On one hand, it’s about an Orthodox Jew deconverting from Judaism and renouncing a belief in God. On the other hand, it’s about a young man becoming loose from the ropes of religion and finally being free to simply be.

To me, that’s different than simply coming out of religion while still retaining his faith in God. (Connie)

Well, was it “his” faith to begin with? According to the Bible, it is God himself who gives people the faith to believe; and it’s also God himself who (wait for it!) causes unbelief, not to mention it’s his grace and his faith that saves us, nothing of ourselves.

I’m reminded a little bit of something Martin Zender wrote, in regards to salvation…

Does an account of your salvation begin with the word “I” or with the word “God?” I hope that it begins with the word “God.” If it does, then you have rejected the false doctrine of the free will of man and now believe in the free will of God. This is a good thing.

http://www.martinzender.com/Zenderature/free_will_and_the_oh_well_creed.htm

As long as people make statements such as this, they will forever be tied to the “Religious”. The closest any of us can come to describing or naming source would be the generic term “God”, any other is just religion raising its ugly head.

I came to a point in my life where I realized that I had put all my faith in religion and its perceived ability to keep me safe. But, when I saw what I had become because of it, I became disgusted. Religion had become more important than people. Religion became the center of everything I was, and I followed it right into an anger for everything “not religious”. Then, I began to see myself through the eyes of others, and I saw a religious zealot. I used it like a hammer to destroy (at least in my mind) those who did not conform to my idea of obedience and discipline. That view of myself sickened me, and to a degree, still does. I am ashamed of who I was and what I had become. I guess this is why I am so adamant about trying to convince people to abandon their religion and simply follow their hearts (through which God speaks).

I think you misunderstood me about “wiping the slate clean” being a rare opportunity. I don’t think it’s rare among people overall, but rare within a person’s life. It is certainly a possibility within each person’s life, and probably happens more often than we can know, but I have only seen it happen a handful of times. And by “wiping clean”, I’m not talking about a subtle change in the way we think about God… I’m referring to a total abandonment of everything we see as “truth” and starting over again. It may not even be something we can do on our own, but rather something that happens to us as a result of the events in our lives. I never planned on going through that. I didn’t chase after it. It came to me. But, I think one has to come to a breaking point in their faith, and instead of fighting the collapse, let it crumble. I don’t think that crumbling is often a sudden thing either, I think it’s a process. Some experience it over a short period of time, and some take years. And I’m not sure the process is finished in my life either. Maybe it never will be. But the thing I feel confidently is that the Source of all Life has pulled me into new way of thinking that has brought me into a level of peace that I had not known beforehand.

It seems like hardly a day goes by that I don’t sense some deepening of peace in my life. And that brings a daily expectation that makes the journey even sweeter. I wake up each day hearing God saying “let’s go deeper today. Come along with me, and be a part of who I am. Watch with wonder as amazing things happen all around you, and know that I am in the middle of it all!”

The journey I’m on now is not one of faith or courage. It is a wide-eyed recognition of life as it unfolds around me, drawing me deeper into itself without fearfullness… inviting me to experience a safety and solitude that is peaceful. No, my flesh has not become “perfected”, but I feel a wonderful change from where I was. Maybe for the first time in my life, I am happy, settled, and content. Not perfectly, but growing into it daily.

Life was within me all along, it just took a “breaking away” to begin to see it. So many things in this world want to control the Life within, but changing the way we look at the world, can minimize the effect it has on us. I believe this is the Kingdom of Heaven, and it lives within each of us. I’ve heard it said that we all make our own reality, and I couldn’t agree with that more.

Be of good cheer, the best is yet to come!

In regards to a supposed shipwreck of this mans faith I just don’t see it, does not the experience of freedom as an atheist trump the experience of religious bondage as an orthodox Jew?

I am not saying that is the experience of all orthodox Jews, no more than it is the experience of all fundamentalist Christians, or Muslims etc…

With an open mind and heart there is much to learn and unlearn from all walks of faith/no faith. That is all part of the journey as it relates to the whole.