should i go around and tell everyone in the church, or should i slowly disappear from Sunday Mass and bible study, or should i just ... disappear all the sudden?
2007-03-22 16:44:09 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Just stop. They will come looking for you, then you can tell them.
2007-03-22 16:57:13 · answer #1 · answered by Alex 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, that all depends on you.
You are already an atheist, now your "exit" plan is a matter of taste, belief, and knowledge of who your friends are.
If you like Sunday Mass and bible study, go to them, they are interesting, especially from a different point of view.
But I imagine that you have friends there, people you respect, and you don't want to lose respect in their eyes. And you want to leave the church, so that is a little tough.
The best approach is to be honest, and tell only your closest friends. Once done, you don't want your friendship to be torn apart, so invite them to some decent outing. Explain your beliefs if asked to, and if they don't respect your dicision, show them your distaste, but give them a second chance.
Show them that you are mature, you have thought about this, and if they don't accept it, either leave them or try to convert them.
I'd leave them personally.
Good luck
Scott And Friends
2007-03-22 21:14:46 · answer #2 · answered by Scott and Friends 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A true Christian cannot "fall away" as you have claimed above. Thus, you were not a Christian in the first place, or you are simply struggling with your Christian faith at the present time.
It is OK to doubt and question your faith. But the preservation of the saints is an unbreakable promise of God.
Because the salvation of the elect is completely grounded in Christ, they cannot fall away (John 10:27-28; 1 John 2:19).
2007-03-22 17:55:46 · answer #3 · answered by Ask Mr. Religion 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, you've made exactly the right choice. The only logical choice to make in response to the atrocities you can see in the world is to distance yourself from any God who would allow such a thing to happen.
Get the people at your church to justify why God would allow such cruelty, e.g. allowing Saddam to rape Iraqi women, and tell them you're leaving because there is no justification.
See if you can convert anyone to atheism before you leave. Don't waste the opportunity.
The next thing to do is to use science, and evolutionary psychology, to try to solve all the problems in the world yourself.
If you devote your life to solving this mystery, you will find that there is a God after all, and you can stop being an atheist.
You can speed up this process by going to www.mutazilah.org
2007-03-22 17:01:17 · answer #4 · answered by Paul Edwards 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Whatever you do, don't go telling everyone in the church!
Never burn your bridges behind you, and that's exactly what you would be doing.
In a church, if you agree with it's doctorine or not, you get a fairly well established support network, atheists don't have that.
If you must go, leave quietly, you may find that the life of an atheist is not for you, and if you do, you won't have to "eat crow" if you decide to return.
Good Luck
2007-03-22 17:08:38 · answer #5 · answered by timmn 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You do not just disappear ...... LOL ..... it takes more atheist a long time to distance themselves from a being a Christian especially that imaginative link with god.
You should read and understand christianity try to find out why you decide to leave, not leave just because you think you like to leave.
Ever wondered why atheist has so much knowledge of Christianity? :).
2007-03-22 16:57:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
After all I do not think it is your intention to dissapear and be quiet. Your decision is made on some sort of beliefs that you have. You should go around and tell everyone in your church.
2007-03-22 17:19:53 · answer #7 · answered by mrkache 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you just quit going to church, people will pick it up naturally...it's not something you go telling everyone about. There really is no set plan...beliefs are not set in stone. I would recommend you catch up on some reading though...Dawkins, Harris, etc...
2007-03-22 16:48:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't tell anyone as soon as anyone knows they never treat you the same Disappear
2007-03-22 16:51:00 · answer #9 · answered by hate 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Somehow I doubt the truth of your words... Why? Maybe its the levity with which you treat a very painful subject for some people. A real person who had just lost their faith would be upset, not cracking jokes about exit plans.
2007-03-22 16:52:00 · answer #10 · answered by Dysthymia 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Just stop going you don't become an atheist to rub it in peoples faces. You become an atheist because its logical.
2007-03-22 16:51:38 · answer #11 · answered by Beaverscanttalk 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋