I didn't get as far as you in the faith, but did attend Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music for a year back in my salad days. In other words I was a devoted evangelical layperson who saw value in spending a year of BCT (Basic Christian Training) even if I didn't "feel the call" to the ministry and stayed on the full 3 years to become a pastor, youth pastor, minister of music, missionary or missionary aviator.

I don't meet too many fellow unbelievers with "formal" training in the faith who made their way out. If you feel like sharing your backstory for why you left the faith, I'd be interested to hear it.

Mine is basically that my life didn't play out as predicted by, and wasn't conforming to the explanations of, my faith. I had to explain a brother dying of a freak cancer despite a lifetime of not smoking, chewing, or going with girls that do (he was an elder in the church), my mother dying in a car accident, my wife suffering in a very baroque fashion from a rare disease and then dying. It was just too much of a burden of cognitive dissonance, and revealed my religious faith for the failed epistemology that it was, so I ejected it. And I found all other religions had the same exact problem.

I think my mom's side of the family is mostly trash. I don't really want much to do with them. Particularly said religious aunt and the one who accused my dad of letting mom die so he could collect life insurance money. The rest haven't pissed me off. And my dad's side of the family is just saying mom is in heaven. I don't really believe that. I think one of two things is most likely. Either that's it and we cease to exist. That or the next likely hypothesis is our consciousness is somehow still living on, but retains no memories since it can't store them. Where it goes, nobody knows. Possibly reincarnates. Possibly just hanging around. Possibly goes to another universe. Maybe it's just a property of the universe. I don't know how to confirm any of that. At this point, it's just fun to think about, but I have nothing conclusive to go on. With what I know at this present time, when we die, that's it. Game over. Enjoy life while you can.

hey don't hold back, tell us what you really think