Like you, I still respect religion as a metaphor. In many ways, I still relate to the metaphors, as well as some of the key ethics of Christianity. I dearly love my Christian family members and friends. But when it comes to the things they believe, I can no longer defend the intellectually indefensible.

Cheers,

Bruce

I don’t think homosexuality is incompatible with faith. I think faith is incompatible with rationality. One can be gay and irrational if one wants to be, but I’m glad you picked rationality.

When I was questioning (but still believing), I came to this scenario: If I had not been raised in a christian environment, how would I convince my hypothetical self to believe in christianity?

I struggled with this for weeks and I couldn’t come up with anything compelling. That’s when I knew I was being intellectually dishonest with myself, just as much as I had been when I denied my sexuality (also because of my religious upbringing).

I would however counter your claim that part of not believing in religion is the fact you can’t defend it logically. That’s the beauty and mystery of faith, you can’t necessarily defend it logically, you just have to trust.

That’s not to say that I even think the Bible is literal nor would I go so far to say it’s all made up mythology. But what I would challenge is that even if the Bible is nothing more than made up stories, that doesn’t disprove God or the existence of faith at least to me. The Bible is a tool, just like alot of other objects of faith.

If you’re religious upbringing was one of literal Biblical interpretation, it’s easy to see how as soon as that is shaken, it destroys any hope of belief. I guess since I never had that type of upbringing, it’s easier for me to accept that they are stories, but that doesn’t make my belief in God any less real.