In response to Jenny Beers's question, "Have you, or someone you know gone through an experience that has changed their religious views? This can be that they found religion or strayed away from it. Why do you think they decided to do that?"...
I have in fact gone through such an experience, and though there might be a long explanation of this, I suppose that is what this blog is for. Ever since I was born I have been a part of the United Methodist Church in my city. I was baptized into this church, and eventually went through confirmation and became a member. One thing that I really appreciated about my church was the fact that no one pushed religion on you. They would tell you what they believed and welcomed you to join them, but it was definitely nothing like how some people describe Christians' promotion of their faith. Nevertheless, I always went along with what they taught me all those years in Sunday school because it just seemed to be the right thing to believe. Once I became a teen, I became even more serious in my faith, and instead of just agreeing with what people told me, I realized that I truly believed it too. I would believe all of the bible stories, but I always enjoyed the friendships I made with other youth in the church and the feeling of family I got, much more than the religious part of it.
Then, five months ago I stumbled upon an article that I will post a link to below. I am a fan of alternative rock music and attend a great deal of concerts. I always check the music magazine, Alternative Press, and their website for updates about the bands I like. While scrolling through the news on the website, an article caught my eye. It was by Wil Francis, the lead singer of a band I like called Aiden. He was a contributor on the website, and though I knew he was a staunch atheist while I was not, I was still intrigued by what he would have to say. I believe it was a good thing I chose to read this article, for it really put a great deal in perspective for me in regards to my religious beliefs.
Now, I will clarify that I did not believe every thing he said, though it truly did get me thinking about my beliefs, more than anything else ever has. What I got out of the piece was that I need to stop taking everything Christianity was preaching as true. To me, this did not necessarily mean to stop believing. Rather, it means I personally felt the need to find out the truth of these biblical stories on my own. I have mentioned several times before in this blog how I want to be an archaeologist in the future. I actually am extremely interested in biblical archeology, and for a while I even received a biblical archeology magazine in the mail. Therefore, this article really inspired me to find out what is true from the evidence that is available. Obviously some of the biblical stories are probably exaggerated. I just am so driven to find out for myself to what degree this is. I see myself on a sort of quest, to not take what Christians say as complete fact, but rather find out if it actually is. While some may say this is an impossible feat, I would deny that.
As I mentioned before, I always loved the family aspect of my church more than the actual religion. The second most striking thing Wil Francis said in his article was that there is a difference between feeling spirituality and a connection with others, and something being religious. He said that the things I love, such as the feeling you get when you are at a rock concert in the crowd, and everyone is singing the same words to the song as you, can be thought of as spiritual. I feel such a connection to music and moments like this, and judging by what he said, this explains why I still go to church - I love the feeling of human connection, the feeling that I am not alone. This is not necessarily religious, but it appears to be just as, if not more, important.
So, if you are to read the article now, you might definitely not get the same thing out of it that I did. For me, Wil Francis wrote in such a way that did not make me automatically adopt an entirely new position, but it instead made me seriously think. I would definitely not call myself an atheist, an agnostic, or a theist. Rather, I am probably just a questioning theist, and even though Professor Johnson said today in class that this is a paradox, I might be an agnostic theist. I still believe in God. I am not ready and do not feel that I can stop believing in his existence entirely. But I am questioning, for I believe, but do not know. Additionally, the reason as to why you might not see the article the same as I did, ties in perfectly to what we discussed in class. In order for some to change their opinions, the same piece of evidence is not sufficient. The evidence people need to change their view is very subjective, and it depends on what a person is influenced by as to if they believe something.
So yes, I have had an experience that seriously changed my religious views, and I believe it is clear as to why it has. This whole post might seem overly personal, but I was not reluctant to share this information, because I believe it shows quite fully what we have been discussing of the process of how people change their minds in regards to religion. Also, it is no surprise that there are 275 comments after Wil Francis's article debating over what he says is true or not. Do you think it is possible for people to change their views about religion completely, or do they always still slightly hold onto the ideas that they were raised with, even if such a thing seems unconscious?
This is the article I have mentioned in my post:
http://www.altpress.com/contributors/entry/god_is_dead_an_essay_by_william_control/
I responded to your question!
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