I greatly respect your honesty and transparency here, especially with the people who knew you before this worldview shift. I wonder how many others go through similar transformations in the way they think but keep it hidden, pretending in public to be the person they know others expect them to be. That would be a terrible way to live and points to the dark and manipulative side of religion denounced by Jesus (according to what's been written about him). I hope at least some of the people from your past have continued to show you respect and not related to you with an “us” vs. “them” mentality.
Thanks so much, Jason. Unfortunately, I think there are a lot more people "faking it" than most true believers realize. Changing a world view and all the labels that go with it is an extremely painful and socially dangerous thing to do. Most people are not in a financial, social, or mental place to put themselves at such risk.
What's funny to me is how often I find people who self-identify as atheists and yet seem to be following aspects of the Kingdom of God as far as how they treat their fellow human beings. While on the other hand, I see many who confidently claim to know things (which they honestly can't know) who are doing the opposite. Almost like a certain parable with sheep and goats, am I right?
Respect, I think, should be earned. For some people, I can imagine how it's cognitively dangerous for them to stay connected with me. I get that, I really do. I stayed quiet for a while as I worked through all this for that reason. I didn't want to hurt people I care about. Where things stand now and in the future? Time will tell. Some relationships have faded. New ones have formed. Others have strengthened.
Very good points. I think hypocrisy is something that everyone battles with at some level. If we're honest, we all have some disparity between what we value and say we believe and how we live. There's a gap between our reputation (who people think we are) and our character (who we really). One thing I find interesting about Steem is how transparent everything seems to be. Like, how I can see the amount of SP anyone has. That's crazy to me. I wonder how much technology has had to do with a growing cultural expectation that people be more authentic. Never really thought of it before from this perspective.