Hi Dan, your article is thoughtful and sincere... but I'm curious how you answer the hard questions that you believe we need to start discussing? How do you reconcile the irreconcilable? Is that the work of Christian leaders?

Isn't the church where these leaders are found?

You may find that leaving the church but not the faith has been life-giving and existentially satisfying, but what about all the people who have doubts and questions and want answers? Presumably, you feel you have some kind of answer that is not The Church or organized religion...

To me, this viewpoint feels a little bit like a hamster wheel. You say you left the church but not the faith and you feel good about that. You say the church needs to change, and start discussing people's real spiritual needs and concerns, but they're not doing that. They are, in fact, being deceptive and harmful by claiming they have answers that they cannot prove and end up turning people away by answering 'because god'.

So, the person who is doubting and questioning goes where for answers or guidance?

I have found lots of places that do answer my questions, or that can be sources of guidance and growth when there are no answers to be found. These sources are all science-based, and we are learning more every day. The 'answers' don't come from any single entity or group, but from many- and varied- sources.

To posit that any person lost their faith because of a dislike of the church is fairly arrogant, I think. Your use of the word 'perhaps' suggests that this is something Jon Steingard didn't actually say, and it's a base assumption on your part. How about- perhaps he left the church and started seeking answers elsewhere and it was then that he lost faith?

I feel for Jon Steingard, too. For all of the Jon Steingards out there who are searching for answers and guidance. For those who keep knocking on the same faith doors and who are being received in the dark and told to stay there until a god lights the room to answer them.

I feel for the struggles and challenges we go through- and I've found a fulfilling and joyful life! I've never had any kind of faith or been part of any church, but I've wrestled with big questions and have struggles- as does all of humankind. Go find another door! Maybe it's a time of celebration for the Steingards out there who have decided to seek elsewhere for answers and guidance!

If 'The Church' has prompted you to leave ('The Church' being any organized religion and 'you' being any person of faith) and is not willing to grow or change for its participants, maybe it's time for that institution to fall away, no?

And if not, who's going to change The Church into the one you believe should exist? Maybe that person has to be You (again, you is any person of faith, but in this case, also who left the church). I say this because You say you know a life-giving and existentially satisfying faith- in other words, you believe you have found answers. Whatever your faith is, do you believe you are obligated to share that knowledge with the rest of us? If not, then it is unlike any faith I've studied, and can only be so personal that it wouldn't apply in a group setting.

It sounds like my mother was very much like you- left the church and kept her faith. I'm sad that I never honestly asked her about her belief in a god because I know her passion was real and foundational. I did not understand that before she passed and I feel like I missed out on knowing who she really was.

Here's the thing: I truly don't understand how you (anyone) can believe in a god. That is an honest and innocent statement, and not at all an attack. When challenges and struggles come my way, the idea of looking to a god doesn't even occur to me. Nor does it occur to me to praise or thank an invisible being at all when something 'good' happens. When seeking for the 'why' of events that happen in the larger world, 'because god' has never been an option I've entertained for any lengths because there's no substance in that belief- there's no direction, there's no way to have any kind of recourse with an answer like that, it's a dead end. However, when I look elsewhere for answers or guidance, there are all kinds of doors for me to choose from and plenty of practical knowledge to inform my beliefs. What I know of faith is that it is not a path to truth- it can lead people to believe in true things but also just as easily to believe in things that are not true. And it can lead people to do wonderful things in its name or just as easily to do horrible things in its name. That's way too risky a path for me- and I daresay for humankind...