Apostasy: The Unforgivable Sin

There is only one thing a human can do in the Christian faith that he/she cannot simply say "oops! sorry god" and expect to be forgiven. Is it genocide? No, god seems to actually be in favor of that. Is it rape? No, that's not even important enough to list in the ten commandments. Child abuse? I'll leave that one alone, that grave has already been dug. What is this unimaginably hideous action that would guarantee a one way ticket to hell? Cheating on god. Now I have heard of some jealous girlfriends before, and they can make life seem like hell for cheating, but god really takes it personally.  Apostasy is mentioned twice in the bible (Acts 21:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:3) directly and seems to have an underlying tone throughout the old/new testament. I would imagine the one thing that you cannot be granted a pardon on would be emphasized a little more. Its almost as if god wants his followers to overlook it and get back to stories of a person living inside a whale. (Which is mentioned multiple times, in multiple books, by multiple people including Jesus) When I was old enough to learn about the bible very little was spoken on the subject and no one thought to inquire about it. Former Christians, however,  have it easy though. In other faiths it is not quite as easy to just call it quits.

Over eleven countries make apostasy illegal, you do not even have a right as a citizen to even dismiss your faith. Out of the eleven countries ten of them may punish by death if convicted, and the remaining country may imprison or flog. (a nice way of saying beat or whip within inches of death) The death in this case is not swift, or humane. Ridda which means "turning back" in Islam is thought to be the most profound insult to god. As one can imagine this is not taken lightly. Some of the acceptable (and I use that term loosely) forms of slaying of the convicted are: The cutting off of hands and feet, crucifixion, and good ole fashion stoning. After brutally murdering the convicted is then, and only then,  Islam and Christianity agree on what to do with the souls of such wretched people. Hell.

One could imagine that the weight of such decision would be enough to perhaps second guess doing it. However it is quite easy when you dismiss the whole hell thing. I imagined myself screaming from a church rooftop announcing my new position on faith. Like a triumphant sports team celebrating an important victory, cue the cameras, cue the confetti, cue the cheering crowd chanting my name. However in my usual anticlimactic fashion I decided to announce my atheism to myself while driving home from work. These two scenarios being so different still produced the same emotions in me. I felt light. I was happy. The faithful often ask me "Don't you feel empty? Don't you feel like you are missing something now?" My reply is simple. What was filled with fear and doubt is now filled with an insatiable hunger for learning and understanding. You will be amazed how high you can fly when you break free of your chains.