Hey, please read this before you start,
First of all, I appreciate your time in looking into this. Everyone’s time is precious and thank you for spending it with me on this, it shows that you care about me and I appreciate that
I originally wrote this for specific people but I am realizing how it gives everyone in my life more peace. Arguing these points only brings conflict into our lives and I do not like that. The reasons why I left Christianity are all right here. I currently update this often with changes to my thoughts. At this point I continue to update this to make our conversations easier, read this at your pace, come to your own conclusions, I am happy to talk about your thoughts afterwards.
I want to be told that my questions are ‘dumb’ for lack of a better word. Staying a christian would be easier than leaving. I know that you may not believe this but it is true. My entire support system is in that fold and it is so frustrating having to be the odd one out. I want to have those deep conversations that we used to have without being so different in my views. I want to be told I am wrong
I think it best that this comes in a written manner because I do not want emotion in this discussion. I really appreciate our relationships and I do not want to hinder them. I also know that many answers will take a long time to answer correctly. These are truly just questions and do not affect how I feel about you
I also need to be straightforward though. I think that the core issue here is human brain’s inability to remove bias. The more I research the more I find to prove my theories. It is hard to live with believers, research is my outlet. I have seen apologist responses to these questions and they do not suffice. Generally they rely on causation equaling correlation. But that is not the case. I want answers that truly prove themselves, not ‘what if’ statements
Finishing my straightforward thoughts not only do I need answers to these questions but I also need to be convinced I want this God again. Even if I am wrong and He exists, He seems like a horrible being. If I had two words to describe Him, they would be an autistic narcissist. No exaggeration. This is seen throughout these pages but a good example is the concept of Heaven. The entire reason we care about God is His heaven. As a Dad, if I had an amazing house on the ocean (like a heaven), each of my four kids would be invited. To think that I would choose to invite some of my children but not others is such a jerk move in my opinion. There are very very few things my kids could do that would change my mind. Even if my kid was a public villian hated by the world, I would still want to welcome them in my house with a loving hug and give that child everything I could. Because they are my kid. And then to take this even further, I cannot imagine myself writing public messages to those of my dear kids that are missing out, mean things, hurtful things. Telling them all the things they did wrong to lose my favor. Seriously, even imagining myself doing those things makes me want to go hug my kids and say sorry for even thinking them
The idea is to lay out every concern in one single document. If we are truly going to defend christianity then all issues need to be discussed at once. I am following the format of the CES Letter which is a similar letter but focused on Mormonism. I like that approach because nobody really knows anything in this world. Questions are important to ask, this is more about my questions than about any answer I have figured out
To end, I fear even sending you this. I do not want to hurt our relationship but I know that it will. Just know, I think of you the same before and after you read this
Nathan Stacey
Letter Sections
- Letter
- Preface: Belief Change Bias
- Abuse And Oppression
- Bible Accuracy
- Trust In God