Deconversion stories from The Skeptical Review

Michael Koller

Freedom from Ideological Constraints...

I was glad to see William Sierichs' article, "If Dr. Price Denies Zeus, He's Irrational," which amplified the inconsistency of the inerrantist position. One of the reasons I abandoned Christianity is that there is no reason, outside of faith, to justify believing one virgin birth over another, believing one resurrection story over another, believing one holy book over another, etc. Furthermore, when I observe the mental gymnastics and ra- tionalizations of inerrantists in an attempt to maintain a belief in a god- inspired inerrant book, I am confident that I made the right decision to abandon ship.

I don't think it's possible for an inerrantist to understand the intellectual freedom people experience once they have released their minds from ideological constraints, including that of an inerrant and literal interpretation of the Bible. Fundamentalists can never be true freethinkers as long as they force upon themselves the limited framework of ancient writings.

The more inerrantists attempt to defend their position, the more inept and ridiculous they appear. Of course, this comment is probably feeding some persecution syndrome of inerrantists. Nevertheless, I think it would be safe to say that if a Muslim employed the type of rationalizations and postulated absurdities of inerrantists, the inerrantist would waste no time pointing out this fact to the Muslim.

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