As many of you might have been aware and following, there is an ongoign set of debates and conversations between Patheos Catholic blogger, Dave Armstrong, and myself. This started off by him taking on deconversion accounts I have run here at ATP.
My first thing to say is keep ’em coming. These accounts provide really good source material to give other people the courage of their convictions, or to even give them a little conviction itself.
Here is the list of deconversion accounts (I am waiting for a bit more info from Sheila to run hers, too):
In our book Beyond An Absence of Faith, Tristan Vick and I tried to convey all the many different experiences of deconversion in the accounts that we collected. Heck, it might be another book project in some distant future to collect another set of these.
Indeed, only last week, someone else posted another review of the book:
Everyone interested in religion should read this book. The stories come from a range of people with various backgrounds and exiting from various religions but predominantly Christianity. It is essential to hear these stories so that we understand their experiences. Atheists are often misunderstood and misrepresented by many Christians because they don’t hear stories like these. Many Christians probably don’t even know and atheist. The writing quality varies, but it doesn’t matter. The stories are heartfelt, moving, and sometimes humorous. The book is not technical, theological, or complicated. They are straightforward, personal accounts. Don’t miss reading this one.
My favourite account in the book is from a seventeen-year-old Muslim girl in the US – it’s beautifully written.
So, keep the accounts coming – contact me through the contact form above, and don’t be afraid to grab the aforementioned book (so I can feed my children…).