First time back in church since leaving Christianity (priest, preach, atheists)
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This was a very interesting story by the OP thanks for sharing
I was never brought up with religion but I attended baptisms, communions, etc. As an atheist I'm tolerant of other people's religions and beliefs. Fortunately I've never been pushed in real life to convert or anything. It is actually only on this board where I've been attacked by Christians for not believing and accepting "Jesus is my Lord and savior" and being told I'm going to "hell" when I die.
Just curious but did you ever read the titles and read any of the threads in the Christianity forum? There are an unbelievable amount of questions that so many Christians have varying answers to. I can't believe there are so many "factions" of Christianity. And after reading the threads Christianity and religion in general sound more and more like little cults. I'm actually frightened by some of the things I see people believe in there.... their so blinded by their "faith". The especially scary ones are the ones in which "God" spoke to them and told them to do something and they did it without question....scary...
Exactly. So many people read the same things and come to different conclusions. Sometimes so different they could go as far as killing those who reach different conclusions.
This was a very interesting story by the OP thanks for sharing
I was never brought up with religion but I attended baptisms, communions, etc. As an atheist I'm tolerant of other people's religions and beliefs. Fortunately I've never been pushed in real life to convert or anything. It is actually only on this board where I've been attacked by Christians for not believing and accepting "Jesus is my Lord and savior" and being told I'm going to "hell" when I die.
Just curious but did you ever read the titles and read any of the threads in the Christianity forum? There are an unbelievable amount of questions that so many Christians have varying answers to. I can't believe there are so many "factions" of Christianity. And after reading the threads Christianity and religion in general sound more and more like little cults. I'm actually frightened by some of the things I see people believe in there.... their so blinded by their "faith". The especially scary ones are the ones in which "God" spoke to them and told them to do something and they did it without question....scary...
True....as a theist, I too have been condemned to "hell" simply for not believing in it! I find that church is stifling and hypocritical not to mention it is scary what some people don't question. Questioning things is a sure sign of an open mind. Yet they propose to have an open mind.. weird!
True....as a theist, I too have been condemned to "hell" simply for not believing in it! I find that church is stifling and hypocritical not to mention it is scary what some people don't question. Questioning things is a sure sign of an open mind. Yet they propose to have an open mind.. weird!
Actually, I think we're condemned for our actions, not the fact that we don't believe.
I think my love of music, and the fact that I am far too emotionally driven, kept me connected to the church for far too long. I really have no desire to attend a church service anymore. Especially, because of the nature of most of the people who are believers. I don't wish for a minute to spend time with any of them. I got fooled because of my emotionalism, but logic was always tugging at me and thankfully I broke free from the chains of religion. I do love reading tacky church marquees, though. My recent favorite is: "Stop, drop and roll doesn't work in hell."
Yeah, I should load a photo. It's very tacky, indeed. However, if you tug at the heartstrings and play to the fears of the believers, they will continue to come in for their weekly affirmations of righteous superiority. Even though they are actually being threatened and abused - and loving it !
I know what you mean; but it's sad and hard to get your mind around....I always questioned religion, even when I was too young to understand, it just never felt right..I can't believe that not all people have that. I just have never been afraid enough maybe. Even when the religious instructor hit me on the head with the bible for asking too many questions...
Hi, MaggieZ.
Looking back I know that religion won me over by scaring me. I remember some of the very scary stories religious zealots told me when I was a child. On me, it worked. Unlike you, I was never much of a fighter. People told me who I should be and I accepted it. It is only in my mid-life that i am having any kind of freedom as myself.
well, bert, don't 'condemn' yourself for not being much of a fighter when it came to religion. It's never too late to finally break free and that shows you are a fighter now, at least you're not letting the past stuff scare you the rest of your life. That's a huge accomplishment IMO.
That's true. I never had to deal with much more than theology knocking on my door and a couple of god-botherers at work trying to covert me. which is what got me interested in the god-debate in the first place.
I sometimes wonder whether I'd have had the inner strength to break out of the stifle -zone, especially if I was in a Bible belt area. That takes real courage.
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