"Why They Leave" Inquiries

[Orthodox Christian]

On 6/5/2026 at 7:50 PM, Calm said:

I like the idea of migration.  We talk of life being a journey, but so often that gets phrased as a direct transit from point a to point b with any digression being wasted time or worse.  I see the purpose of mortality as more exploration. Migration fits that view pretty well. 

I've  migrated quite a bit. From raised nominal protestant to almost Mormon, to more protestant groups, to Catholic and now to Orthodoxy, my forever faith I hope. I was searching, but as I had no criteria, I didn't  really know what for. One thing I did realise was that I loved Liturgy, and I loved God, that much was true,  however, I didn't  know where to place my love for Him where it could be expressed. Many people leave their religious tradition because they weren't getting anything out of it. That wasn't my case, I  had something inside of me that I needed to find a home for, and until I encountered Orthodoxy, nowhere else had provided that home. Maybe it's  a kind of hunger, a kind of knowing, that faith is more than their present experience that makes people migrate. "I am the bread of life", He said , He promises that whoever comes to Him will never go hungry or thirsty. I believe that's  what people  are looking for, to make that their reality.

 

[Calm]

9 hours ago, Orthodox Christian said:

I've  migrated quite a bit. From raised nominal protestant to almost Mormon, to more protestant groups, to Catholic and now to Orthodoxy, my forever faith I hope. I was searching, but as I had no criteria, I didn't  really know what for. One thing I did realise was that I loved Liturgy, and I loved God, that much was true,  however, I didn't  know where to place my love for Him where it could be expressed. Many people leave their religious tradition because they weren't getting anything out of it. That wasn't my case, I  had something inside of me that I needed to find a home for, and until I encountered Orthodoxy, nowhere else had provided that home. Maybe it's  a kind of hunger, a kind of knowing, that faith is more than their present experience that makes people migrate. "I am the bread of life", He said , He promises that whoever comes to Him will never go hungry or thirsty. I believe that's  what people  are looking for, to make that their reality.

 

That’s a beautiful way of putting what is a fundamental need for so many.  

[manol]

On 6/24/2026 at 5:07 PM, The Nehor said:

I don’t think it [the heart] inherently knows right from wrong. If there is no divine design then it is a combination of advantageous instincts and drives and combined with that I picked up from the culture I live in.

I’d probably be very gullible. I’d like a heavy dose of rationality combined with that deliciousness. I’d like to believe all kinds of things are true that just aren’t.

I came across something yesterday that made me think of you.  If I understand correctly, the more intelligent a person is, the quicker and more effectively and convincingly their rational mind arrives at a skeptical conclusion.   So it's not exactly rainbows and unicorns out on the tail end of the bell curve, at least not that tail end. 

Quoting from the blog post (by an NDEer) that caught my attention:

"Doubt is a function of intelligence. This is what makes it so effective as a ceiling.

"The voice of doubt sounds like wisdom. It sounds like discernment. "This doesn't make sense. Be careful." 

"Perhaps you have gone as far as reason can take you. And that last part is true, but doubt uses it as a reason to stop rather than as a signal to proceed differently. The smarter you are, the more convincing it sounds. The more skilled you have become at reasoning your way through life, the more naturally you will mistake this voice for your own best judgment. 

"What doubt is actually doing is protecting the architecture of what you believe is possible. Your definitions, your belief systems that make up the structure about what reality is for you, what experience can be, how far the inner life can actually go.

"These definitions were built by the intellect, and the intellect guards them ruthlessly. Doubt is that guard dog in action. Every time you approach the edge of what you have defined as real, doubt meets you there with reasons to turn back. It isn't malicious. It is just doing exactly what it was built to do."

There is more of course, as he goes into what "proceeding differently" looks like.  Here's the link, in case you'd like to read the whole thing; it's maybe five minutes long:

https://www.jonathanashford.com/post/doubt

And if you might like to check out a perspective on "why we are here" that differs significantly (and imo favorably) from what religions have to say, from the same set of blog posts:

https://www.jonathanashford.com/post/why-are-you-here

Anyway cheers to you, court jester, from the other side of the bell curve.

 

Edited June 26 by manol