But I commend the authors of the parts of the site I have read. While I find nothing compelling or convincing there, they seem to take on a civil tone, expressing their de-conversion experiences

Thanks. While I no longer contribute to the De-conversion blog, it was there at the time when I needed it. There are some truly nasty religious sites out there – and de-conversion was one of the few that has a fairly large number of regular Christian commenters and contributors.

For the record though, I must correct what might be a slight misconception. You did not find anything compelling or convincing because de-conversion.com does not exist to compell or convince anybody away from their beliefs. It exists primarily for those who have left or who are in the process of leaving Christianity, for a whole variety of reasons. Contributors place articles which detail the reasons they are doubting or leaving their faith. Inevitably debate ensues, but that is not the primary function of the site. If you want a serious debate on matters of religion, there are plenty of other blogsites that offer deep discussions.

Thanks for visiting.

I admit I have not read much of its content, but it is clear that many of its contributors are folks that have had bad experiences with Christianity and the Christian church.

I believe you’re making an incorrect assumption that de-converts have been “hurt” by the church or Christians. I would say the majority of us have gone through the exercise of separating God/Christianity (when we believed) from church/Christians. Sadly, that’s an exercise that almost all Christians have to go through all too regularly. Check out the archives and read the two posts on “Convenient Categories….” and “Inconvenient Categories….” for a better understanding of why Christians believe we de-converted vs. the real reasons.

I will save for another time, if at all, a discussion of whether it is possible to de-convert, or to be a “former” Christian. My Reformed views suggest the answer is no.

Check out this post, http://de-conversion.com/2008/06/01/de-conversion-is-not-possible-since-you-were-never-converted/, for lots of good material if you decided to write this.

Take care,
Paul