Walk Away How I walked away By Austin Miles Before being +quot;saved+quot; and initiated i

Walk Away

How I walked away
By Austin Miles

Before being "saved" and initiated into the better life with Christ, 
I enjoyed a wonderful career as a circus ringmaster. I had money, 
a high public profile, respect from my peers, and most important of 
all, a happy family.

My flamboyant, carefree lifestyle attracted the attention of the born-again 
Christians who dedicated themselves to pointing me to Christ. I found 
their love and concern for me, a stranger, impressive. Maybe they 
were right. There had always been a nagging feeling inside of me that 
maybe, just maybe, I had been missing out on the true meaning of life 
by not accepting Christ. If I did release some of my independence 
and self-reliance, perhaps God would indeed be able to do a real work 
in my life. By trying to do it on my own, in my own strength, I had 
actually restricted my possibilities. 

It became a question of priorities. Maybe too, this would settle down 
the worrisome insecurities I had played host to since my early childhood 
of rejection. The born-agains swiftly zeroed in on this vulnerable 
spot and went to work to soothe those feelings. They assured me that 
God loved me despite my imperfections that brought on these insecurities. 
I would feel complete with Christ and this would eliminate my feelings 
of inadequacy.

My new Christian friends overwhelmed me with their love and acceptance, 
as they guided me toward their intended goal - recruitment. Because 
of their outward show of gentleness, love, and compassion, and by 
virtue of their professed relationship with God, I felt I could trust 
them completely.

Somehow, the information that the circus ringmaster had become a born-again 
Christian made national news, and representatives of the Assemblies 
of God church made it a point to greet me in every city and town where 
I appeared with the circus. They asked me to give my testimony in 
their churches as I traveled through.

The postitive feedback from all of the church members confirmed my 
calling. I heard the words, "I can see that God has His hand on you 
and has anointed you," over and over again. Others told me that they 
felt the hand of God give them a healing touch as I spoke. At last, 
my real purpose in life had been defined, and the supreme acceptance 
that I had so long sought had come to me. Like an addictictive drug, 
I wanted more and more of it as I allowed myself to become totally 
immersed in this church setting, accompanied by haunting gospel hymns.

Shortly after my born-again commitment, cancer struck me. It made 
no sense to me that this could happen right after dedicating my former 
selfish life to Christ. The Assemblies of God declared that this was 
an attack of the devil to stop me from serving God. Furthermore, God 
allowed this to happen to show me His healing power! Next, they hustled 
me off to an Assembly of God-backed Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship 
International meeting, where an evangelist with the gift of healing 
would pray for me.

All the Pentecostals I knew, including my daughter's piano teacher, 
proclaimed that when I returned home from that meeting, I would be 
completely healed. With such an elaborate support system around me, 
I found myself primed and ready to receive it. After the evangelist 
prayed for me, I felt a rush of adrenaline go through my body. Excitement 
was at its peak. With prompting, I agreed in front of the audience 
that God had healed me. Praise the Lord!

Following the prayer, I was told to hold on to my healing. If any 
of the old symptoms connected with the cancer should crop up, they 
advised me, I should reject those false symptoms as a temptation of 
Satan to get me to turn loose of my healing. Convinced that what these 
loving people told me was true, I discontinued medical help.

Out of gratitude to God for my healing, and at the nudging of Assemblies 
of God leaders to acknowledge my faith in God, I began giving large 
sums of money to the church organization. My wife vehemently objected 
to my involvement with this evangelical religion and to the huge cash 
donations I was giving to them.

These Pentecostals who had worked their way into a close relationship 
with me advised me to associate only with fellow believers in order 
to protect my faith. My total healing, of course, rested in my faith. 
The devil, they told me, who is the prince of this world, would try 
to steal it, and the devil works through people who are close to you. 
For my own protection, I needed to surround myself only with born-again, 
spirit-filled Christians.

I began dropping good friends that I had known for years because they 
might possibly, even unintentionally, deter me from the faith. I spent 
every minute I could in church. While traveling I would seek out preachers 
on my car radio. I fervently read my Bible.

When my wife became more vocal in her objection to my involvement 
and financial support of the church, every one of my new "family members" 
told me the same thing. My wife was of the devil! Satan knew that 
Go dhas chosen me before I was even born to be a minister. Satan cleverly 
put that woman in my life early to thwart the great ministry of miracles 
God would entrust me with. By this time, I was so hooked on the Bible 
and church that I agreed with them, that since my wife wasn't with 
me in my faith, she was against God and of the devil. My marriage 
ended in divorce.

Without my wife standing in the way, I made even larger cash donations 
to the Assemblies of God. They got it all. My entire life savings. 
Once they got all my savings, their conduct towards me changed drastically. 
To my horror, I began to see the church for what it really was - the 
hypocrisy and severe sexual problems with the leaders. I am the individual 
who walked in on Jim Bakker frolicking naked with the three nude young 
men in the PTL health club. I saw the phoney financial crises, the 
millions of dollars collected for non-existent overseas ministries. 
Shocked and feeling like a fool, I left Christianity and the church 
for good.

I paid a heavy price for engaging in the born-again Christian fantasy. 
Not only did this involvement result in the destruction of my family, 
my life savings, and my health, but it also took a heavy toll on me 
emotionally when I realized that I had participated in the ultimate 
fraud. I had been had, at a terrible cost.

When my bubble burst I suddenly felt very alone, torn out of the mainstream 
of life, and isolated. The friends who had taken over my life for 
10 years, to the exclusion of all others, would no longer talk to 
me. What I had considered to be deep friendships turned to instant 
hate. I received threatening phone calls at all hours and obscene 
mail from my former brothers and sisters.
	
Bruised and shaken, I thought I must be the only one in this world 
undergoing such an experience, to think certain thoughts, or to question 
established authority. What hurt me the most was to learn that the 
church people never did love me. It proved to be later, that they 
really hated the circus and everyone connected with it. They merely 
tolerated me for the money they expected to get from me, and the publicity 
advantage to their involvment with me.

This was positively the most painful time of my life. Shadows of darkness 
fell heavily around me, accompanied by the disconsolate intimation 
that nobody cared, agreed, or even believed my report. I hesitated 
to share these feelings and frustrations for fear of opening myself 
up to criticism and ridicule, launching more of the self-doubt injected 
in me by the church. To take a stand in the matter publicly would 
have been more intimidating. This confusing and grievous time proved 
fertile ground for depression to nourish and grow to alarming heights. 
What's more, I found myself in the midst of a struggle with my health. 
Perhaps I had not been healed after all. The church had absolutely 
no concern over that. They got the money, even tearing apart a family 
to get it. That was all they cared about, even if it cost me my life.

Tyring to break a cemented mindset, created by ten years of Pentecostal 
brainwashing, is extremely difficult. I found myself being pulled 
like a robot to my Bible and flipping pages to hungrily read scripture 
verses, any verses. It had become a necessary fix that I could not 
do without. The withdrawal symptoms were fierce.

What helped me the most was to learn that I was not alone in my disillusionment. 
Hundreds, thousands of people have gone through similar experiences 
and inner conflict. The book _Holy_Terror_ by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman 
(Delta Books) started me on the road to recovery. To read the testimonies 
of people from all walks of life who had been fed the same lines that 
I had, in this carefully orchestrated recruitment program, helped 
to reaffirm the truth about these Christian zealots.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair, whom I had met on a television program, gave 
me a copy of _The_Bible_Handbook_ (American Atheist Press) which lined 
up the hundreds of contradictory scripture verses side by side. This 
especially had a positive effect since it showed me the gross inconsistency 
of the Bible, while at the same time satisfying my addictive need 
to read it. I highly recommend this method of withdrawal. It works.

_The_X-Rated_Bible_ by Ben Akerley (American Atheist Press), "A Christmas 
Sermon" by Robert G. Ingersoll, and a subscription to _American_Atheist_ 
magazine all became a part of the healing. These publications show 
us beyond doubt that the church and Christianity are lies. This is 
the most important of all. Once this is fully comprehended, the guilt 
feelings must depart and find another victim. Skipp Porteous, with 
whom I bercame aquainted later, publishes two excellent newsletters, 
_The_Freedom_Writer_ and _Walk_Away_.

The writing of my own book, _Don't_Call_me_Brother_ (Prometheus), 
completed my reentry into life. The hundreds of letters I have received 
in response to my book, many from disillusioned ministers, showed 
me that perhaps I was not the colossal failure to God and man that 
I thought I was.

A final problem had to be faced. My health continued to deteriorate, 
with discomfort so great that I finally sought the medical help that 
I had neglected for possibly too long. The tumor was found, the cancer 
confirmed. Eighteen years (along with my savings account) had passed 
since I had been stricken. The type of cancer I had would normally 
be fatal within ten years. To dare even hope that the deadly disease 
had not spread would have seemed naive. 

Early Monday morning, September 11, 1989, I faced the radical surgery 
that would determine my future. The five-hour operation, performed 
by three doctors, was 100 percent successful. They got it all. Incredibly, 
the cancer had not spread, despite overwhelming odds. After two days 
in intensive care, my rapid and complete recovery astonished everyone. 
I was damn lucky. Not everyone who believed the church for a faith 
healing has come out that well. During my recovery I wrote another 
book, _Setting_the_Captives_Free_ (Prometheus). I will continue to 
write and speak out against the church in books, newspaper articles, 
and media interviews.

I have managed to reclaim my life and I am happy again. I keep my 
new family protected from any Christian intrusion. Now, when an individuals 
tells me that he's a born-again Christian, I say, "Thanks for the 
warning."

The church-god is the creation of man - in man's own image. One does 
not find the real God through man-made church rituals. God is only 
found in the individual heart. As long as He remains there, He can 
work wonders.


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