Part of My Backstory
I am someone who does not believe in anything supernatural, only the natural world. I think I have always been this way my entire life. Religion and supernatural beliefs just didn’t “take.” I’ve tried various beliefs from Christianity, Buddhism, and Paganism, but nothing took. I like the beauty and ritual but could not wrap my head around the idea that any of the supernatural ideas were real.
When I was fourteen, the public high school that I attended decided to host a religiously themed gathering in the school auditorium. This was in the 1970s, right after the Cold War, and these types of presentations were popular. I usually zoned out or enjoyed the performance. I think this one was put on by Up With People or some such group.
They started the presentation with a nice acrobatic act and some dancing. But it didn’t take long before some preacher-type person got on stage and started preaching. Ugh, I really didn’t want to sit through it. Then he introduced his guest, who started telling a story about some “friend” of his in the former Soviet Union. This friend had been given the choice of having his child murdered or giving up his faith. Of course in the story the friend had chosen not to give up his faith, so his child was murdered. I, of course, thought the story was total bullshit.
But the scariest part of this was the students around me. They looked like a bunch of pod people nodding along with the story. They were just agreeing with the preacher on the stage that they would sacrifice their child so they could show they kept their faith. My thought at the time was why didn’t the “friend” just lie to save his child. The friend could always change things in the future and would have his child with him. Also, where was the mother in this story? There was too much that didn’t make sense. That’s why I thought the story was completely made up and a way for the preacher to get people in his church.
So, that episode was one of the earliest very skeptical reactions to some of the cultural events around me. I grew up in the South, and religiosity is everywhere. I had another blog about twenty years ago, where I mainly covered current events with a skeptical view.
Leave a Reply