From: "Leeann"
Subject: Faith
Subject: Faith
i think i have an idea of how you might feel about the subject of God. (please forgive if i am wrong). for more years that i care to remember, i didnt believe God wanted anything to do with me. I had commited so much sin and was so ashamed that i figured i had no hope.
Leeann is very confused here. Leeann was obviously never an atheist - notice that she never says anything about not believing in any gods. She only talks about not beliving that God wanted anything to do with her or could love her. Perhaps she thinks that's what atheism really is? But it's not - atheists can't doubt the love of something that doesn't exist, can they? Leeann wouldn't be the first person to assume that atheists "really" believe but just avoid admitting it for some reason.
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I’ve posted about this attitude in other places. And as you say–it’s nothing new. Indoctrination makes little children believe (1) god exists and (2) humans are bad.
Someone like Leeann demonstrates that she was raised theist. As you say, she describes herself as someone who has never been exposed to anything other than “god exists.” Atheists I’ve dialogued with who were raised secularly are mystified by this attitude. They wonder where the belief in god comes from, and they mistakenly think someone like Leeann was convinced by apologetics. The truth is Leeann was brainwashed as a small child to “believe,” and was later handed apologetics as an external defense of what was already shoved deep into her brain by a slew of well-meaning, but very harmful adults.
If you talk to Leeann about her beliefs, you will find that even if you can shred her apologist arguments one by one until there is no stone left unturned, Leeann will reply with “I just know there is a god, and I have to have faith.” Any counter-apologist has seen this demonstrated time after time. The “reasons” Leeann lays out for her beliefs are not honestly her reasons for believing. Truth be told, she believes because she believes and not for any reason or evidence that she would accept outside her religion.
The reason Leeann thinks everyone else believes in god, is that this is one of the apologetic arguments Christian fundamentalists are taught. And there is a high likelihood she is a fundamentalist, based on her view of her inherent wickedness and the fact that she can’t even fathom not believing god exists–to the point that she mischaracterizes atheism.
To her credit she does “apologize” if she’s wrong. But as with most fundies, she should rather write in to ask you to explain exactly what you believe and why. This would give you the opportunity to express your view on god and correct the misunderstanding that atheism is a ‘belief.’ But she obviously has not the faintest idea of what an “atheist” is–but that doesn’t stop her from wagering a guess (a guess that just happens to be in line with the fundamentalist strawman of the believer who won’t acknowlege his own belief).
If you can convince your followers that there really are no nonbelievers, then it’s bolstering to them. It’s a foundation of fundamentalism that everyone can see the same truths; and those who deny they can see them are simply lying or deluded. This allows them to discount anyone who disagrees and tries to explain why.
Poor, poor atheist. You’re so deluded, you don’t even realize you really do believe. You’re just so convinced of your unworthiness / so angry at god / so disillusioned by bad people who call themselves Xians, that you are just rejecting god unfairly. I’ll pray for you.
*sigh*
The book _Leaving the Fold_ can work for people who have been seriously brainwashed by Christianity. It specifically documents the exact brainwashing techniques and explains why they’re brainwashing and why they make it hard to leave.
It’s a shame how certain beliefs can cause people like Leeann to feel so bad about themselves.