by the church. Now I am a DVM/PhD working with medical laboratory animals and I am so happy I no longer have all that guilt that I was raised with. I keep telling my dad that if Jesus was alive today, he would be at minimum a socialist.

@user-yf3rr6ob6r

3 ай бұрын

You achieved liberation through the direct power of observation and a discerning mind. Welcome home

This definitely hits similar notes to that now old saying of "The quickest way to make a Christian an atheist is to have them actually read the bible".

@renater.540

4 ай бұрын

That's just what made me and my son leave the faith: joining a bible study group....

@lijohnyoutube101

4 ай бұрын

I find as an atheist that the majority of people that claim to follow its teachings are less read and studied on the bible/faith than myself.

@Cellidor

4 ай бұрын

@@lijohnyoutube101 It's one of the (many) reasons I'm not a believer myself. If someone told me there was an amazing book I should read that they haven't read themselves, I'm going to think the book isn't actually that good. If they tell me that book is the _inspired word of a cosmic being_ and yet they _still_ haven't bothered to read it...I'm _definitely_ not going to think it's actually that.

@carmenmccauley585

4 ай бұрын

Yup. That's what did it for me.

@SimonClarkstone

4 ай бұрын

Here, the comparison is a strange one, as he had studied the Bible a lot while remaining a Christian.

This is exactly what happened with me. I am raised in a Hindu family with strong values & morals. Although not too conservative, it was filled with superstitions, bigotry, dogma etc. I realised that they do not follow the very basic principles that they taught me. Now, I am agnostic. 🤗

@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic

4 ай бұрын

Wow, that’s fascinating! So cool to hear that there is that similarity in our experiences even with different backgrounds.

@greggoreo6738

4 ай бұрын

This is what I have heard. Religion is for people who are afraid of going to Hell. Spirituality is for those who have been through Hell. Respectlfully yours Gregg Oreo Long Beach CA etats unis

@augustodelerme7233

4 ай бұрын

Another fellow Agnostic 👍🇵🇷

@tripsam4655

4 ай бұрын

This is the stupidest comment out there. Comparing eastern and abrahamic religions is like comparing chalk and cheese. Take your inferiority complex to belong elsewhere

@Jrookus

4 ай бұрын

@@greggoreo6738that’s such a limited and stupid way of viewing both spirituality and religion

This was *exactly* my partner's experience. He left his father's church over anti-LGBT rhetoric, and his father still doesn't understand why. I just want to scream at him "because YOU taught him love and respect for others!"

@michaelgum97

4 ай бұрын

"Love and respect" doesn't apply to people/things/ideas that he doesn't agree with.

@slavishentity6705

4 ай бұрын

@@michaelgum97 That's the right way to word it : They "disagree" a person as they would disagree with an idea : When they say "I disagree with your lifestyle" it translates to "kys"

@rickwyant

4 ай бұрын

But they're just as delusional as Christians

@shanedsouza189

4 ай бұрын

​@@slavishentity6705can remove the "style" and just shorten to "I disagree with your life"

@Leith_Crowther

4 ай бұрын

The thing Christians often don’t get is that loving people isn’t good enough… or even good at all. They think that feeling nice about the people they mistreat is enough to be considered virtuous.

I wrote an article for a popular science magazine about my deconversion. I interviewed an expert on religion and psychology. She said: "Being an evangelical means you have to believe your faith in God is your very own belief, while at the same time emerging yourself in a big collective. When your own opinion on faith no longer matches the collective, theres no other option but to leave. The irony is that you did exactly what the evangelical church asked of you. Finding your own faith."

@maximgruner

4 ай бұрын

Yeah that’s straight up facts ngl. That’s why I love just being a Christian and not being evangelical because I’m free to just learn and grow at my own pace and self actualize as a person without fear of rejection. The evangelical view of faith is a little strange. It’s radically individualist and this chafes against the collectivist view of the church present in traditional Christianity. It’s better to have balance and view faith and belonging to the church in a balanced way. Then it’s all good. 👍🏻

@zapkvr

4 ай бұрын

Not irony

@zapkvr

4 ай бұрын

​@@maximgruner"self actualize"? Hmmmm. When you hear a term for the first time, you might want to look to its origin. Rather than just repeat it thoughtlessly. You can start with Carl Rogers. And that other dope Abraham Maslow. Be prepared to be bored rigid. And dont forget to read the criticsms as well. Happy reading😊

@maximgruner

4 ай бұрын

@@zapkvr Lol 😂 calling Maslow a “dope” is crazy man. I happen to not agree with how hierarchy of needs but I can assure you I thought about the term “self actualize” before using it. It’s kind of a secular stand-in for the traditional orthodox idea of theosis. Reaching your full potential. Becoming like God. As far as I’m concerned these are the same thing in essence.

@inquisitiveterrestrian

4 ай бұрын

If you wouldn't mind (for privacy reasons I totally get it if you would), what's the name of that article? I'd love to read it

I was raised a Christian and was being groomed to be a pastor. I was told to memorize the Christian bible, and so I read it cover to cover multiple times. The Christian bible itself is why I lost faith.

@dsatt57

4 ай бұрын

That played a big part for me. No one truly knows who wrote most of it, it’s been passed down for generations copied by monks and others. You have to force connections. It’s terribly unreliable.

@mapleleaf0

4 ай бұрын

@@dsatt57 Yes, we wouldn't need to make up doctrine if the Bible weren't such a mess.

@aremoreequal

4 ай бұрын

"The Bible is the truth, because it says it's the truth!" - "The Bible is all true because my daddy/mommy/pastor/friend told me it is real, and they know because The Bible says it's all true." Even though all the books in The Christian Bible were put into it by Catholic Priests a while back ago, and they intentionally left some out, picking and choosing put books to put in and what books to take out, so even if there was some "Scripture" that was "Purely Written By God" (as if) there's a bunch of other books mixed in by these priests, based on what they felt like adding or not. Also, I was thinking the other day: Isn't it strange that God would decide to have a bunch of different people from different countries and different languages all compose a history book that is supposedly the entire history of the world, even though there are tons of other people all over the planet at that time and don't believe the same beliefs, and God could write the thing himself like he did the stone tablets. I mean, God's capable of writing ten commandments on stone but incapable of creating a book out of paper or something more amazing?@@dsatt57

@The_Keh27

4 ай бұрын

@@dsatt57 don't forget it was also written in another language and translated, then retranslated through multiple other languages, losing many meanings, nuances and even likely mistranslated specific words.

@spasterisk

4 ай бұрын

...Memorize the bible? What kind of torture is that?

This rings a bell for me. My mom, a devout evangelical, became fascinated with cults after her job brought her in regular contact with FLDS members. She taught us how to be skeptical of cults, as well as skeptical of faith healers and prosperity preachers. It was that same skepticism we learned from her that led my sister and I to begin looking at Christianity with equal scrutiny.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

Regardless of how you feel about doctrine or whatever, the evidence for the Resurrection convinces me it's true.

@SoThatsGoot

22 күн бұрын

OMG you're right. I see the light. Back to church I go!

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

@@SoThatsGoot you don't have to make fun of me. Hope you have a great day

@SoThatsGoot

22 күн бұрын

@@trentitybrehm5105 bestie, you came onto an atheist channel to evangelize. What do you expect? 😅

@TheRatsintheWalls

13 күн бұрын

​@@trentitybrehm5105 I would be interested in the evidence you found convincing. Are you willing to tell me about it?

I have found that it is the children who were most sincere in their belief at wind up leaving the church due to the inconsistencies and hypocrisy of the social politics adhered to by their church

@starry_lis

4 ай бұрын

Me and my friends were so pious as teenagers that we formed our own Bible study group. Most of are are atheists or agnostics by now. And we don't baptise our kids, no matter how much pressure there is from the family.

@maxdanielj

4 ай бұрын

I've noticed that too. Both online, like Drew here, and with people I know

@davehallam3894

4 ай бұрын

Agreed. It wasn't until I really pushed into my faith that I lost it.

@NEMOsleeps24

4 ай бұрын

I was avidly reading the Bible from 9-13, questioning from 14-16 and removed from religion by 17

@olmostgudinaf8100

4 ай бұрын

Organised religion is not and has never been about faith. It is and has always been about power. That applies to any organised religion. Ancient Babylonian as well as modern day Christian.

This really resonated with me as an ex-Muslim. I got a rigorous Islamic education from elementary school to high school graduation and was taught to highly value an education in STEM. I increasingly spent my time online learning about scientific topics that interested me, and the more I learned the more clear it became how little my teachers actually understood the scientific theories they mocked and disregarded (usually evolution and the Big Bang). Which mattered a lot to me because they'd often point to the "scientific miracles of the Quran" as proof of it being divinely inspired. I was taught that learning more about the natural world can only increase your faith. That was the beginning of the end of my faith in Islam precisely because I took that lesson to heart.

@john-ic5pz

4 ай бұрын

👍🏼👍🏼 it's ironic they're not far wrong about mocking the big bang though they're unaware of that. as a PhD engineer who was raised Catholic, to me the big bang theory is the Creation miracle wrapped in scientific jargon....did you know the man who proposed the theory was a Jesuit priest? ✌🏼 ❤️‍🩹

@cheshireket3132

4 ай бұрын

I grew up catholic. The more I looked, the more I saw through it. Thats why the Nuns and my mom tried to keep me away from reading too much. They failed. I left.

@ashleytheseeker8480

4 ай бұрын

Hey 🤗Ex muslim here as well! Islam teaches us to seek ilm from the cradle to the grave. I finally took into acct what I learned as I got older, and left islam. It no longer made sense and was no longer rooted in reality as I once thought it was for 28 years.

@lorekeeper685

4 ай бұрын

I had Islam taught for 13 years all the same bs

@lupvium

4 ай бұрын

im also an exmuslim and i also left for the same reasons! our world religions teachers would show us scientific facts that were also told in the quran and say its proof islam is real. but the more i researched actual scientific papers on such things i realized how actually wrong the 'predictions' in the holy book were. when you actually follow the core teachings of abrahamic religions you realise theyre false. ironic

As someone who's a former evangelical and now has a faith my former self would have found almost unrecognizable as Christianity, I found this extremely relatable. My family is varying degrees of horrified, and I'm like, you guys were the ones who taught me to think critically and carefully analyze everything I was hearing, even song lyrics. You taught me to look for the flaws in scientific arguments. You taught me to be like Jesus, who reached out to untouchables and challenged religious leaders who were using Scripture to hurt people. What did you expect? I even in my small conservative Christian college (and before that) had people always telling me to ask questions about my faith, kind of a "the unexamined faith is not worth having" approach. Apparently I was only supposed to ask questions the church had answers to, and only if I accepted those answers. But it doesn't work like that.

@SirGreenVine

Ай бұрын

Cliffe knechtle once explained how the disciple peter had his faith strengthened by asking questions. For example, when peter asked Jesus to call him out unto the water when Jesus was walking on the water, peter's faith was strengthened. Christ has saved him, and told him, "oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

@gaywaffle3592

Ай бұрын

@@SirGreenVine I'm not even sure which side you're trying to argue for here...

@SirGreenVine

Ай бұрын

@@gaywaffle3592 Im not arguing, im supportivley adding to what he said. Its good to ask questions, that way you may recieve an answer to strengthen understanding and faith. Jesus said, seek, and you find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. The Bible says that "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. " (Luke 12:2-3) God bless

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

Regardless of how you feel about doctrine or whatever, the evidence for the Resurrection convinces me it's true.

Very well said. I left my conservative Southern Baptist church in 1979 for the same reasons you explain in this video. I was 15 and my father was a Baptist pastor. Even he had serious issues with what we called rampant hypocrisy in those days. There were so many conservative church members and leaders who talked the talk but behaved in very un-Christian ways and lived corrupt and morally bankrupt lives. There was no congruency between their words and their actions. I had to look for God and Truth outside of organized religion.

@francisnopantses1108

4 ай бұрын

The number one reason cited by millennials for leaving the church when surveyed was "church people. "

@kylecurryyt

4 ай бұрын

@@francisnopantses1108 Yup.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

Regardless of how you feel about doctrine or whatever, the evidence for the Resurrection convinces me it's true.

@TheRatsintheWalls

13 күн бұрын

​@@trentitybrehm5105 Seeing how many times you posted this exact comment, I'm beginning to doubt your intentions. This looks more like evangelism than conviction.

@trentitybrehm5105

7 күн бұрын

@@TheRatsintheWalls The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they knew he had risen, because they saw him. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. It's mainly because of the archeology, "friendly" writers, and "hostile" writers mentioned above that the Jesus Seminar, who are PhD level ashiest/agnostics who study Christ and the Bible, concluded that Jesus really lived in Judea 2,000 years ago, was known as a miracle workers, died on the cross under Pilate, and that his disciples really believed they had seen him risen from the dead. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

I identify with this quite strongly. I was raised to value truth and love above all things, and those values eventually led me directly out of the faith.

@harveywabbit9541

4 ай бұрын

All Abrahamic religions are SCAMS.

@ReluctantApostate

4 ай бұрын

Myself as well. I started a pursuit to deepen my walk with God and correct my liberal views if they were indeed wrong. I wanted to do what was true not what I wanted to be true. My first step was to understand how the bible is known to be God's word. From their I felt I'd look at history and context of the verses and map out what was likely being communicated and what wasn't. I never got there though. It was the first step of grounding the bible that failed. There was no way to support that claim that doesn't beg the question or make some special appeal. Something I'd seen in other faith walks previously but not my own. My desire for God's truth, rather than mine, was so strong that it actually led me out of my faith and was a unexpected and painful admission. The claims and evidences of the bible and Christianity were just too poor. From that point, the harmonization began failing and all the other issues and contradictions started to make sense for this man made collection.

@briansheets4229

4 ай бұрын

Agreed. Likewise, it led me out and away from the Republican party. @GeneticallyMidifiedSkeptic, thank you so much for being a positive example and source of inspiration to those of us who are still deconstructing.

@nathanaelgazzard7989

4 ай бұрын

Mood

@tyemaddog

4 ай бұрын

And thus into a complete absurd worldview.

To me, a once devout catholic, it was a bunch of old men in fancy dressing doing unspeakable things to minors concluding that gay people like me, women and divorced people are effectively second-class people.

@alarcon99

4 ай бұрын

And the Catholic Churches with pokey sticks on their benches to dissuade homeless people from sleeping there 😢

@mekannatarry1929

4 ай бұрын

Hostile architecture is so primitive, considering that you'd have to hate homeless folk so much, you're willing to inconvenience everyone else just to prevent a specific group of people from resting smh. It's so absurd is funny, cause otherwise I'd feel nothing but seething rage.

@mariatrinitymya8618

4 ай бұрын

Lol they say lesbians and gay poeple are low class???I've been a lesbian for years now and I'm happy I'm not the kind of person who bad mouth abt other people lol

@Soapandwater6

4 ай бұрын

For anyone who is not Catholic, those fancy clergy costumes are RIDICULOUS! It is hard to believe that they are serious people.

@Soapandwater6

4 ай бұрын

@@alarcon99 All churches should have their doors open for the homeless. Jesus said so.

Amen. I am 76... this did not begin recently. You have such a clear view... thank you for sharing.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

Regardless of how you feel about doctrine or whatever, the evidence for the Resurrection convinces me it's true.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

A friend asked the other day what percentage of people I went to youth group with "deconstructed" and what percentage remained evangelical. As I thought about it, I realized that for the most part it was the kids who took their faith the most seriously who eventually walked away. Those of us who tearfully promised that we would follow Jesus anywhere eventually followed him out the door. The Queer kids, more than anyone, learned exactly what it meant to work out our faith with fear and trembling. They told us to read the Bible and take it seriously and then mocked us for becoming "social justice warriors." Now they're warning us not to deconstruct to the point of meaninglessness. But they took a chisel to God until he fit in a box. They "deconstructed" the concept of love until it allowed them to tolerate sexual abuse, celebrate white supremacy, and look away from kids in cages. Some of us got to where we are because we took it all to heart. We took the most foundational elements of our faith to their natural conclusions. Folks who deconstruct evangelicalism aren't drop-outs; they're graduates. -Caitlin J. Stout

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

When you said "When asked why we stand apart from the Church on moral grounds, we can reply 'I'm just doing what you taught me,'" that was very powerful. Well said.

@davidarvingumazon5024

4 ай бұрын

Meanwhile, at school Teachers: Did you do everything? You think I'm the best Teacher? Who taught me? Read Matthew 23. **This logic can be applied to Christians who are trying teach, and Matthew 23 is essential information.**

@MarcosElMalo2

4 ай бұрын

And it drives them nuts.

When I was buying a wedding ring for the woman I planned on marrying, a pastor from my church was at the jewelry shop. We chatted for a bit and then continued on with our shopping. I later heard him trying to get a discount and he told the girl behind the counter that he was the one who told me to buy my ring from that shop. He wasn’t. I knew the owner and she agreed to help me with my meager budget. I was shocked and heartbroken. This pastor in particular was one I held in such high esteem. I wanted to be like him. To see him acting against what he had taught me and so many others, diminishing his character for a lousy discount was sad. He was pushy and aggressive. I was still Christian at the time, I made excuses for him in my mind, but it forever changed how I saw a major authority in my life.

@dexterbunco4212

4 ай бұрын

Been there. Worked in appliance repair. Of course, obligatory “not all preachers” out of the way, there were two particularly egregious ones who’d never pay their bills because they believed it was owed to them to be served by others.

@ashleytheseeker8480

4 ай бұрын

I understand. I'm pretty sure I saw an Imam go into a liquor store about 4 years ago.

@insersed6525

4 ай бұрын

Everyone makes some mistakes. If he repented and worked on improving his actions, he shouldn't be accounted for that past sin. After all, God won't use our sins against us in judgment day because of the works of Jesus.

@leonardpaulson

4 ай бұрын

⁠@@insersed6525See, that’s the problem. Even IF he repented, it still doesn’t acknowledge the wrong done to actual people. This idea that we are only accountable to god allows selfish, entitled, and arrogant people to continue to behave this way while they convince themselves that god has forgiven them.

@insersed6525

4 ай бұрын

@@leonardpaulson It'd be heresy to believe that you can continue to live a life full of sin and excuse yourself with the grace of God. Because of God's grace we are called to try to do good deeds. We do good deeds in thankfulness of God's kindness.

The discernment thing is so shocking to me. They literally TEACH you the mental gymnastics straight-out like that???

@Mostlyharmless1985

4 ай бұрын

Kids are natural skeptics. If something doesn’t make sense to them they are going to ask “why” You got no choice but “teach” them those tricks.

@AmyEugene

4 ай бұрын

Nobody's going to disbelieve their own eyes unless they are taught to. Children have to have it drilled into them from a young age that there is a vast conspiracy among scientists that Earth and human history are very different from what's in the Bible. I grew up going to a regular school and learned all the normal science everyone is taught and there's no way you can convince me that Noah's ark is literally true. Someone who believes every word in the Bible is literally true can't reconcile modern science with stories like Noah's ark, so they have to find a way to make all of science a lie and instill that into children over and over so they'll believe the Bible over things that can be easily proven like fossils or the age of the Earth.

@alexajoyu

4 ай бұрын

Yes. Different denomination than Drew growing up, but I was taught the same mental gymnastics.

@quiestinliteris

4 ай бұрын

​@@Mostlyharmless1985 It amazes me how many of these people take "faith like a small child" to mean "instantly and uncritically believing everything you're told" as though a four year old wouldn't look you dead in the eye and ask whether your teeth taste the same as their teeth and whether they can check and demand fifteen minutes of answers when you say no.

@fawnieee

2 ай бұрын

​@@Mostlyharmless1985 it makes sense that they are. Otherwise, how would they learn to survive?

Ironic they call it "discernment" yet ONLY wanna "discern" a very specific literal singular view without ANY discerning anything... Discernment to them is literally just gaslighting to tell you that you're being lied to but to accept the LIE... not the facts.

@QuickManEXE

Ай бұрын

Well said there.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

Regardless of how you feel about doctrine or whatever, the evidence for the Resurrection convinces me it's true.

This is one of my "favorite" aspects of our parents generation. As children they adamantly taught us the importance of kindness, compassion, patience, seeking understanding and to intensely scrutinize information that didn't come from a "trusted" source. And then we grew up to actually apply those ideals and ended up ostracized while our parents scream "No, not like that!" as we ended up not hating the right people or unquestioningly following the word of a dubious book and those it encourages to spout anti scientific bullshit. Truly our parents greatest success has also been one of their greatest failures.

@phillyphakename1255

4 ай бұрын

Heck, good discernment is why I have the career and the success that I have. It's what accelerated me up the career ladder in a year or two rather than 5 or 10. You want me to be successful in life? Discernment and critical thinking. But applying those ideals to other areas? Oof. Now I am an atheist who supports equal protection under the law. You can't have it both ways. If you want me to be discerning and empathetic, great! But with it comes the fruits of your labor.

@akajoshua2324

4 ай бұрын

Anti-scientific bullshit, I would like to know more of this "anti-scientific bullshit".

@russellg1473

4 ай бұрын

@@akajoshua2324 6000 years

@schwarzwolfram7925

4 ай бұрын

"Task failed successfully"

100% agree. I constantly tell people it wasn't in spite of my christian teachings, it was because of them. It sometimes feels like I live a life more accurate to Biblical teaching now as an atheist than I did could as a christian

@wordforger

4 ай бұрын

Very much so!

@BottomTableTyrants

4 ай бұрын

☝️this👆 and want to add that the peace I have now that I’m not continuously worried that I wasn’t doing the right things to be a “real” Christian and that hell and/or a good Old Testament style smiting was headed for me.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

Your story makes so much sense! Social psychology can explain your elders' conformity. People will go to great lengths to hold on to a place in a group. They usually don't realize what they're doing. From experience, I know how irrational a human can be when their social identity is threatened.

1. hard agree. 2. I was a lesbian at 14 and atrans at 18 I was *never* going to feel comfortable in church after growing up the way I did. 3. Original sin doesn't make sense. The only way to parse the Garden story within the framework later laid out is for God to have intended Eve to eat the fruit of whatever the heck, thereby gaining self awareness. It's not just at all to send a tempter to pester the very first humans to break a rule, knowing they had no reason not to trust him. It's very blanket training.

@heavy0119

3 ай бұрын

Also this whole idea of “we deserve punishment” is based on the principles of an abusive relationship.

@xfrostyresonance8614

2 ай бұрын

​@@heavy0119It's not punishment, it's the natural result. You CHOOSE to go down the path of sin, even when told not to and what the consequences are, and then whine once you get smacked by the consequences. Do you complain when your mother disciplines you for not cleaning the dishes? Or is that immoral to you, too?

@heavy0119

2 ай бұрын

@@xfrostyresonance8614 the Bible says that sin is inherited and thus this “choice” to sin was made thousands of years before I even existed

@xfrostyresonance8614

2 ай бұрын

@@heavy0119 And yet you continually make it.

@spaghidiot

Ай бұрын

If my mother sent me to hell for eternity for messing up the dishes I would say that is pretty immoral yeah.

ALL OF THIS! I was brought up Catholic and was so committed to it that I wanted to be a nun. One of the turning points in my life that propelled to leave Christianity all together and not just be a “cafeteria Christian “ was the Terry Shrivo case. What that poor woman and her loving husband had to endure is unspeakable.

@indigopines

4 ай бұрын

Another athiest who wanted to be a nun!! It's something I rarely hear, so I'm saluting you over the internet!! 🫡

@awkwardukulele6077

4 ай бұрын

I was looking into being a priest, but come to find out, I probably would’ve been better as a nun had I stayed in the faith 🏳️‍⚧️ It’s strange how often trying to be a serious Christian ends up making you not a Christian anymore 😂. Turns out, asking questions so you can become a better Christian _still_ means asking questions, which is not something the church seems to condone too much 😅

@bobbabai

4 ай бұрын

For future reference, the name is "Terri Schiavo"

@vintagearisen

4 ай бұрын

I'll argue that the fervent search for God, coupled with empathy and intellectual integrity, is a strong motivator to leave the faith. I was a missionary myself. Spent most of my twenties in ministry of various types.

@Marychelle

4 ай бұрын

@@bobbabaiShe’s barely alive oh . . .

As an ex-Mormon, some of my favorite LDS teachings definitely facilitated my departure: Read from the best books, study matters thoroughly and act so your heart and mind are in accord, a reminder to missionaries that your first priority is to love the people you meet and things will work out from there. There were toxic teachings, too, but a lot of the principles that seemed right to me steered me away and still give me plenty to reflect on as an atheist.

@Access1296

4 ай бұрын

It’s good to hear from Ex-Mormons who still believe that there is a lot of good principles taught in the religion - even if they have their own (very good) reasons to leave. I haven’t left, but I’m still deconstructing in a major way right now. This video spoke to me about that challenge - the reason I’ve come so close to leaving is precisely because I was raised with values that have led me into conflict with the established “word”. Love others. God works in natural ways, not by magic. Whatever is good comes from God, no matter the source (we don’t have a monopoly on truth). If something is true, God will confirm it to you personally - in your mind and heart. God never expects you to blindly follow, because that was Satan’s plan. Many of these teachings have led me to the conclusion that there are a lot of things wrong with the church - some teachings, some leaders, how leaders are chosen, how change is enacted, how policies are taught, how politics is enmeshed with religion, how blind faith is discreetly (and sometimes openly) endorsed, and how those who question leaders can be shunned. I’ve come to understand that in order to stay true to my personal values, I have to distance myself from the (many) negative aspects of the religion. And speak out where I can on things I believe to be true. I don’t yet know where I’ll end up. But I think becoming as educated as I can is important, given how many conflicting voices there are in the world. Unfortunately, the people that most often talk about this stuff are Atheists like Drew. And it seems that many spokespeople for Athiem are more unilaterally loving than their Christian counterparts. I just wish I had more Christians to talk to who share my values and beliefs. I’m not Christian enough to talk to Christian friends about it, and not Athiest enough to talk to Athiests. 😕

@tyleri.4219

4 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same thing. I think the values I picked up by being Mormon were what necessitated my standing for truth and right by leaving the Mormon faith

@poisontango

4 ай бұрын

@Access1296 That last note--seeming Christian around atheists and atheist around Christians--I've definitely felt that a lot. Best of luck making your choice! I thought about staying--the more people like me and friends I admired with similar doubts left, the fewer voices against fundamentalism existed in the church. But I eventually felt too much like a stranger, and found I was happier with some distance. Hope you find a path that gives you happiness!

@Access1296

4 ай бұрын

Thank you! I really appreciate that. 🙂 I’ve definitely already created some distance. I’m hoping as time wears on I’ll feel the need for less distance instead of more. But only time will tell. I at least am in the same boat as my wife. We are walking similar paths, and for that I’m very grateful. I don’t know how I’d handle my deconstruction if she was going full anti or full orthodox.

@jahbloomie

4 ай бұрын

@@Access1296Thanks for this comment. It sounds as if you’re interested in connecting with others who experience faith without toxic creeds. This encourages me to share my own journey more openly.

Your outro knocked me flat. Yes! To all the people that would be so flabbergasted I no longer share their faith ‘In just doing what you taught me’. For me it was watching the community I grew up with teach overflowing love of everyone. Then that same community was the most cutthroat and unsafe one I’ve ever been in. They cast POC and LGBT people out of community programs and outreach efforts. They would spend thousands to go overseas for mission trips and encourage the poor kid with worn out shoes not to come to youth group because there had been complaints. I didn’t even realize how angry all this made me because I was taught to never show anger. That forgiveness must be all I can show those that have done wrong. And when someone would call out something wrong the church was doing they were immediately silenced or cast out. It took a lot of distance before I could even call it what it is, hypocrisy. Because I’m following what was taught and I know in my heart that my church was not following their own teachings most of the time.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

One of the many sad aspects of fundamentalism is that it is not supported historically. It was devised in the late 1800s as a 'Christian' response to the growing modernism that they feared. Today it works by masquerading - preachers in cool torn jeans w/ electric music still pump out the fundamentalist message to unsuspecting people. Glad I didn't grow up with that baggage. Hope my nieces and nephews remain free of it too.

The moment the Zaboomafoo theme song started playing I got physically launched backwards in time

@xKumei

4 ай бұрын

The brothers from it have a new animated show now, my niece watches it! It's called Wild Kratts.

@polaris_draws

4 ай бұрын

@@xKumei I remember that from when I was in Elementary school. Is that still a thing?

@ktculbreth9961

4 ай бұрын

Looks like they’ve made episodes as recently as May of 2023, their seventh season!

@HungryWarden

4 ай бұрын

⁠@@xKumeiit’s very good! I watch it too.

@phillyphakename1255

4 ай бұрын

That show wasn't a big part of my childhood media consumption, but the theme song and the set are imprinted. Bumpers and ads while watching Arthur and Cyber Chase!

I received a bit of Christmas money from my uncle one year. I saw a man close to my school that looked like he may be homeless, so I gave him a good portion of that money. My parents told me I shouldn't have done that because he probably used it on drugs. I was in high school, and had been taught for years to always bless others with kindness. This really confused me for a long time.

@susanatkinson3978

4 ай бұрын

You did a good thing! I was homeless for 2 yrs. Work in a shelter now. Most people experiencing homelessness deserve help and kindness and you might just give someone the encouragement they need to not give up.❤

@kierayoung236

4 ай бұрын

@@susanatkinson3978 Thank you. I'm glad to hear you're doing well. And yes I also agree that it's always best to show kindness and compassion. At the very least, an understanding.

@Rhomega

4 ай бұрын

I hear the same thing. "They're probably just con artists. They probably already have a job and are just looking for more, and it's all tax-free income too."

@fumanpoo4725

4 ай бұрын

How they use it is between them, God and their dope source. You do what you can.

@stickiedmin6508

4 ай бұрын

​@@fumanpoo4725 When I was still a part of that life, the 'dope source' *_WAS_* god. A jealous, angry god which didn't tolerate competitors, a shallow and insecure god that required praise and tribute, and ultimately a fragile and weak god whose threats turned out to be meaningless. It's an interesting metaphor, isn't it?

I believe that the reason Christians don't think or question is because we were strictly told not to. "The Original Sin" in the Garden of Eden was the thirst for knowledge. Eve wanted the fruit of the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil" and God said no. We must take everything on faith and not question. That takes the power of logical discernment out of our hands. Although we were told to study our Bibles incessantly, we weren't allowed to actually think about what we learned. That stunted the thinking of generations of well-meaning Christians who were admonished to listen to our leaders and shut our mouths.

@ScrubLordKyle

4 ай бұрын

It’s really quite scary

@spasterisk

4 ай бұрын

Damn.

@michellem3050

Ай бұрын

This is the other side of the 'discernment' skill taught. If social cohesion is valued more than this skill, the group you are in 'complies' to whatever the mainstream thinking of the group is. Questions are not welcome, especially ones that challenge the group's accepted interpretation of the Bible. This was my situation. I got tired of going to weekly Bible Study group where everyone just reiterated the same thought with strong social pressure not to say "Yeah, But...". When a social behaviour issue was confronting me and I wanted someone to talk with to help me work it out, all I got was "this is what the Bible says" and their interpretation. The End. No-one was willing to hear that I read it different and needed some actual help with it. Integrity is not supported. Fall out of this: all some bamboozler needs to do is say things in the right way to sound familiar doctrinally, get some church leaders to pick it up, and they are IN, and what they say thereafter becomes unquestionable. Scary, and playing out right now in US politics.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

Holy shit... "It instilled the values so well they backfired" that resonates so deeply with me

@SirGreenVine

Ай бұрын

What backfired?

@rljeric

Ай бұрын

@@SirGreenVinethe christian values that were instilled by Genetically Modified Skeptic’s parents and religious leaders backfired, those values are the reason he left christianity my friend that was the entire point of the video

I have officially left The Church of Jesus Christ of LAtter Day Saints (Mormon) as of a few weeks ago. This was a long process that took a couple of years through my deconstruction. But many of the things that I was taught, and that they taught me I also used in my deconstruction. Feeling the spirit, and trying to differentiate what was the Holy Ghost or just worldly feelings. This was used to determine that the other feelings I had felt in my life would have been a natural byproduct of just being a human. I cannot think of one time that I really felt the spirit that I can definitively say would not have been natural. Another thing that I used that they taught was to read the book and pray if it was true. For the first time I truly prayed and asked. After receiving radio silence for over a year I gave up.

@poisontango

4 ай бұрын

Fellow ex-Mormon here, with similar realizations. Like, I'm just supposed to pray and keep praying until I feel something? If I feel nothing, just keep going. If I feel something wrong, that's just natural human stuff or the devil. But once I feel something, anything, cling to that, as if that moment means more than all the other moments. Disregarding evidence against and only valuing evidence of--cherrypicking/confirmation bias taught as doctrine. Sorry, it's been years for me and obviously it still irritates me. I just wasn't sure what to do when I did everything the way I was told, and my answer was, over and over again... no.

@Sam-xt5gb

4 ай бұрын

Hell yeah brother. Fellow ex Mormon here. Your experience is valid and resonates with many others, myself included. Life is wild!

@poisontango

4 ай бұрын

@@Sam-xt5gb Ex-Mormons, unite!

@Scrimbly_guy

4 ай бұрын

As another ex-Mormon the two big things that made me question were like you stated about prayer and getting zero answer. and the fact that we are taught from a young Age to love one another but as you grow older you realize that the people who taught you often hold a lot of bigoted views, though they often try to justify them as “tough love”.

@timv82

4 ай бұрын

@@Sam-xt5gb What's up my fellow Ex-Mormons!

Misinformation, moral bigotry and moral complacency does permeate the church. Thank you for telling your story.

@Kakaragi

4 ай бұрын

Which church are you even talking about?

@JulianaBlewett

3 ай бұрын

​@@Kakaragiall churches, but primarily conservative churches

@Kakaragi

3 ай бұрын

@@JulianaBlewett Which churches exactly?

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

@Kakaragi

22 күн бұрын

@@trentitybrehm5105 There is also Occam’s Razor to take into account too. The simplest answer to what the Apostles saw would be the risen Lord Jesus. Any other explanation becomes too complicated to justify.

WoW, This video had me tearing up. I've never once met or heard of anyone who shared my life, thoughts, and experiences through the same lens. I was raised Christian, went to advanced learning schools within the church, became obsessed with the meaning of discernment "the ability to judge well," which led to deeper self actualizations, understandings of human nature and questioning the world around me... which in turn led to my deep interest/studies in psychology (Jung Freud, etc). Secondly I was blown away when you said you were a fellow agro-skate head. I was in the scene for over a decade and became a semi-pro inline skater from the early 90's through the early 2000's. (I told myself the odds of you and I having skated together and or have been in the same Skate Park at the same time are astronomically high.) I basically lived for skate parks all through the state of Texas, from my home park (Freestyle Skate Park) in Kennedale, TX to Arlo Eisenburg's Park in Plano, TX. Tank Skate Park in San Antonio and many others throughout the state. .. Being a skater ALSO led me down the path of photography, which led to video / video editing, which I still do professionally to this day. Long story short, I just wanted to send some words of encouragement and a big thank you for all the videos/work you've created, they minister to me in ways most will never know. Your work is detailed, researched and relatable and an over all great experience. I can't wait to see more topics and more personal stories. Keep up the great work Much Love. - Imernex Feyd Nashoba

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

How could they have raised us on VeggieTales and not expect us to accept and love others? I mean, honestly. You're spot on, Drew! Great video.

@phillyphakename1255

4 ай бұрын

I love that the veggie tales guy is still Christian, yet goes on Paulogia's channel. He's found religion that works well for him, and its frankly quite inoffensive. No wonder Veggie Tales remains mostly timeless and inoffensive.

@actionsub

4 ай бұрын

@@phillyphakename1255 True. Phil Vischer moved on from Veggie Tales to create The Holy Post (a KZread channel itself). On this weekly-ish show, he and his guests try to muddle through contemporary events through a sort of "middle way" lens of Christianity: not wholeheartedly evangelical, but not totally progressive either.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

What you said at the end fascinated me - that the evangelical movement was started for political reasons! I wasn't aware of this. I've never been involved or much interested in religion of any kind but am basically terrified of evangelicals. Would you consider making a video about this political origin? I don't know where to go to research it. Thanks for your channel, I find it very interesting.

@francisnopantses1108

4 ай бұрын

Evangelicalism is older but it got hijacked by the segregationist movement after they lost the moral argument and the political battle with the rest of the country. Look it up, there was a short lived segregation party, which failed, followed by the creation of the Moral Majority. Their work dovetailed with the "Southern Strategy embraced by Nixon in the early 70s to woo Dixiecrats to the republican party and it all culminated with the rise of Reagan in the 1980 election, backed by the Moral Majority. Reagan was divorced and twice married while his opponent was an actual born-again Christian, but that's not what mattered to the rebranded segregationists now cloaked in false piety.

@tsuritsa3105

4 ай бұрын

Look into the Moral Majority or check out Rev. Jerry Fallwel's involvement in both politics and religion. In the early 70s, when Roe v Wade made abortion legal, the Southern Baptist convention supported the ruling. America had just gone through the massive Civil Rights movement of the sixties and overt racism as a wedge issue was beginning to have costs for the people using racist rhetoric. Abortion was selected and turned into a religious issue (previously it was mostly a Catholic issue) that could be used as a wedge issue for the right. The marriage of evangelicalism and right wing politics has been a disaster for the US.

Thank you so much for the Adam and Eve code! 🙌 Perfect for Valentines Day coming up.

My father, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all pastors, deacons, and church leaders. They did their best to raise me religious. My mother, grandmother, and aunts all were teachers, and did their best to ensure I was raised to think for myself. I don't think they ever realized these were conflicting goals, but as much resentment as I hold towards my family I'm ever grateful that I was taught the value in looking for answers using reason

@wideawake5630

4 ай бұрын

All truth is God's truth. Faith and education don't have to be at odds. There have always been brilliant thinkers with deep faith.

@MrTrickatreat

4 ай бұрын

@@wideawake5630 if it's the truth, then why do i need to have faith about it?

@phillyphakename1255

4 ай бұрын

My dad was a professor, and we lived on the most highly educated block in the most highly educated city in the entire state. We went to church, I think everyone I knew on the block went to church. We were taught as kids that expertise exists, but authority doesn't. Sure, that professor knows a lot about dance, or business, or engineering, or human development, or whatever their specialty was, but they still are human, they can make mistakes, they are not experts at EVERYTHING, only their thing. So then it was kinda weird as a kid to go to church and hear a guy talking about everything from morality and philosophy, to sociology and psychology, to the cosmic origins, all with unquestioning authority. If my dad doesn't have all the answers, ad the 90% of households on this block with (at least one) PhD don't have all the answers, why do we trust this one guy?

@IwasFRAMEDiTELLyou

4 ай бұрын

@@wideawake5630 I disagree strongly. Faith exists, as far as religion is concerned, as a justification for believing things with no evidence. When I began deconstructing, I had conversations with family members where I tried to explain what I was going through, and I was repeatedly told that I *had* to believe without evidence, that I had no right to be questioning the Bible at all, that the contradictions and impossibilities were just something I'd have to ask Jesus about when I got to Heaven. When I tried to be reasonable about it and explain my position, I was told that unless I was willing to agree that how they felt was equivalent to evidence, their own religious experiences were more important than trying to be logical, they couldn't even argue. I was supposed to take it all on faith. The fact that my own father had no answers to any of the questions I had beyond "Don't think about it so much" was devastating. Over and over and over again I got told to just pray about it, like I hadn't been praying every morning, noon and night for years, getting nothing but in intensification of my OCD to show for it. I wanted desperately to experience what the people around me told me they had felt, but at a certain point I realized it was making my life worse the harder I tried. I'd been reading the Bible compulsively, and eventually I realized it was nothing, just a bunch of ancient mythology designed to keep people in line and deferent to authority. It was an agonizing process, but religion was probably the biggest evil in my life I had to overcome, and people like you who act like it's sunshine and roses don't bother me so much when you keep in your own lane, but don't you dare preach to me.

@micklumsden3956

4 ай бұрын

Stages of Faith are important. Stage 1 may be called the “Authority” stage - you believe what you are told. Sadly many leaders try to keep people at this stage, not realising that the most exciting part of the journey is going through the anguish of questioning everything to discover the truth for yourself.

I'd have to agree. 2016 really was a shift for me. I was committed, and I took it seriously. and I saw people voting for trump and compromising the values and teaching that they said were unchanging and eternal. and they kept saying about choosing the lesser evil. but we were christians, we weren't supposed to choose evil at all.

@TheMahayanist

4 ай бұрын

Christianity ruined its reputation in the United States permanently due to Trump. I don't think it will recover.

@me-myself-i787

4 ай бұрын

If all the Christians in America had voted for Gary Johnson, he could have won. But instead, they decided to choose the lesser of two evils, because the other candidates have no chance.

@biggihan

2 ай бұрын

It really did not help that religious leaders argued for President Clinton’s impeachment, no matter how effective he was, because the commander in chief needed to be morally above reproach. Then, nearly 20 years later, the very same religious leaders (the ones still alive, such as James Dobson and Pat Robertson) did a complete 180° turn and argued that we are electing a commander in chief, not a pastor in chief.

I don't go to church since i was 16. But i took all the good things with me. Like treat others like you want to be treated. Everybody is your neighbor etc. i always took people in when they had no roof in ver their head and when people had problems i tried to help. Only for me everyone is equal and everyone is your neighbor is for me everyone, religious or not, their believes, skin color race, gender, political believes and sexual preference.

@user-vi3jd7mm1k

4 ай бұрын

Did you house illegal migrants into your home, too?

@user-vi3jd7mm1k

4 ай бұрын

Is adolph hitler equal to everyone, and do you accept his political beliefs and ideologies, too?

@Bruintjebeer6

4 ай бұрын

@@user-vi3jd7mm1k there are always people who are outside of what I said and cross the line I would never take in Trump as well or any other abusive narcissistic bully who takes over your life Not when I know that Infront But I was speaking in general terms You are nit picking and you well know what I ment

@user-vi3jd7mm1k

4 ай бұрын

Except, that isn’t what you said.

@user-vi3jd7mm1k

4 ай бұрын

@@Bruintjebeer6 you literally said the opposite of your second comment.

I love your thoughtful and calm delivery style. I just happened upon this video and appreciate the discussion. I also broke from my Christian upbringing due to the devisiveness and callous treatment of "others". I tend to move toward the teachings of Jesus and other wise people from other religions rather than Christianity precepts alone.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

“I was astounded, really, and their response only motivated me to speak out more fervently. Looking back now it’s clear to me that I didn’t leave the church in spite of my Christian upbringing but because of it.” Hooyah! Now that’s integrity!

Babe wake up new GM skeptic video dropped

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

I just found your channel and so happy to hear what you had to say! I'm 62 and have been out of church for many years due to quite a few reasons. Recently, though, I have been questioning all that I was taught growing up. My father is a pastor of a small independent Baptist church and the rest of my family is still heavily into church etc. I did not raise my kids that way luckily because now they are the only ones I can talk to about my confusion and sadness about my struggles to have a regular family relationship when God and their life is one in the same. My family is kind, giving and loving but terribly judgemental and religious. Last week my mom even told me I just need to have more faith for God to heal me from my stage 4 breast cancer. This cancer does not get healed or go away. I will have treatments and be sick the rest of my life. I was so hurt i dont know if i can get over it. My mom has kidney cancer so I questioned her on her faith and quoted the scripture that talks about having faith as a grain of mustard seed. There is no measuring faith. Faith is faith or maybe just delusion. I dont even know. I am struggling so much. I am angry about the cancer and the belief I had about healing and faith. I don't even know where to go from here. Thank you for your video.❤

The way you break stuff down has been endlessly entertaining and more importantly informative. Credible informative delivered in an interesting way is always helps make the day better. Long time fan here to say I loved this video. Keep up the great work.

In the UK I was raised as catholic and went to catholic schools until I was 18. Fortunately, that means I was taught mainstream curriculum and science and none of the biblical literalist/YEC nonsense. Despite that, the church is still stuck in the Dark Ages over the science around LGBT recognition and rights. In the end I had to walk away - it was 2015 and I was 55. It's the indoctrination and inculcation of guilt I really object to.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

Ugh so many memories unlocked from this. Everything down to the child-coaching that teachers would do before watching potentially "worldly" content. Amazing looking back now how harmful these teachings could be to impressionable minds.

@john-ic5pz

4 ай бұрын

child-grooming* if you don't mind me suggesting it grooming isn't just about s*xual @ss@ult.

Well said; well done. You have not had a boring journey! My prediction is that your journey will not get easier, but it will never be dull.

Wow, this is indeed the most intriguing and honest video I've seen for a long time. Thanks for sharing.

When I saw the word *"Discernment"* on the screen, I literally nodded and said, "mm-hmm" as if I'd been expecting it, but I wasn't really thinking about it, just listening to you and remembering my own journey through and out of Xtian religion.

@ShadowPa1adin

4 ай бұрын

At my old church "Spiritual Discernment" basically boiled down to "gullibility with a furrowed brow."

@LittleWriterSquirrel

4 ай бұрын

Real discernment is not shying away from the trigger words you were taught are forbidden fruit. It’s knowing what you believe and why and how to argue against opposing positions without resorting to sticking your head in the sand. I have seen this bad decrement taught in church camp and whatnot, but the Christians I respect the most teach GENUINE discernment and critical thinking.

@littlebitofhope1489

4 ай бұрын

@@ShadowPa1adin 😆

@mushu_beardie2556

4 ай бұрын

@@ShadowPa1adin That sounds like Tucker Carlson's permanent expression lol. He always looks like a confused dog.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

I LOVE THIS! As a United Methodist youth minister and Christian headed to seminary this fall, I really appreciate your openness about this experience. Alot of good stuff here! For many, leaving the church IS one of the most Christian things that can be done in such a time as this. As for the political blocks, I think you’re spot on! Rev Dr Martín Luther King Jr (Where do we go from here: chaos or community, stride towards freedom, letter from Birmingham jail) had plenty to say on similar and intersecting topics like this. I hope my presence doesn’t “crash the party”. I just wanted to say, videos like this make me a proud Christian subscriber of your channel. I appreciate you so much!

@Kyeudo

4 ай бұрын

Save your future. Understand that the Christian god can be shown to not exist. Go to college instead of seminary.

@christinacody8653

4 ай бұрын

The GSM is pretty open to Christians on his page, you're fine here. Welcome!

@AHAHAHHAHA

4 ай бұрын

It’s often the conservative ideas that many atheists disagree with in a moral level when they confront Christianity.I for example am bothered by the political changes Christianity brings to society in America for example but I don’t mind people believing in the supernatural as much,and their idea of god might actually represent my idea of a good god.People of different theological stances can still agree on moral ideas

@cewla3348

4 ай бұрын

@@Kyeudo let them believe what they want, else you're just another zealot. edit: i forgot that some ppl dont see 'him' as gender neutral in stuff like this! (example: 'let him cook' is for anyone doing something strange, not just men)

@Kyeudo

4 ай бұрын

@@cewla3348 _[" let them believe what they want, else you're just another zealot."]_ I can't do anything but warn them. If he doesn't divert now, it will be all the harder when he finally can't reconcile the pointless horror of world events with the supposed goodness of his god and yet is dependent on his job as a pastor to feed his family. There's a reason that the Clergy Project exists. Besides, unlike the religious zealots, I can demonstrate, using both evidence and logic, that the traditional Christian conception of god cannot exist in our universe. I'm not asking that he just blindly believe me. I can show that if a god exists, it is not the traditional Christian god.

Me hearing Adam and Eve sponsoring this video made me nearly spit out my coffee- I LOVE that website! And to see it HERE?! Absolute gold.

Thank you for eloquently putting into words something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I had a very similar experience.

I fought with my parents at the end of second grade to take me out of Catholic school and send me to public school with the normal kids. At 7 I recognized that I was never going to fit in with normal people if I went to a Catholic school. As a compromise, I could go to public school as long as I went to CCD (Catholic Sunday school.) By the third class I got kicked out because I kept telling the other students we only needed to pretend we believed all this religious make believe stuff while in church or at Sunday school but we could go back to believing in reality once we got home.

This is fantastic. I remember being raised with the same ideologies. I love the conclusion, "I'm just doing what you taught me." Glad to see you're back. Love your content.

this is probably the best video of yours ive seen. every single point made in the video is something ive been trying to verbalize to others about my own deconstruction for years & you say it so eloquently. thank you for this one!

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

the adam and eve sponsorship is so funny omg. absolutely based of them.

As someone probably closer to your parents' ages, I came to the same place you did in the 2010's regarding LGBTQ+ community. I was raised in church but not super fundie and had gay friends in high school and college. When my husband and I joined a conservative church in the south, I never fully felt like I belonged, but always felt like something was wrong with me. I just needed to believe more or pray more. I resonate with all this so much. In 2020, the covid denialism and Trump worship sealed the deal, and I found your channel. It has helped me tremendously.

I frequently tell people that I left the church because they taught me to be like Jesus too well. Thanks for putting this into words so clearly.

@thomasthompson6378

4 ай бұрын

It's like Gandhi reportedly said: "I like this Christ of yours. But I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

I wish you well, both of you. Whatever you’ve endured, I’m glad you both are emerging.

Thanks for sharing, and hope your health gets back to peak! As a "natural born" atheist it's always a bit difficult for me to find ways of helping those who wrestle with their faith as I lack the personal deconversion experience, stories like yours give me more to share to others to think about and consider.

For me, one of the things that led me out of the faith, such that I was questioning in middle school and had left by high school, was the story of the man who is caught in a flood and refuses a car, then a boat, then a helicopter, and then dies and then asks God why he wasn't saved, and God asks him who he think sent the car, the boat, and the helicopter. The problem with this parable though, is that the church I was most exposed to was Christian Science, which is all about rejecting the car, the boat, AND the helicopter whenever you get sick and praying for a miracle instead. My parents didn't reject medicine at all, I was fully vaccinated, same as my younger siblings, but they still took me to this church that held beliefs directly contrary to what my own parents had to say. The dissonance was too much for me to ignore and so I read more, asked questions, and the more I read, the less I felt convinced by anything at all. That then combined with my certainty that Paul had fabricated his 'vision' of Jesus in order to usurp the early Christian church for his own purposes, largely because many of his teachings directly contradicted those of Jesus, which made me think of Jesus warning his followers against false prophets... and was amplified further by being told numerous easily disproved lies about Dungeons and Dragons, about video games, about all manner of media that were considered 'satanic'. By the time I was done leaving the faith, the only thing I was truly certain of was that the faith relied on ignorance and credulity. I was lucky to not be brought up in a particularly conservative church, and was not taught to hate other groups, as that was considered especially un-Jesus-like, but the emphasis on emulating Jesus was part of why Paul was so dissonant to me.

@AnnoyingNewsletters

4 ай бұрын

*_Amen!_* _It would have been better for that _*_[faith]_*_ if _*_[Paul]_*_ had not been born._ -Mark 14.21

@elspastico1546

4 ай бұрын

Honest question: what did Paul teach that goes against what Jesus taught?

@janshirley

4 ай бұрын

Paul was an ass! And a pharisee. A high-ranking one. He saw an opportunity to gain power over the gentiles by using this new blood cult (Christianity) as a thing anyone could join. It helped to maintain worldwide power structures after the fall of the Roman Empire. It started out by recruiting volunteers (true believers) to spread the word of this gospel of peace. It became an audience for Paul to influence with his own biases. Later on, it became Join or Die, often at swordpoint.

@ObsceneSuperMatt

4 ай бұрын

Christian Science is generally considered by other Christian sects to be a cult. Which teachings of Paul are you referring to? Other than the core stuff like Gentiles who become Christians MUST not be circumcised, since that puts them under the law, most of Paul's guidence is "best practices", at the end of which, he says if any of these cause divisions among you, don't worry and get rid of them since they are just recommendations I make based off how I run a church. The Satanic Panic is pretty interesting phenomenen. A schizophrenic guy, instead of standing on a street corner yelling, decided to sit down and draw little cartoon books and hand them out, and for some reason people didn't use any discernment and took them as gospel truth.

@insersed6525

4 ай бұрын

Dang it's always middle school, I wonder why? Could it be because of indoctrination, nah? It's definitely not that the government can't be trusted. The government is so trustworthy, which is why we must always definitely trust politically motivated science. Did I say politically motivated? I meant [real] science.

One phrase that haunted me when I was contemplating whether or not I could justify remaining on staff at a megachurch - For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul?

@MrTrickatreat

4 ай бұрын

so many times i hear - well you just want to sin, you just want to be your own god, you think you are too smart for us - but in reality, what am i gaining?? i've lost friends, community, closeness with my family, i've lost so much. the only thing i gained was intellectual integrity and peace with how i feel about what i think. worth it.

@jefcaine

4 ай бұрын

@@MrTrickatreat agreed

@braddahg

4 ай бұрын

Too bad pastors like Kenneth Copeland didn’t think like this before buying a new jet.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

The fact that I'm queer and the realization of that were obviously factors in my deconversion, but the main reason was the Bible itself. I was taught to love everyone, no matter their background, and that love made me question leaders and teachings with no grounding in love...which eventually led me away entirely.

@xfrostyresonance8614

2 ай бұрын

If you love someone, yet do not correct them when they are wrong, you do not love them at all. Love is not blind, love is not all-encompassing affirmation. It's acceptance of one as who they are, no matter what they are, but also the acknowledgement of their wrongs. Your being queer is equal to my lust and adultery, and as such I have no authority to say "you must not be gay" without also saying "I must not lust". Many Christians are extremely hypocritical.

Drew, thank you for being an outstanding example of and resource for non-believers. I think you are a great resource to refer people to who are struggling with religion. You are honest, straightforward, very genuine and, what I think is sorely missing these days (especially in our political world) is you have a strong sense of integrity. I am an older gentleman with adult children about your age and have always let them decide for themselves on religious matters and, one day hope to show them your channel in hopes it will help them find the truth as well. Oh, I live in the south as well, so you are well aware of the struggles trying not to live a lie while at the same time, trying to avoid being shunned by family and community. Thanks.

I totally understand. My pro-life views actually led me to look at my values and it led me away from the church.

@krembryle

4 ай бұрын

Your pro-life views lead you away from church? Is there something like a pro-choice church? I think pro-life views should nail you to a church, if anything.

@brenatevi

4 ай бұрын

Are you still pro-life now?

@TheIronDonkey

4 ай бұрын

I still believe life has dignity and is worthy of preserving. But I am no longer anti-abortion.

@angelikaskoroszyn8495

4 ай бұрын

My pro life views make me support many "anti-Christian" ideas like good sex ed. Which is crazy. Like. The best way of avoiding abortion is avoiding pregnancy. Obviously abstinence only education doesn't work. As such sex ed is the best choice available

@rainpooper7088

4 ай бұрын

@angelikaskoroszyn8495 And yet, good sex ed and access to birth control for teenagers are the things Christians are blocking the most at school, even though it's been proven to work wonders against teen pregnancy.

It takes effort to change from 'If they disagree with me, they are wrong' to 'If they disagree with me, atleast one of us is wrong. Could it be me?'.

@xfrostyresonance8614

2 ай бұрын

This is something both Christians and atheists must get better at. At the end of the day, we're all equally naïve. We're all human. Nothing we do will ever break the boundaries of our imagination or perception.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

i was talking to my parents and my grandma on new year’s eve, and i said that my new year’s resolution is that i would try to be the most open, loving person i could be to anyone and everyone regardless of who they are. my grandma said “yes, show them gods love” the sheer power i felt as an ex-christian when i looked her in the eye and said “i am going to show them *my* love. god has nothing to do with it.” was more powerful than anything i felt while i was in the church

@margaretflounders8510

4 ай бұрын

I had to tell my neighbour, as we peeled sprouts, talking about Christmas, I was atheist, her answer was, "doesn't matter, you're doing gods work"

@ShintogaDeathAngel

4 ай бұрын

@@margaretflounders8510 what did she even mean by that? 😂 and no, I'm not gonna joke that peeling sprouts is God's work (they come from Satan - that's my belief and I'm sticking to it!)

@aceofspades5226

Ай бұрын

@@ShintogaDeathAngel hey hey hey! The church of Satan denounces peeling sprouts, that’s too far, even for us. /j

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

When I see the news, the enormous amount of people that are not willing/able to accept the truth, or facts. Gives me a physical pain in my heart. And if I/we didn't have you and the small number of others like you, I really don't want to think about that. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you and the wisdom you provided. After I listen to you, my pain subsidies and I again have hope.

Science asks questions that may never get answered; religion preaches answers that may never be questioned.

The private christian school I went to, elementary - highschool, had a class during senior year on how to use library databases like you typically use Google Scholar and writing research papers based on cited research. Feel like that was much too helpful. Learning how peer review and meta-analyses work was the final nail in the coffin. The "creation evidence" classes leading up to then didn't stand a chance

As someone who's father is (technically via an online church) an ordained minister and undoubtedly somewhat of a Christian he doesn't care that I am an atheist,and fully encouraged it. He knows that the church is sorta bullshit,but he believes in God and not the church

@romansailer8052

4 ай бұрын

Ah yes. Deism / theism is good, sometimes wonderful. Organized religion, as a man made and often male dominated / domineering construct by and large sucks.

@deevnn

4 ай бұрын

@@romansailer8052 There is no god or gods...it is but a fantasy in the minds of brainwashed children. Wake up to the REAL world. Deism/Theism is a LIE and a joke also. Follow the truth, that all religious belief is false and move away from "spiritualism" your mind will then be free.

@hoytoy100

4 ай бұрын

And he probably loves that sweet tax exempt income!

@FourByteBurger

4 ай бұрын

@@hoytoy100 we are absolutely not tax exempt

@balanceofjudgement6136

4 ай бұрын

@@hoytoy100 you are thinking of churches, not individuals who are ordained on the internet lol. Plus, even individuals who have churches still get taxed on income not related to their church duty. But I would def agree if you are saying the churches should be taxed. They already often preach who to vote for ( Ik, not all), so just tax them already, right?

Thanks for sharing this, Drew! I really appreciate your videos and your calm approach to Christianity and religion in general. Good food for thought!

Excellent video, Drew! I left in my 59’s by following the same line of thinking. ❤

Man, this is so well put. You're constantly told to discern the word of God, stand for something greater, be hated, blah blah blah But if you take it seriously enough you go in a direction your teachers don't want or you've "gone too far" DO YOU WANT ME TO GROW IN MY FAITH OR NOT!?!?

@iantaakalla8180

2 ай бұрын

The funny thing is that God invites people to be humble, to serve others but not take nonsense, to keep going under hard times, to back your words up with action. In other words, to follow the word of God roughly maps on to existentialism when you strip away the epic about the salvation of Christians and everybody. There is a secular extension of Christianity and it sucks that analysis does not lead people to seek out secular versions of Christianity - being able to apply it beyond Christianity is the point of practicing Christianity. Of course, I could be wrong about this analysis.

It's really validating to hear this perspective. I left the church (and Christianity as a whole) for very similar reasons. I, too, was astounded when I tried so wholeheartedly to uphold the moral values instilled in me, only to then be told that I ought to uphold opposing values when it came to certain specific issues-and communities-that they were opposed to (lgbtqia+, evolution, atheism, etc). When confronted about the inconsistencies, I was frequently told that I had a "good heart," but that these issues were firm, and if I still had any concern that I should just pray about it. But I already was. Every single day. After leaving the church, and discovering philosophy, I still tried to uphold those Christian values that I saw as positive in my daily life. Multiple close friends and family members would tell me how conflicted they were about me because they saw me as "more Christian than the majority of people that [they knew], and [I wasn't] even Christian!" They couldn't easily resolve the notion that I would definitely be going to Hell when I died, but that I nevertheless had higher moral integrity than most of their fellow Christians. To be sure, I do not believe that sentiment today-that I am more moral or Christian than so many other Christians-but at the time, I was still living a very Christian life, just without the theology. Regardless, I think it shows just how tribalistic we can be. We can be so convinced of our communities' implicit righteousness that we allow ourselves to forego our faculties of reason, and even our otherwise allegedly held values if it conflicts with specific hot-button sticking points we've been taught are essentially gospel. Drew, I really commend you on standing up for pluralism. You've definitely inspired me to see more of the good in those who are not in my in-group. Thank you. It's truly invaluable.

Also, as someone who was disowned by my own family after being outed, your genuine compassion and advocacy for LGBT people speaks volumes as to your humanity Drew. Thank you. 🤞🏻♥️

@electrogeek77

4 ай бұрын

I hope you've found peace and stability in your life now. ❤

@colepuleo6809

4 ай бұрын

I've been outed just for being an ally.

@elspastico1546

4 ай бұрын

So sorry. My son is bi, and I love him dearly. I couldn’t imagine disowning him. That’s not love.

@trentitybrehm5105

22 күн бұрын

The Apostles willingness to be killed not for saying they believed Jesus had risen, but they had seen him risen. If the tomb wasn't empty, they would've paraded the body around to stomp out any idea of Jesus being ressurrected, but Christianty spread because there was no body in the tomb. If someone stole the body, why were nearly all the Apostles willing to be killed for saying they'd seen Jesus risen? They were thousands of miles away from one another before phones and the internet and were being threaten, tortured, and murdered for their claim. Not one "broke" and said it was a lie to save themselves. The archeology matches the Bible perfectly all the way from Genesis through the New Testament. We have the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and the disciples of those disciples, and they not only quote much of the New Testament, but all the core idea of Christianty are present. Jesus being God, the Son of God, dying for sins, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven. We also have writing of Jewish and Pagan contemporary historians who were hostile towards Jesus, who say the same things : Jesus being worshipped as God, the Son of God, dying for on the cross, burial, resurrection. The fact that there are contradictions between manuscripts is often sited as proof against trusting scripture, when it actually does the opposite. The fact that there are so many manuscripts makes it easy to tell when someone changed one, and modern Bibles are transparent about any differences in the footnotes. None of those differences found between manuscripts change anything about any core doctrines of Christianity, they are mainly a handwriting error on a letter or a different way to word something that means the same thing. There is also all the undisigned coincidence between not only the four Gospels, but the rest of the New and Old Testaments too. Matthew 2:22 talks about Joseph not wanting to return to Judea after fleeing to Egypt because Archelaus was ruling. That's all the info on that the Bible gives. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us about the things Archelaus did and how evil he was. Put these two peices of evidence together, we get the full picture. This sort of thing happens through the text with the seemingly useless details matching up perfectly with extra Biblical sources, lending to the credibility of the text. It's because of the evidence that I believe in Jesus.

@Saffron831

22 күн бұрын

@@trentitybrehm5105 What does any of this crappy Christian copy-pasta have to do with my comment?

Just finding this channel. It is CRAZY how similar my upbringing was. Homeschooling co-op, Evangelical church, Awana, Young Living, young-Earth creationism, hosting people from broken homes, Bible quizzing(?!), the list goes on and on. It is encouraging to see another survivor. Everyone I know from my childhood became far right jingoists and flat-Earthers.

Great discussion as usual. Thank you for your work to bring up many issues that need be discussed.

This is a really great example of how a key part of indoctrination is training people to continue indoctrinating themselves on an ongoing basis.

@alanmacification

4 ай бұрын

That's the key to every successful con game.

Glad to hear you're feeling better! I grew up in a Methodist church (so definitely not evangelical), and it took realizing that I was gay to really shake my faith. And the more I've thought about it in my decade+ of apostasy, the wilder I find the hypocrisy

I have been following your channel for a while and absolutely love your work. Your patience, understanding, calm and rational approach to these difficult subjects is inspiring. I would very much like to be more like yourself. As an atheist since I was 25 (I am now 60), your channel has been a very welcome addition to the dialog. For many years, there simply wasn't any reasonable voice on the side of atheism (at least as far as I knew). Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thanks for your work. You were one of the first outside voices I stumbled upon on my journey out of the Mennonite church.

Thanks, Drew. Your thoughtful and intelligent insights are always a pleasure to experience. This was fascinating to me.

In Bible study and youth group growing up, the search for Truth was a big thing that was emphasized. Wow did that backfire over here, too!

As a Christian, this is one of my favorite deconstruction videos I’ve ever seen. Thank you for using what you were taught well. I’m praying for healing and grace in y’all’s lives, truly

You and Taylor are beautiful people with beautiful hearts and minds. I deconstructed around the same time as you, and I really appreciate your soft-spoken, gentle nature, especially considering that you're a Texan who must deal with real-world societal "pressure" on the daily. My wife and I do OTR trucking and pass into Texas quite often. If we ever had the opportunity, we'd love to meet you. 😊 I also follow Aron Ra, and he speaks more like I would expect from a Texas atheist. Stay wonderful. Stay rational. Keep fighting the good fight. We love you guys!

I'm a strong Christian and I didn't realize how much I'd agree with this video

@lijohnyoutube101

4 ай бұрын

If you agree so strongly with it how can you still follow a faith that only exists due to indoctrination and brainwashing etc.?

@tinala1014

4 ай бұрын

So am I and i did realize it! 🙂🫶

@user-vi3jd7mm1k

4 ай бұрын

Are you born again?

@wolftitan

3 ай бұрын

Perhaps one step further is in order? Be Atheist, perhaps Humanist evolve for humanity. Leave all the gods man has made behind.

@onionbubs386

3 ай бұрын

​@@wolftitan are you trying to convert them to your beliefs? I'm an ex Christian but what you're doing is kinda hypocritical

Man, hearing stories about childhood in an evangelical setting makes me feel so lucky. I got switched to a public school when I was 6. I did have to go to catholic church every sunday, and participate in all their weird rituals. Then I had to go to bible school during the summer. But either I didnt listen well, or they just didnt teach these crazy methods of avoiding reason. It was more about just following the dogmatic rituals. So it was pretty easy to walk away when I realized my life was no different without the rituals.

@bsnow304

4 ай бұрын

I think, at least in the US, Evangelicals are the odd ones out with this dogmatic avoidance of reason. My partner grew up Catholic and I grew up Methodist, and we both went "WTF" when I found out my (now former) boss is a young Earth creationist.

@wj2036

4 ай бұрын

@@bsnow304 You're probably right. Although, in my experience, just being in a religion long enough leads people to avoid certain reasoning, even if the church isn't pushing it. The classic example is people who cling to faith as a virtue, even though I could use faith to believe in some horrible things.

@msawyer406

4 ай бұрын

You are very lucky. Growing up evangelical sucked for me. The public shamings and constant othering was especially hard. I found more hate in the church than anywhere else in life.

@wj2036

4 ай бұрын

@@msawyer406 there is a lot of guilt and shame in Catholicism, but yes, I'm lucky there was not a lot of hate. I'm glad you didn't fall into that trap ✊ becoming a better person than you were raised to be is such a great achievement

This is so very good! Thank you for talking about this. I have almost a verbatim up bring in the AOG pentecostal church in Texas. Instead of inline skating, I chose skateboarding. I'm glad you are giving a voice to those who want to see change in the faith.

This was very well put, thank you for sharing.

For me, it was the teaching that God wants a personal relationship with me. When someone wants a close relationship with someone else, it's pretty counterproductive to give them the silent treatment and hide all evidence of their existence. Edit: Ooh, I forgot about the policy of "Love thy neighbor" combined with insisting on voting against the people whose policies aligned with those values.

@Duskbound

4 ай бұрын

It's also generally frowned upon to develop a 'personal relationship' by threatening eternal torment should they choose not to engage with you.

@amberallen7809

4 ай бұрын

​@Duskbound Yeah, I remember reading my Bible one day after learning some of the signs of an abusive relationship, and having the thought, 'If this were just some guy I brought home, my family would tell me to leave him. He gets a free pass because he's God? This is still abusive. It isn't love. Why is God so insecure?'

@wlhamaty

4 ай бұрын

That whole "personal relationship with God" and "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior" thing is actually very modern, almost American, certainly not biblical. (I doubt they even know what it means to have a "Lord".) If anyone has a reference to that prior to maybe the 19th century, I'd be interested. The modern usage of "Born Again" arose during my lifetime. As did the emergence of certain political positions as being the "sine qua non" of what some call "Christianity".

I had a very similar realization. Long story short, I left my church of 20 years because of how they handled Covid and I stayed home to protect my loved ones, and spoke out to the pastor that we should consider the health of our mostly older congregation, and those of us who stayed home were mocked and ridiculed. Told we didn't have enough faith or trust god in a horrible time. I knew I couldn't go back as I didn't share the same values as them. I had been questioning leaving already because I was the only LGBTQIA+ supportive person in that church and was ridiculed for that, as well. And when I was in the process of looking for a new church, that's when I started to question why I even believed to begin with. I very much agree the values they instilled in me through Christian teachings growing up in the church and homeschooled really did help lead me out. You certainly aren't alone in that.

@brianmccarty7289

4 ай бұрын

ah yes, COVID response. My church was the same way. Saying God would protect them, while buckling up in their cars when driving home, then getting home and locking their doors. What about God's protection in those instances? (Many who attended church during the pandemic got COVID, of course).

@JoyfulArtist21

4 ай бұрын

@@brianmccarty7289 The icing on the cake is that church a few years prior started stationing "watch men" in the lobby who concealed carried guns in case a shooter tried to get into the building of our less than 100 congregation church. It was really weird to know they want to protect people with firearms but not a mask? And called those of us taking the pandemic seriously "living in fear." Ugh. And yeah, my ex-church had several rounds of people getting sick. I'm still friends with some of the people there, so I heard about it. I'm kind of glad in a way it happened, not for people getting sick. But I had thought about leaving for a few years before all that and it was just the final straw to go "yeah, I have no values in common with these people anymore." One of the best decisions of my life.

This video is brilliant. I grew up in the church and still consider myself a Christian, but not one that believes in what the church is now. Your video perfectly encompasses the sense of entitlement that makes me want nothing to do with the Christian church. I respect your channel and your openness!

Your views and reasoned calm presentation are refreshing. Thank you for being a voice in this space.