Happy New Year!

Wishing all you wonderful folks a happy new year!

To all who have contributed to the site throughout 2018, through articles, comments or both, thank you.

We run this blog because we think there is great value in talking about our experiences and what we've all learned throughout the process of leaving a highly-controlling religion.

Some of you may have had the great fortune of being able to walk away from the religion with relative ease, while others of us have found the process incredibly challenging and difficult. By sharing our unique experiences and perspectives, together we can heal the wounds, and help to make every year a little better than the last.

To that end, I want hear your feedback and suggestions of what you'd like to see more of in 2019 on this blog. Let's celebrate the magic of life, the universe, and everything, and have a little fun along the way as well.

So once again, happy new year! Let's make 2019 a great one!

-Thom

Archaeology Of The Hebrew Bible

"From the beginnings of what we call biblical archeology, perhaps 150 years ago, scholars, mostly western scholars, have attempted to use archeological data to prove the Bible. And for a long time it was thought to work. [William Foxwell] Albright, the great father of our discipline, often spoke of the "archeological revolution." Well, the revolution has come but not in the way that Albright thought. The truth of the matter today is that archeology raises more questions about the historicity of the Hebrew Bible and even the New Testament than it provides answers, and that's very disturbing to some people."

Click here to read the rest of this article

Tired of Hearing About Tyre - Ezekiel 26 Prophecy Failed

Assyriologist and Old Testament Scholar Dr Josh Bowen explains the failure of the prophecy against Tyre in Ezekiel 26. He provides evidence from both the biblical text and also other Ancient Near Eastern texts, demonstrating clearly that the prophecy failed. Also in this video you will see why those who claim otherwise often try to contort the text to make it say something it clearly does not say.

Quote of the day

"Life is not perfect, neither is it meant to be. It is a lesson and its lessons escape the Christadelphians because they believe they know exactly the meaning and purpose to life. In doing this they close themselves to so much that could have been experienced."

Anonymous contributor, Whose Truth?

Morality And Atheism

By Thom Jonas

PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect the views of all admins, nor the views of all ex-Christadelphians.
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If you have read any material from believers on the topic of morality you will no doubt be familiar with the idea that morality requires or implies the existence of a god, and the idea that we get our morals from God and/or the Bible. I disagree with both of these ideas, and in this article I will offer some reasons why.

Quote of the day

"Science is a search for truth – whatever the truth may turn out to be, even if it’s evidently not what we wanted to believe it was. In science, it doesn’t matter what you believe; all that matters is why you believe it. This is why real science disallows faith, promising instead to remain objective, to follow wherever the evidence leads, and either correct or reject any and all errors along the way even if it challenges whatever we think we know now."

Aron Ra

Thinking On Purpose

By Thom Jonas

As someone who no longer believes in some kind of afterlife, I quite often come across the claim that life without belief in God or an afterlife must be meaningless and without purpose. I think the fundamental problem with this claim is that it is self-fulfilling. It is only true if you believe it to be true. But you don't have to believe it. There are other ways to look at meaning and purpose, just as there are evidently many ways to live a fulfilling life.

Quote of the day

"Unfortunately, the Christian habit of emphasising the problems and failing to contribute to solutions is unhelpful. Just hanging around until Jesus comes to solve all the problems is not constructive. Surely it would be better, regardless of what we believe, to be actively working to make a better world now."

Rob Hyndman

Quote of the day

"There are days when I miss my old convictions as if they were an amputated limb. But in general I feel better, and no less radical, and you will feel better too, I guarantee, once you leave hold of the doctrinaire and allow your chainless mind to do its own thinking."

Christopher Hitchens

Quote of the day

"My objection to supernatural beliefs is precisely that they miserably fail to do justice to the sublime grandeur of the real world. They represent a narrowing-down from reality, an impoverishment of what the real world has to offer."

Richard Dawkins

Quote of the day

"Most people believe most of the things they believe only because they believe that most people believe them."

Mokokoma Mokhonoana

10 Signs Your Religion May Be Harmful

By Thom Jonas

THIS article contains a list of common features of groups that are generally considered harmful and potentially unsafe. There are several such lists online and many of them offer some combination of the features listed below.

If you recognise similarities between the warning signs listed below and your own ecclesia or even the Christadelphian religion as a whole, then perhaps it is time to ask yourself some critical questions or seek a second opinion from a counsellor or third party outside the religion.

Quote of the day

"The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."

Thomas Paine

Thoughts for doubting Christadelphians

By Phynnodderee

When I first started having niggling doubts about my faith, I assumed there must be answers out there somewhere, it was just that I wasn’t smart enough or knowledgeable enough or spiritually mature enough to figure them out. Later, when these unanswered questions developed into serious doubts, I began to wonder what on earth was wrong with me. Everyone around me seemed to have such a strong, easy faith. Why did I alone seem to be struggling with doubts? Was I crazy?

Quote of the day

"[Science's] only sacred truth is that there are no sacred truths. All assumptions must be critically examined. Arguments from authority are worthless. Whatever is inconsistent with the facts - no matter how fond of it we are - must be discarded or revised."

Carl Sagan

Quote of the day

"Many people fear to apply themselves to a reconsideration of their own beliefs because 'You never know where it will lead you'. Even a minor reassessment of one topic is feared - '...how far would it go?' Still others think that there is no intermediate position between faithful adherence to a traditional stand and complete chaos where everyone has his own views and all differ from each other. All these attitudes I feel... to be faithless and wrong."

From Christadelphia Redivivus by G. McHaffie

Quote of the day

"There need be no scheme of rewards and punishments transcending this life to justify our moral intuitions or to render them effective in guiding our behavior in the world. The only angels we need invoke are those of our better nature: reason, honesty, and love."

Sam Harris

What if ... ?

By Thom Jonas

“What if Jesus soon returns and you are left behind?
What if you are judged and your eternal life declined?
What if the kingdom really comes and loud you hear the shout?
What if the Christos enter in but you yourself miss out?”

Quote of the day

"It is amazing to me that a difference of opinion upon subjects that we know nothing with certainty about, should make us hate, persecute, and despise each other."

Robert G. Ingersoll

Video: 7 Tips for Helping Someone Out of a Cult

A former Jehovah's Witness shares some advice on encouraging someone who is involved in a high-commitment religion to think outside the confines of their belief system.

Quote of the day

"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true."

Carl Sagan

Quote of the day

"It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. When it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. Life is long if you know how to use it."

Seneca

Quote of the day

"One unexpected consequence of becoming an unbeliever has been the increased awareness of my own mortality, and a heightened desire to try to enjoy the time I have. I am consciously enjoying the wonder of living more than I ever did as a believer."

Rob Hyndman

"Looking for his coming"

By Phynnodderee

One of the hard things about losing my Christadelphian faith was realising that I had no good reason any more to think that Jesus was coming back. It was a hope that left a painful gap when it was gone. Coming to terms with this meant learning to see the world in a different light.

Quote of the day

"The sum of our religion is peace and unanimity, but these can scarcely stand unless we define as little as possible, and in many things leave each one free to follow his own judgment, because there is great obscurity on these matters."

Erasmus

Quote of the day

"Children... have a human right not to have their minds crippled by exposure to other people's bad ideas - no matter who these other people are. Parents, correspondingly, have no God-given licence to enculturate their children in whatever ways they personally choose: no right to limit the horizons of their children's knowledge, to bring them up in an atmosphere of dogma and superstition, or to insist they follow the straight and narrow paths of their own faith."

Nicholas Humphrey

Quote of the day

"In no other aspect of life do you need to be reminded on a weekly basis of what your opinions are."

John Cedars, former Jehovah's Witness

Dr. John Thomas in 10 quotations

Enjoy these favourite words of wisdom from the pen of Dr. Thomas…

Quote of the day

"In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity."

Marco Antonio de Dominis

Quote of the day

"Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

John F. Kennedy

Quote of the day

"Any doctrine that will not bear investigation is not a fit tenant for the mind of an honest man. Any man who is afraid to have his doctrine investigated is not only a coward but a hypocrite."

Robert G. Ingersoll

Why I Think The Christadelphians Are Wrong

By Thom Jonas

Pardon the provocative headline. In this article I will show why I believe the Christadelphian religion is founded on falsehood, using several distinct lines of evidence.

"What you may see as an amazing promise of eternal life ...could just as well be a poisonous lie that robs you of the only life you had...and yet most Christadelphians never take the time to seriously investigate it"

Click here to read the rest of the article

Quote of the day

"Humans tend to value most that which is rare and fleeting. Such is life."

Aron Ra

Christadelphian alternative reality

By Phynnodderee

Growing up Christadelphian, you grow up in a slightly different reality from everyone else. It’s not until you break free of the religion that you realise just how much it controls your perception of reality – and how much you need to unlearn.

Quote of the day

"Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer."

 Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Video: Christadelphian History and Current Issues

This video from Carelinks has some interesting Christadelphian history in it, including the many divisions in the community's history and how it became increasingly dogmatic and authoritarian.

Quote of the day

"The death of dogma is the birth of morality."

Immanuel Kant

Video: A Few Things I've Learned About Creationists - PZ Myers

Frustrated by Christadelphian science denial? Biologist PZ Myers takes aim at the failings of creationists - and shares a few interesting discoveries from the world of evolutionary biology, including the evolution of antifreeze in icefish.

Quote of the day

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual... The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

From The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Why John Bedson Resigned As Editor

Guest article by John Bedson

In the 1980's I ran the Christadelphian ‘Lightstand’ operation supplying Christadelphian full colour pamphlets, booklets, posters and 16mm films and videos to every continent in the World except Antarctica. We sold millions of items and had stockists in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, the East and also the West Coast of the US and the UK. I closed that operation because I realised that the religion could not be validated. If they can’t validate their religion they are thrashing around in the dark trying to pin the tail on the donkey and they will never succeed.

Quote of the day

"Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs."

Leo Tolstoy

The hope of Israel?

By Jon Morgan

To many Christadelphians, the return of Israel to their land is considered the go-to argument in support of the Bible. The Christadelphian even has as its tag-line ‘A magazine dedicated wholly to the hope of Israel’. But how does this relate to Israel today?

Click here to read the rest of this article

Quote of the day

"I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men."

Robert G. Ingersoll

Quote of the day

"If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."

Albert Einstein

Why Do Christadelphians Believe?

By Thom Jonas

Even though most Christadelphians might say they believe because of prophecy, or because of current events, I don't think that is actually the case. Most Christadelphians believe quite simply because they happened to be born into Christadelphian families, were taught Christadelphian doctrines from a young age, and were raised in a largely Christadelphian culture. The evidence is clear. Had they not been born into such an environment, it is almost certain they would not be Christadelphians today.

Quote of the day

"Investigate everything you believe - if it is the truth it cannot be injured; if error, the sooner it is corrected the better. Never be afraid of results to which you may be driven by your investigations, as this will inevitably bias your mind and disqualify you to arrive at ultimate truth."

Dr. John Thomas

Seeing my old religion with new eyes

By Phynnodderee

Recently I was sorting through an old box of junk and I came across something I hadn’t seen for years. It was a ‘My Beliefs’ card, a preaching aid produced by the Christadelphians in the 1990s. Looking at it again for the first time since leaving the community, I suddenly found I was seeing it – and my old religion – with new eyes.

Quote of the day

"Religion gives pseudo-answers to big questions that can’t be answered. This is what adherents discover when they make honest inquiry."

Marlene Winell, psychologist and former fundamentalist Christian

Worshipping Narcissists

Another brilliant video from TheraminTrees and QualiaSoup.

Narcissists often thrive in religious communities because both the drama they seek and easily manipulated people are readily available. This video is informative both in helping to identify narcissistic behaviour and also in offering ways to deal with it.

Quote of the day

"Is there anything that one couldn't believe based on faith?"

Matt Dillahunty, atheist activist

Stay or leave?

By Phynnodderee

Not everyone who becomes disillusioned with the Christadelphian community decides to leave. I’d like to look at some of the reasons for staying and the reasons for going – and explain why leaving was the best decision I ever made.

Quote of the day

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks."

From Letters to a Young Contrarian by Christopher Hitchens

The state of Israel: Seventy years on

By Jon Morgan

Seventy years ago today, the British Mandate over Palestine ended and the state of Israel was declared. Christadelphians were delighted, seeing in this the fulfilment of promises made thousands of years ago that one day Israel would return from exile. It was expected that Jesus would soon return, an expectation that was heightened 19 years later by Israel’s victory in the Six Day War.

However, while much has changed about Israel since then, there has been no return of Jesus and no establishment of world government from Jerusalem with compulsory religious teaching. While Israel has religious elements, it is a secular state which has made major contributions to the technology of the world. And one of the consequences of that new technological world is that many former believers, including me, have found it easier to discover the problems with our religion.

Click here to read the rest of this article

Quote of the day

"One of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding."

Richard Dawkins, biologist and science writer

Quote of the day

"Blind faith in authority is the greatest enemy of truth."

Albert Einstein, physicist