I see that more and more Wheaton College people are finding their way to this blog, so I thought I should extend a welcome and also explain a little about the purpose of this blog. Welcome, Wheaton readers. Don’t be shy.
When I became an atheist and realized I was locked in at Wheaton, I spent hours poring over the internet, searching for people in the same situation. I found plenty of atheists who were former evangelical Christians, and some who had attended Christian colleges, but googling any combination of “Wheaton College” and “atheist” got nil. When I started this blog, I had to decide between leaving my school unnamed and including more personal details about me, or remaining anonymous and unidentifiable while writing specifically about Wheaton. I chose the latter because I didn’t want any other current or future students in my situation to search for hours like I did and not find anything relevant.
There have always been and always will be atheists and other happily non-Christian students at Wheaton (and at other Christian colleges as well). My experience is not new or unique. It is just unspoken. I’m tired of atheism and deconversion being a shameful thing that is only discussed either secretively by the nonbelievers or mockingly by the believers on campus. So I want this blog to be a kind of collective voice of the Wheaton atheist. Maybe if I can lay out my reasoning and experiences here, people will be able to consider my position and listen, instead of simply hearing the word “atheist” and immediately running to start a prayer group for my lost soul.
Kinda makes me wonder if there’ll be a witch-hunt.
Ugh.
Um…yeah. Be careful, if any other self-proclaimed atheists want to come out to you–Could be a trap to out you. You know how lying isn’t a sin if you’re lying for Jesus.
Hi leavingeden,
Your blog has been an interesting read for me. I experienced a time of questioning a little over two years ago that brought me close to deconversion. The child of missionaries, I never thought I would come to know this perspective. Needless to say, near-deconversion was eye-opening and liberating.
I am currently a student at Wheaton College and have similar reactions to the sub-culture. Would you be open to meeting sometime for discussion with me? or perhaps we could exchange emails. In any case, I am interested in conversation… not a witch hunt =)
Hey leavingeden,
I know this is an older post, but i just recently was referred here. I just wanted to say that i do appreciate this blog, and also wish that there could be more open dialog wiithin the church, but also wheaton specifically. I wish that all kinds of questions and doubts could be discussed, even up to and including de-conversion. in practice i can see where that is hard at an institutional level, but on a personal level, i think that christian community should be the first place to welcome those kinds of discussions and debates. so again, thanks for this blog and i hope you can at times feel comfortable (or even if you don’t) expanding the usual conversation topics at wheaton to include more challenging ones, even if you don’t “come out” or directly identify yourself with this blog.
Again, thanks.
i am an aithiest and am tired of being discriminated against. Aithiests are people too.
I didn’t think I could apply there.
It’s a shame because it’s pretty much what I was looking for in a college. High GPA with a lot of students majoring in the social sciences, plus it was fairly close.
I read the admission requirements and saw that I needed to turn in a “Pastoral Recommendation–A recommendation from a pastor, youth pastor, former pastor, Bible study leader, Christian school teacher, church official, or other mature Christian is required. This person should be a mature Christian adult who knows you well and has had opportunity to observe your spiritual life. This person should not be a relative.”
I don’t have a pastoral recommendation because I’m an atheist. I am an active volunteer and do at least 4 instances of volunteer work a month. I like to think I’m a good person with a positive impact on my community, but I just get so frustrated with people who think that spirituality is a prerequisite to compassion.
That being said, if they took Christianity that seriously, I suppose it would have been a matter of time before I would have started to feel unwelcome.