Centuri0n thy name is irony

A post I made over at DC....

Irony thy name is centuri0n, who said:

I think it's odd that atheists think one of the selling point for being an atheist is how hard it is to become one.

As I think about what God has done for me -- what He has made of me as a father and a husband -- I would never say it was "easy", but it was hardly "gut wrenching". While accepting the truth about whatever is metaphysically true about the universe may be intellectually challenging, and while it may also require a little bit of selflessness in being able to admit one is wrong from time to time, it is hardly "gut wrenching".

Be that as it may, here are 5 things I think Christ has done for me:

Christ has made me more humble in dealing with others.

On fulfilling two roles of the average human adult male Centuri0n says: I would never say it was "easy", but it was hardly "gut wrenching"
and again, he says, it: "hardly "gut wrenching"". This is humility?
Completely missing the point of what was "gut wrenching" he compares normal human behavior (marriage and fatherhood) to laying down a belief system that had been installed since childhood with the threats of separation from family and God and comfort forever in Hell.

Christ has made me more sensitive to human suffering.

And yet shows us an complete distain and lack of sensitivity to the anguish of another human coming to the realization they have given the last 40 years of their life to a utter and complete lie. Have some heart man!

Christ has made me more conscientious in introspection.

Right now might be a good time to put just a tiny bit of that gift to good use.

The buses will wait.

Christ has made me more willing to serve rather than to be catered to.

Wait. The world doesn't revolve around you? You are an adult. Congratulations. What a selfish, self-centered little brat you must have been that you needed a special dispensation from the Creator of the Universe himself to simply... grow up.

Christ has made me more willing to stand in a community rather than as a solitary individual.

wearetheborgyouwillbeassimilatedintothecommunityofbelieversnosolitaryindividualthoughtrequiredthehivemindwillthinkforyousimplybelievebelievebelieve

I bet he has.

I list these 5 changes because I'd like to see what the results of the torment these atheists have gone through has yielded in them. Surely it must have been worth it -- I'd like to see the payoff of atheism if this is their argument for its ultimate superiority to Christianity.

Recapping your list of five wonderful, and hardly gut-wrenching, gifts from God:
1. You perform adequately as a husband and father. Check. You aren't divorced, casting a wandering eye at other women, real or virtual, and your children satisfactorily conform to community expectations.
2. You are to some measure more sensitive to those humans who actually have struggles.
3. You consciously examine your life on a regular basis, from a variety of viewpoints - even those that maybe potentially uncomfortable (I made that last part up).
4. You have willingly been assimilated into the cultural-religious hive mind of choice in your locality.

Now what has my "gut-wrenching" break from 35 years of faith in Yeshua/YHWH and 20 years of full-time missionary service gifted me with?

Peace.
Liberty.
Freedom.
Wholeness.
Guiltlessness.
True love.
Connection with other people as fellow humans.
and more.

It all kind of sounds like what Paul promises us we have in Christ in Galations.. and then Christianity just as quickly takes away and replaces with fakes bearing the same names.

My journey out of Faith was a long gradual climb with a watershed moment when I suddenly realized where this path had led. The lights went on and I took that one more step. Until that day the idea of being an atheist had never crossed my mind. But after 15 years of true introspection, and inspection of what I had been taught and what I believed, I realized it was all a entirely charming and impressive house of cards. If you have the courage to remove one... the whole thing falls. Why would I want to spend my life defending and sustaining a house of cards? So I gave a little puff and down it came, all that remained were a few handy tips for life kind of like what you listed above. I stood there stunned in the light of what had just happened. It was like stepping out of a cage I had been literally born into. Chains fell off and I was, to borrow a term, Born Again. No, I never looked back.

I'll take my gifts over your minimum expectations of being an adult in society any day.

Is that fair?

Totally.