Sunday, 17 April 2011
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Letting Go of God
I'm not sure if I should have posted this, especially in it's entirety, but hey, it was all on Youtube. Anyway, I watched this a couple of years ago on either Showtime or HBO, DVR'd it, but lost it. I so much enjoyed her story that I wanted to share. Good stuff!
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Comments (14)
i've seen this before and it's some pretty powerful stuff.
i think it's good that people see this so that they can come to their own decisions about "where" they are in relation to their beliefs and how much they want a divine force influencing their lives.
thanks for sharing!
I will totally watch this when I'm done with my paper. Must get on that. Le sigh.
@ThePrince - I agree, and yeah, it is pretty powerful. I love that every single time she wondered about something, she "started reading." LOL Sounds like she had quite the struggle.
@thepsychoticraccoon - Coolness! You will like, I think.
Haven't seen this yet and probably won't, at least for a while, but I'm familiar with the content, as well as the experiences of other people who have been thru the same thing.
I never had to go thru the deconversion process because I was raised in a secular household and was thus never a believer, but my heart definitely goes out to those who had to endure it. All of them have said that going from being a Christian to being an atheist was probably the most painful process they've ever had to go thru, and I consider myself fantastically fortunate never to have had to experience it.
hard to believe she played Pat on SNL
@TheSchizoidMan - I'm not exactly sure where I stand, religion wise, so I can't yet say it's been a painful experience for me (though maybe it won't be). For the most part, I just drifted away when I realized much of what I had read and been told sounded completely bogus. For me, being a Christian was scary and painful. It's one of the main reasons I walked away from the church. It was constant bullshit coming in all directions, and I felt quite ill being in the midst of it all, worrying about hell, thinking I was unworthy, etc. Not for me.
I guess the only thing that really bothers me, which she mentions, is that loved ones, once dead are just that...they're dead. That really bothers me, but at the same time, it's consoling to know that if there is no after life, they're not going to know a thing after death, and neither am I. So though we might miss those we love when they go before us, even we will cease to exist and know nothing of it one day. To me, it seems far more painful to think there is a hell where loved ones can end up, suffering for an eternity. No thanks. Ceasing to exist is far better than that.
Good for you being brought up in a secular home. I am surrounded by Pentecostal believing Christians, and over the years, we've fought many of a battle.
@godfatherofgreenbay - Pat? Hmm...trying to remember. I actually didn't recognize her, then I noticed she speaks of being in Beethoven lol. So I probably have seen her before, but just wasn't aware.
Pat was the androgynous character. I think in the entire time they did those skits they never revealed Pat's sex. Pat dated an androgynous person named Chris. It was just so funny because every skit was about people trying to figure out whether Pat was male or female.
@godfatherofgreenbay - ROFL! That sounds pretty interesting. I think I'll look it up on Youtube.
Just watched part one and it's hilarious! I'm going to finish watching it today while I work. Thanks for posting it.
@Nitzchiya - Sounds like you got off light for the most part. Most of the deconversion stories I hear are fraught with anguish. Most of the atheists at my usual discussion site, WWGHA, are former Christians (some were even pastors and ministers), and the stories they tell are heart-wrenching. I'm definitely glad I never had to go thru it.
@CoderHead - You're welcome! Yep, she's a funny lady! :)
@TheSchizoidMan - I guess I did, yeah. I mean, I did struggle with it, but more than anything else, I just developed a "fuck you" attitude where I decided, even if there is a god, he and I simply aren't pals and probably never will be. Also, it wasn't hard for me to look at the bigger picture and know without a doubt that it could all be one big deception, just as every other religion. I had the same kinds of experiences others have who swear that's their evidence of god's existence, but I knew even then that the mind can cause some overwhelmingly powerful feelings and emotions.
I've never actually said, "I'm an atheist," but I suspect it's just around the corner lol. Either way, I'm thankful to say my journey hasn't caused me any real pain. Now, years ago when I struggled with the decision to go to church, that was some psychologically exhausting crap. I never want to go through that again.