tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post2711071981968364836..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Why we fight, and why we we fight for what we doLarry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-77781325609245648452012-12-15T11:13:34.215-07:002012-12-15T11:13:34.215-07:00I'm the escaped Xtian who posted the indented ...I'm the escaped Xtian who posted the indented paragraph above. I have decided quite recently to join the fight to free minds enslaved by the HELLFIRE meme and other inhibitions, of Xtian dogmatic origin, to unfettered thought. As much as anyone, I suffered from the inability to truly love and accept life in my early 20s, so I feel deeply for those whose troubled lives are similarly caught up by concepts they barely understand ("...if you believe in things you don't understand, then you suf-fer..." thank you, Stevie Wonder). Over 3 decades passed, and I kept it to myself, feeling apologetic about my de-conversion, and unwilling to hurt my family, but NO LONGER. There are just too many people out there who don't need to suffer anymore; from my own experience, I know the confusion they wander through... I have recently discovered just how the HELLFIRE meme works in our heads (some recent neuroanatomical experiments helped me greatly); I think my story and how I got free will help others down that tricky path to honesty and self-affirmation - it took me 8 years (compare with Dan Barker's experience, who de-converted more or less instantaneously) to dance the bouncing ice floes in my river of thought to the island where I could stand up to the "god of my childhood", and declare, no, this isn't FACT, isn't TRUTH, AS I UNDERSTAND IT - and that personal understanding, that KNOWING, versus "BELIEVING IN" (whatever), is something I AM PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR DECIDING (not what someone tells me is "THE word of GOD" or divine truth). How amazing, centuries after the Renaissance, that some of us still need guidance to arrive at the realization that we DO GET TO DECIDE what we believe or not believe...but that's where a lot of us are today; and that's why I have JOINED THE FIGHT. Memerahttp://www.twitter.com/noreply@blogger.com