Earlier a Christian woman came to page to challenge my atheism. She found herself losing the argument and started to threaten us with Hell. I know it may seem strange to some of my atheist friends but I felt truly sorry for her. I didnt feel anger or even frustration, all I saw was a little girl being scared into belief by her family at some point in her past. I saw someone so afraid of their own mind that they refuse to use it to set themselves free. I see the externalized guilt and shame that shackled me for so many years. As a Christian, I used to mourn the lost and pray for those who did not see the truth as I did. I was always so focused trying to reach others with the Gospel that I never realized that the one who needed saving was me. What I saw in that discussion and what came flashing back was the torment of my own mind breaking free of the lifelong fear of an imaginary place of suffering. We love proving these people wrong and it is good to challenge them with facts, but we should never forget that losing your faith can really hurt when you first start feeling it slip away. We may offer them truth, but we should be there with understanding when their world comes crumbling down around them. Without our empathy we are as devoid of morality as the people who wrote that awful book to begin with.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 07:27:28 +0000
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