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1. I used to actually listen to Bob Larson (BARF!)
2. I sucked up Mike Warnke's story (which turned out to be a lie)
3. There was a brief moment in my life when charlatans like Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland were heroes
4. I believed the bible was the PERFECT word of a perfect god
5. I used to mumbled some nonsense and claimed I was speaking in tongues. I an still do it today with ease.
6. I wasted a good chunk of my life sitting in a pew on Sunday thinking I was actually doing something productive.
7. I believed there was some deity out there interested the most mundane items in my life
8. I believed there was a boogeyman known as Satan out to get me
9. I believed the Jews were God's special flowers.
10. I believed the Soviet Union was going to invade Israel and usher in Armageddon.
11. I wasted thousand of dollars buying Christian material (concordances, bible dictionaries, lexicons, chain reference bibles, Christian books by Christian authors and Christian apologetic books)
12. I used to pray, an exercise in futility.
13. I believed Christians were being persecuted
14. I thought heavy metal rock music was all about Satan worship and that backmasking was evidence. LOL
On the bright side, I never used to tithed so I don't feel too bad about giving thousands to anyone's church over that time period in my life.
I not only listened to, but BOUGHT James Dobson books!!
I would have on my schedule the times for listing to John MacArthur on the radio during the day.
In fact, I ONLY listened to christian mind washing radio 24/7.
I sent money to Jews for Jesus...
I actually said some of the most vile and fugly things to "sinners"
One day I was sitting around, or maybe I was working and I had a really "anti-evangelical" thought--Why don't we pray for satan?
That was the beginning of my eyes opening....Aren't we supposed to pray for those who persecute us? Who is the BIGGEST persecutor of all (according to the book of myths) but satan...
Once, while at the mega church I was participating in, there were a series of christian concerts--One concert was PETRA--prior to the concert starting, the sanctuary was filled with 20-somethings--the senior pastor came on stage to remind us that that we had to be mindful of others so as not to make them feel uncomfortable--It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. ROMANS 14:21
So there will be NO DANCING, FLAILING OF ARMS or HALLELUJAHS lest we cause one of our visitors to "stumble."
Three of us promptly proceeded to do all three as soon as Petra came out--then the Nazi enforcers came for us..
I used to believe abortion was murder, and I added to the torment of women making this most difficult choice instead of relieving it.
I used to turn self hatred inside out, and torment other LGBTQ people. This is my biggest shame.
I used to repeatedly point out the sins of others, sometimes loudly, while justifying my own.
I used to make fun of Atheists, for not believing what I did.
I've probably destroyed countless lives, and crushed countless souls, believing I was "loving the sinner while hating the sin."
These are what come to mind immediately. I may add more, but my eyes are leaking right now and I have to stop.
I'm sorry. So very sorry.
Just so you know, if you ever treated someone like me badly for my "sins", you didn't crush me or destroy me. I just felt sorry for you for being so brainwashed. Whatever you may have said just rolled over me.
I wasted much of my childhood and teenage years being wracked by guilt over all the "bad" things I did and thought. The shame at the thought of God reading my mind ever time I saw a pretty girl should have neutered me by age 16. I expected lightning to strike me the time I looked across the room at Sunday School and saw Sandra's panties for a brief moment.
I used to believe abortion was murder, and I added to the torment of women making this most difficult choice instead of relieving it.
Is believing abortion is murder a "fundamentalist" view?
I personally don't take a stance on abortion, but calling it murder seems like a defensible view. I don't know a lot about this topic, but I do know that moderates can hold this view as well. I think it's the "fire and brimstone" part that is fundamentalism.
In any case; I was never a fundamentalist when I was a Christian. My brother is a fundamentalist and he'll occasionally say things that really baffle me. On one hand Christians claim to be the bearers of the one true objective morality; on the other hand God is justified in murdering all the Egyptian's firstborns because the Pharaoh was being "immoral". Is this really the God we want to get our morality from?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1insider
I wasted much of my childhood and teenage years being wracked by guilt over all the "bad" things I did and thought. The shame at the thought of God reading my mind ever time I saw a pretty girl should have neutered me by age 16. I expected lightning to strike me the time I looked across the room at Sunday School and saw Sandra's panties for a brief moment.
I definitely understand this. Even after I became atheist, I still held Christian sort of views for a while until I really analyzed why I thought some things were 'wrong'.
Just so you know, if you ever treated someone like me badly for my "sins", you didn't crush me or destroy me. I just felt sorry for you for being so brainwashed. Whatever you may have said just rolled over me.
For that I'm thankful. I feel sorry for who I used to be as well, though it's more disgust than pity.
Is believing abortion is murder a "fundamentalist" view?
I personally don't take a stance on abortion, but calling it murder seems like a defensible view. I don't know a lot about this topic, but I do know that moderates can hold this view as well. I think it's the "fire and brimstone" part that is fundamentalism.
In any case; I was never a fundamentalist when I was a Christian. My brother is a fundamentalist and he'll occasionally say things that really baffle me. On one hand Christians claim to be the bearers of the one true objective morality; on the other hand God is justified in murdering all the Egyptian's firstborns because the Pharaoh was being "immoral". Is this really the God we want to get our morality from?
I don't get my morality solely from the Bible, I don't see how anyone could. While the Bible is informative for spiritual guidance for me, my morality comes from many sources, including our current culture, laws, history, my prayer life, and other places.
I didn't mean to imply that the belief that abortion is murder is solely a fundamentalist view, but it is a view held by fundamentalists.
I don't get my morality solely from the Bible, I don't see how anyone could. While the Bible is informative for spiritual guidance for me, my morality comes from many sources, including our current culture, laws, history, my prayer life, and other places.
If you are a Christian, then you must accept that there is one truly correct morality. Otherwise, how would God be able to judge your eternal soul?
I never got all my morality from the Bible and I don't think most people do (fortunately ).
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