Welcome! My subject is my life. I am not famous and am of relatively little means, but my goal is to share my history. I want to share what I have learned, the mistakes I have made along the way, how my faith and beliefs have evolved and changed due to education, logic, and reasoning, what they are now, and why they are important to me.

My spiritual journey over my lifetime has led me to a profound shift in my religious beliefs. I became an Evangelical at 13 years old and shortly after that a Pentecostal. After a 10-year study of church history, at the age of 41, I converted to Roman Catholicism as I had been disenchanted with the non-biblical doctrine of ‘Sola Scriptura’ which has resulted in numerous conflicting doctrines and a proliferation of denominations and churches (over 40,000!) But recently, at the age of 63, I’ve come to leave the Christian faith entirely for reasons rooted in logic, history, biblical studies, science, and reality. I am now an Agnostic-Atheist (Like Einstein was toward the end of his life.) I no longer believe in any of mankind’s Gods, but I am agnostic in that perhaps some type of unknown deity or deities could exist, perhaps outside of time and space. I am a scientist. Supply me with the evidence.

Don’t worry, I do not hate God or Christianity. I do believe Jesus existed and has been one of the most influential individuals in human history. Religion can be beneficial or detrimental to people under different circumstances and times depending upon how it is used. If one studies the early Christian Church one can see the changes that came about in its theology and organizational structure as it reacted to Judaism, Gnosticism, other religions, persecution, and the Roman Empire.

Religion seeks to answer questions like:  Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? How then should we live? What comes after death? Science does not try to answer these questions. Religion should not try to demonize or discredit science. Religion and science are not at odds with one another as they both seek TRUTH. Religion and faith can be a comfort for humans and help them to deal with illness, which so far only science has tried to prevent or cure.

I continue to be inspired by some of Jesus’s teachings and fascinated by Christianity but I am also disappointed by its hypocrisy. In the last 2,000 years, events have been committed under the guise of Christianity which surely would have made Jesus weep. I am especially sad that recently, in America, much of Christianity seems to have been hijacked by extreme politics based on fear, hate, lies, and conspiracies.

Christianity, or any religion, should never be used as justification to condemn or persecute those of differing beliefs or lifestyles, or to justify or promote misogyny, prejudice, or racism. If these are tolerated or taught in your church, then you should be willing to abandon being a member of such a group and truly be an example to your children, family, friends, and co-participants!

Finally, a person of faith must always be thinking and learning and open to the possibility that they may simply be wrong in some or all of their beliefs.

-Shawn

https://outsideoftime.space