My name is Ron Tavalin, and it is no accident that I am quoting from the Rolling Stones' classic Sympathy for the Devil, although it must be admitted that it is due to my sense of irony rather than any alleged wealth or taste I might possess!
I am an atheist, albeit a reluctant atheist. I say "reluctant" because I really wanted to believe in the existence of the Judeo-Christian god to the point that I earned my BA and MA in conservative evangelical schools and taught at one for 4 years. Even so, I had numerous debates with my pastor during that time about the existence of god, and over time felt increasingly pressured to make a break with my faith and come to terms with who I am and what I believe.
Read Article: Out of the Closet: From Professional Theologian to Freethinking Atheist
Ron,
I do want to express to you that there are still many who care for you. While we never officially met, I know there are many who still would be your friend, please don’t reject some of your friends because of theism and while there may be people so shallow to reject you because of your atheism, you know there are some who will not.
A person must follow his convictions and while I disagree with yours, I hope you understand many of us would never reject your friendship because of your change but will always care for you. I do grieve but you have made a decision and are free to do so.
Perhaps, one day we could talk but I do wish you well.
Ron,
Congratulations to you for having the courage and honesty to give up your faith. I think it’s the more remarkable because you did it at great personal cost, both socially and emotionally. I hope that you find ways to alleviate your stress.
Paul
Congratulations Ron,
You’ve done a bold thing, and I applaud you.
I think you’ll find that life/the world has even more meaning now that you’re no longer shackled to the dogmatic demands of an invisible man in the sky.
To Ron From Ron
Welcome to the world. You will come to cherish your life on this earth more than you ever have before, because now you understand that this life is all you will ever have.
I remember going through the same process from Pentacostalism. Man, I BELIEVED! Then I read the Bible through (twice) and learned some real science. Blind certitude is brittle, and wanting something to be true is a good sign you should question it; because the universe doesn’t care what we want to be true.
It was quite liberating in terms of escape from cognitive dissonance and although I’ve had a few odd encounters, I’ve never lost a friend over it. I’ve never met anyone to whom it would occur to dump friends for not disbelieving the same way they do. I have met people though, who were dumped like a hot potato by their Christian friends or even their Christian family members, so I count myself lucky.
I. too, was a reluctant atheist at first. It gets more comfortable with time, especially as you go about actually finding your own meaning for your life.
While not being quite as commited as you, I taught sunday school, was altar guild president and raised my family in a church. I had always felt a erie feeling in church, and now find anger if I even get near a church.
The anger is for supporting unsubstantiated, man made concepts, trying to be a good girl, and then comprehending the commercial lies and pandering to our innocent children. I have never been more certain than to accept my atheism, with no pretense or conversion from original me. I have found physics explains all I need to have explained, for now.
Hi, Ron. I read your article with great interest. As far as I’m concerned, each person is a unique individual. The idea that there’s a one-size-fits-all theological dogma which will work for (read “SAVE” in Christianity) everyone flies in the face of my experience of people after having lived on Earth for nearly 44 years. While “learning to love G-d” might be the best thing that ever happened to one person, becoming an Atheist could be the best thing that ever happened to another person. Each of us is trying to harmonize with the Cosmos one way or another. For some it means getting into a personal relationship with it; for others, it means accepting it as impersonal, I suppose. If you’re moral and happy, well then I’m happy, too.
Here’s the part where I’ll probably offend someone — most likely Christians. Some of us Jews cringe when we hear the term “Judeo-Christian.” Let me make something clear: The Jewish idea of G-d and the Christian idea are simply not the same; in fact, they are worlds apart. There are people (especially Jews for Jesus and such) who will try to argue otherwise, but the more you learn about Judaism and Christianity, the more you will see some glaring differences alongside the similarities. And when you look deeply enough into this stuff, it really comes down to ethical philosophy — it’s a lot more than just who has the better afterlife fairy tale, or who’s got the prettier cartoon character invisible friend.
In fact, Rabbi Tzvi Freeman on http://www.chabad.org wrote a great article, “Is G-d an Agnostic?” where he explains a bit about why Judaism is actually closer to Atheism than are other kinds of Theism.
Regarding DNA and Genesis: I know plenty of Rabbis (including the Orthodox) who can fit Natural Selection between the lines when reading Genesis. Whenever I find one who can’t though, I say, “For G-d’s sake, were Jews — not Fundamentalist Christians!”