Are Christians logical?

I consistently read atheist forums and Facebook pages and I never have to look too far for comments saying that anyone who believes religion are illogical and willfully ignoring reality.
As someone who has recently transitioned beyond Christianity, I can assure you that isn't the case.
People become Christians for many reasons. Some are born in families which follow the Bible and some turn to it in time of need.
I wish that everyone who ever lived was able to live in a way that made them happy without trying to force others into their ideal. It's human nature to seek out people with similar traits to one's self though and that's a lot easier if you can convince people to change to your way of life.
I was raised in a Christian home where Biblical values were taught and there's a lot of good things that came from that for me.
I think it really helped me to develop a greater sense of responsibility for humanity. When everyone is God's creation they are each precious. I still think every person has value and deserves to be happy, as long as their happiness doesn't involve ending other people's ability to be happy. Everyone has a right to life and happiness until they forfeit it in favor of threatening that of others.
But were my Biblical views logical?
There was a lot of people who were instrumental in shaping my views while I was growing up. First and foremost were my parents. They were my example. I think my dad is a brilliant man and he has had faith all my life, why would I as a child question what he already knows?
That's where faith started for me.
Whenever I had questions, they always had answers for me that were based around the biblical story, so when I got to Sunday school at church, I was ready absorb every word as absolute truth. This type of attitude carried almost through college for me.
I was surrounded by Christian friends, Christian teachers and a Christian family.
When everyone around you believes you have discussions about different aspects of the faith, but you don't usually question the whole thing because it doesn't seem logical when everyone else believes.
I did have questions about many things, but there was always someone there who could give me the Christian answer and encourage my faith. I was surrounded by people who relied on faith.
All those answers I got about my questions only crumbled under the weight of the evidence of the real world because I fully expected to find they lined up perfectly. I never thought of God as someone who was stuck on the pages of the Bible. He was a real entity who lived in me and affected the real world. To me the Holy Spirit was my spiritual Jiminy Cricket guiding me in the tough decisions of life and I would chalk up my intuitions to him.
Faith is the only hump to making it all seem logical. There are verses in the Bible that apply to nearly every philosophical question or life situation. That is the beauty of it. With a little bit of faith you can justify so much.
Faith is the cornerstone of it all. Once you have faith, your questions lead back to the Bible first, and the word of others secondarily, the word of unbelievers lastly.
Christians are logical in a very creative sense. They use the Bible to explain every phenomena through creative interpretation. That is what makes the Bible timeless is our ability to reinterpret every sentence and infuse it with new meaning.
If the Bible were true I can think of a lot of ways it could have said things not understood at the time like maybe saying God created the universe in 14 billion years or at least saying it would look that way. It could have said the earth was a sphere, mentioned seven (or even six) continents. It could have mentioned the other 9 planets in our solar system. The Bible could have said the Earth revolves around the sun or that clouds in outer space make stars, or maybe even say that God made stars first which exploded to make all the other material he needed to create life. There are so many things which could not have been verified at the time but would have directly verified its authenticity as being from God or at least by someone who knew how the universe worked in ways we couldn't have measured at the time. There are more than 31,000 verses in the Bible and God couldn't add and extra verse per hundred years until Jesus comes back to just say "Hey, I already knew this before you guys realized shoes were a good idea"?
I only think that way now because of my transition. Before I would see how perfectly tuned the universe is for life. Now that seems like thinking that water was made for fish. Fish live in water because they evolved to live in those conditions. Water didn't evolve to allow fish to inhabit it.
We find ourselves in a universe which supports life, because it does, if it didn't we wouldn't be here, or we'd be suited to a different universal condition. Our sample of life is exactly one so I wont limit my views on the possibilities.
Christians aren't illogical, they just don't have all the information, or view contrary information through faith and not objectively. I don't view Christians as illogical, just misinformed very well.

Where is the hope?

I think that probably one big question I will hear is where is the hope in not believing the Bible and the salvation through Jesus.
I honestly did take a lot of comfort in the idea of eternal life before my transition beyond Christianity. Forever is quite a long time and I truly think I would enjoy living that long.
I would be able to compose all the music I could literally ever imagine. I could paint murals which stretched for miles. (As someone who enjoys writing, i wonder if you could write stories with antagonists in heaven?) I could get a really great tan basking in the glorious starlight of newly formed stars at the pillars of creation.
Unfortunately just because it is a wonderful idea does not make it true. I can imagine a world where there's no gravity and clouds are made of cotton candy so nutritious it's all anyone ever needed to eat and no one ever has to work, ever. There aren't any ancient texts claiming that will happen but it's no more probable it will come to pass than an afterlife.
There's not much hope for anything beyond this life for me. I am quite a lucky product of a long line of miraculous events, but so is everyone who has ever lived.
I am no more special than the next person except for to myself and my family. Another statement which is generally true for all humans.
I am a consciousness higher than any other animal, able to ponder the cosmos.
So I have a lot to look forward to in this life.
Watching my children grow, seeing the rise of a digital world where everyone can own or explore anything, buying my dream car, spending countless evenings with my wife.... the list goes on and on.
There's a lot of hope for things to come while I live.
I cannot trust in the idea that I will have eternity, so I will have to try my best to have a good time while maintaining my responsibilities.
Honestly though, the idea that we are simply a meat robots doomed to base desires has crossed my mind more than once. Usually followed by the question of do I really control myself?
The very fact I'm pondering that question means I must to some degree. At the very least, I'm analyzing past events which would affect reactions in the future.
In some instances I am kind of in control. I get hungry and I have to eat. I have gone more than a day without food when it was readily available, but eventually, I will eat in order to survive. I get thirsty, I have to breath, there's a lot of needs I must meet in order to continue to exist as a conscious being. I can choose to abstain from anyone for short periods of time though.
I think the craziest part in all this though is imagining what it will be like after I die.
I spent a lot of my life preparing spiritually for eternity. Most people also plan for the eventuality of their death through wills, life insurance, savings and I'm sure a lot of other things as well. But will it matter?
I'm sure when I die it will matter to those I leave behind, but me, I'll be gone. My consciousness will have "left the building" so to speak. I truly cant imagine death though.
My blackest black and quietest quiet conjured up in my imagination just don't cut it. I'm still perceiving the real world around me. It will just be over, like an unending dreamless sleep.
I think I will mostly be sad it is the end before it comes, but I will think about the good things in my life like the way my daughter's cheeks fill up like tiny balloons when she smiles, the way my son laughs deviously when we play, or the day I got married.
But then, when all is said and done. I will be gone, no longer troubled with anything here, but also unable to experience the good. 
In the mean time, I'll have to do my best to make the most good experiences for myself and others that I can and that is where the hope lies. That I still have time to enjoy this life a little more.

What I believe

I've talked quite a bit about different aspects of my religious transition, but I haven't talked to much about how it has changed how I think.
Over a year and a half I transitioned from a young earth creationist to.... something.
I don't really know about a lot of things. I wouldn't consider myself truly atheist, because I just don't know. I can prove the biblical story false on many fronts, but does that mean there is no God or spiritual aspect to life?
I wish I had direct answers to those questions, but I don't know.
It may be an artifact of my Christian beliefs, but I feel like existence itself may be evidence for God. I know it leads down a road of circular reasoning, but what is the cause? Even the big bang is a reaction. Hawking said time didn't exist before it, but I would disagree based on pure logic. Something happened, and if something is happening there is an element of time, and our universe came into being. So I wont discount there could be a God. (Every pure atheist is shaking their head asking what caused God right now.)
I believe my mind is my own, it's a private space that belongs only to me and I can share or keep secret whatever I like.
I have this one life to live, and even though I wish there was an eternity on the other side of it, I see no evidence for that, so I have to do the best I can with what I have.
As a Christian I took a lot of comfort in thinking I would have eternity to explore every crevice of the universe. I thought eternity with God would be awesome. I imagined millennia to spend learning everything I could possibly be interested.in. Now I have to learn and grow while I can and use my time wisely.
I have an obligation to treat others fairly and be respectful of their happiness.
The constitution of the U.S. was written for people who have a sense of responsibility, not a sense of entitlement. People with a feeling they are owed something mess up rules that work by taking advantage of the system. I cannot decide for other people what will make them happy, we are not all the same, but I can support others being happy as I would hope they would support my happiness. I cannot make decisions for people based on a set of rules governed by the authors of the book of the Bible.
I'm still on this journey and now that I'm not basing my opinions on the Bible, everything is fluid and changing on a consistent basis. Its wonderful to know I have the freedom to make up my own mind what works for me.
Having a Biblical standard works if you pick and choose, but following it in it's entirety?
I Timothy 2:9

I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

Go to a church and see how many women have gold or pearls, but homosexuality is an abomination. The truth is all Christians pick and choose and apply a few catch-alls to what doesn't work. Like Galatians 5:18 or I Corinthians 8 or simply citing the blessing of grace. I've used these same verses in my life, but the Bible can be used to argue against itself all day long. It's not the single cohesive work that I once believed it to be.
According to this article, God gives everyone enough rope to hang themselves in the pages of the Bible. What, in all the universe, is fair about that? God wants us to willfully ignore the contradictions in order to be saved?
There are a lot of excuses to explain these contradictions, but even the excuses tend to lead to contradiction. If all scripture is God breathed, does that mean he's points people in the wrong direction if they study too hard? I know the "Christian answer" here is that it's only me causing the contradictions and not all contradictions can be taken at face value because context must be taken into consideration but it still doesn't account for all.
My standard is looking out for my fellow humans with regard for their ability to be happy.
Who am I to make the rules for how someone else lives? As a Christian I thought that standard was set by God and was cut and dry, but life is not so simple. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of excellent lessons in the words of the Bible, but there are in any good story. If the Bible was 100 percent perfect and never contradicted itself, I would still believe in that standard as the word of God, but it does not stand up to that kind of scrutiny.
Even as I write this, I know my words do not perfectly explain every aspect of what I mean, but I will continue to flesh it all out in further posts as I don't think anyone has the time or desire to read a book of a post on that in one sitting.
I can also be wrong. As a Christian there was only one way and my biggest concern was always: does a person accept Christ as their savior? It was that exact thinking that lead me down this road.
Now that I'm beyond that, I have the freedom to view things through my own eyes, evaluate and re-evaluate them. Being wrong is okay. There are more lessons to be learned from mistakes than successes and I'm free to learn, change and grow as a member of humanity and not be a "slave to the law" as the Bible puts it.

The right to life... and death

Whenever i get on a plane, one of the first things i check is how far i am from the exit doors. I dont do this in case of water landings though. Im mapping out in my mind a what-if scenario where the plane encounters a catastrophic problem where i know a crash is imminent. I know the whole scenario is far fetched, but if the situation were to occur, my plan is to go out one of those doors. I would rather go out with one last thrill of my own choosing than hit the ground in a burning tin can with everyone else. I can imagine the investigation later wondering why this one passenger ended up a mile away from the rest of the wreckage. I dont think it would take too long for them to figure out that I decided on my last flight pattern myself.

Brittany Maynard ended her life recently. It stirred up a whole slew of reactions, good and bad, the internet over.

Because of my recent religious transition, I became very interested in the views of religious people concerning this specific matter because it shows a lot about how they view and relate to the world.

Maynard became the voice of a movement to die with dignity in the face of terminal illness.

For anyone who doesn't know, Death with Dignity laws allow mentally competent, terminally-ill adults to voluntarily request and receive a prescription medication to hasten their death. I would encourage anyone to read up on the process so you can see it's not a hasty one in comparison with the timeline one may have to take advantage of it.

I saw a whole lot of posts about this describing Maynard's actions as cowardly and suicide, but I have to disagree.

Death is scary for anyone, even Christians aim to preserve their own life. If someone has a terminal illness, I cannot judge whether they are brave for seeing it through to the last day, a coward for not, or a coward for ending their life early or brave for taking control of a terrible situation. I would say I cannot possess the knowledge of what fears are running through their mind and I think, out of human respect, that individual should be given the benefit of the doubt for whatever attitude seems better.

Why did so many feel that what Maynard did was so wrong? Why is it that so many people thought their opinion on her actions were more valid than Maynard's and that she should have suffered to the bitter end?

Maynard's personal choice has very little direct effect on me right now. I didn't know her or her family personally. I doubt I would have met her in these last few months of her life. I can't think of a reason to mourn her passing in light of the fact that it happened how she wanted in light of the circumstances, and to top it off, she made an impact in a cause she believed in. Part of me wonders, if she was completely made up, would people feel silly for the way they've acted. For all I know, she could have been and her story would have no less effect on me.

A lot of Christians would say she took away the opportunity for a miracle in her life. Many called her actions suicide, and to be fair, that is what she did. She killed herself, but not in the way we normally think of suicide, an action of peril done alone as a result of depression or other circumstances. She was going to die and said she wanted to live, but that wasnt an option for her. To be clear, I do not condone suicide, I believe situations like hers are an exception. She had the support of her family in her final moments, that speaks volumes about the situation of her death.

A lot of faiths consider suicide a mortal sin which cannot be forgiven and maybe that has a lot to do with the hate she received, even after her death, from christians. I guess it's easier to condemn someone to suffer in life when you think most of humanity will suffer for all of eternity.

I see her choice a lot like my plan for a catastrophic plane incident. She went out of her own choosing, at her own time, in her own way, in the face of death. I'll believe that what she did was brave because it was her decision in the depths of overwhelming circumstances.

What will everyone think?

I have only told two people about my recent transition in faith. My wife and later a coworker who is atheist. My coworker was quite surprised when I told him what I had been through because he knew I went to church faithfully and even though he knew me during the entire process, he didn't know it was happening. It was easy to open up to him because we interact every day and I already knew he was on the same page.
I haven't told my other coworkers, let alone the members of my church where I went. I'm most apprehensive about telling my family though.
I know my family will love me no matter what, but they will still think of me differently once they know.
I already saw how they reacted to my uncle's coming out as atheist and I have a cousin who is gay and probably feels the same in many aspects. They wont ostracize me and I don't foresee being cut out of any wills, but they will be genuinely concerned for my soul.
They will look for opportunities to minister to me and they will probably see misfortunes that fall on me as God trying to get my attention. I fully understand these feelings because I have felt them for others. I don't even feel like its wrong for them. I don't like the idea of putting undue stress on them though. Especially my parents.
The Bible says:
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
I wonder everyday if what i am doing will benefit my children far in the future, and i hope i am, but i also view their shortcomings as my own. My parents were excellent examples of the essence of Christ in my life. I know that when they read these words they will wonder where things went wrong. I hate the idea that they might take these things quite hard as parents. They may even blame my uncle as if he had an influence on my studies even though I learned all this in an attempt to reclaim him for Christ.
Even though I see no reason to believe in things beyond this life, I know my parents minds will not change, and I have no desire at all to try to change them. But they will have heartfelt concern for my spiritual well being as well as that of my family.
My parents have always been adamant that I should study scripture and learn it for my own edification so my faith was my own. How will they feel when they learn that the very book I based much of my life on has lead me to disbelief when I studied it with more discerning eyes? 
The rest of my family will feel a similar concern at this news. I'm honestly glad I have a family so concerned with my well being on every level. I consider myself exceptionally lucky in that respect. But my 'coming out' will result in reservations on their part as well.
I have cousins in a very wide age group. Will any future family event include a warning about me being 'out there' and to take what I say with a grain of salt. Or maybe they wouldn't want me to be around their children in a format which would have been fine before this transition.
I'm not out to convert anyone or lead them away from faith but still our differences could lead to unseen rifts, which is unfortunate to say the least.
Of course, in the end this is all conjecture because I haven't told them yet.
Along the way I even wondered at one point if they already knew all this and kept up appearances for the sake of their children, but I don't think they could keep up a lie for so long. And for that exact reason, I know I cant keep this a secret forever either. At some point, they will know.