Dear Christians,

I'd like to address a sentiment or tendency I've seen from the community of believers upon meeting an ex-Christian who is now an atheist. I haven't personally encountered this sentiment, but after witnessing it I got riled up enough to write about it.

It came up as I was watching a discussion between an atheist and two Christians who tried to call the atheist's old belief into question. Please don't do that. In other words, please don't say, "Oh, you only thought you were a Christian, but you didn't really believe." By saying this, you claim to know what was going on inside the non-believer's head better than he does, and that's a touch insulting. As for me, I was also a conservative while growing up but now I'm a liberal - would you doubt that claim about myself? Or would you insist that I was deceived, saying, "You may have cried when Clinton won in '92 [true story], but that wasn't really conservatism"? I genuinely believed that Jesus was God's son who died on the cross for my sins so I could go to heaven. I still remember asking my mother how to have a relationship with God, because I wanted it for myself. I experienced conviction on numerous occasions; I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues; I wept over my sins; I thought I felt God's presence while singing worship songs; I loved studying the Bible and reading apologetics.

I may be sad today, but it doesn't mean I wasn't happy yesterday; the Twin Towers may be gone, but they nevertheless stood for nearly three decades. My faith in God is no different: I had it once, but now I don't. Please don't claim otherwise.

Consider your belief in God at this moment. Now imagine, just for the sake of argument, that in the future you leave your faith. Would that in any way make your current belief less real? Of course not! You believe - right here, right now, regardless of what happens later. To argue otherwise is to hold that only current opinions have any weight. Change sports teams? You never really pulled for the old team. Got a new favorite band? You never loved the previous one. Ditto for your last relationship.

To suggest that my faith in high school wasn't real has some unpleasant side effects for anyone of faith within earshot - including yourself - because it means no matter how much a person may love God in the present, he or she cannot be certain of his or her own belief. Therefore, only the Christian on his deathbed can know his belief was authentic, since he never lost his faith. To put it another way, a believer cannot know if her faith is real since she cannot know the future.

Whew, I think that's all I've got for now. If you've made it this far, thanks. Regardless, I hope you're all doing well.