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I feel like i used to be or still am mentally handicapped or have some kind of mental issue. How can a 12 or 14 year old realize that there is no god. I was about 24 when I became atheist. That's a lot of years of my life wasted. I went to church every sunday, didnt have sex, etc. I was a slave ruled by many do's and dont's. How can I live with myself
When you're 48, don't look back in regret that you spent the second 24 years or your life worrying about how you lived the first 24 years of your life.
I feel like i used to be or still am mentally handicapped or have some kind of mental issue. How can a 12 or 14 year old realize that there is no god. I was about 24 when I became atheist. That's a lot of years of my life wasted. I went to church every sunday, didnt have sex, etc. I was a slave ruled by many do's and dont's. How can I live with myself
Same here. You're not alone.
Be happy that you got out at 24. I didn't get out until age 33, well past my prime.
Unfortunately Christians will almost invariably state that a fallen away Christian - "was never a Christian to start with".
I do realize there is a biblical verse that implicitly backs that up.
But denying the living history of an individual? It is almost like denying the Holocaust.
Of course one can see that their experiences being real. However it can mean they were in a legalistic church. It could been a church where there been more emphasis on works than on grace. Did one see God as an angry God rather than a loving God? There are other things too and of course you hear people that used to pastors, priests, missionaries no longer believe in God. Of course God knows the hearts of everyone as well as their motives.
The OP describes that the does regret not having experienced everything life has to offer, pleasures and leaving the faith he can do that: Well him stating that reminds me of the verse: Luke 15:11-32 (Even if the son appeared so distant from the father, the father still loved him)
Of course there are scriptures of people turning away from God. However God does love them still even to the OP case and God still does love unbelievers.
I feel like i used to be or still am mentally handicapped or have some kind of mental issue. How can a 12 or 14 year old realize that there is no god. I was about 24 when I became atheist. That's a lot of years of my life wasted. I went to church every sunday, didnt have sex, etc. I was a slave ruled by many do's and dont's. How can I live with myself
If you wish to have had non-comital sex with others then release that it is only like sharing a drug. I'm not religious or supernaturalist here, but sex can be dangerous. Lots of diseases and unsafe practices out there. Consider yourself spared. Going to church is about as much of a waste as going to the club every week. But it happens to be healthier, even socially. Count your lucky stars instead. Now you have a lot of experience to possibly relate to others and help out where you can.
I regret not having experienced everything life has to offer, pleasures, etc. I didnt enjoy life as much as I could have. I wasnt free. I was bound and enslaved by tons of things to that I had to do and things that I can not do. I didnt have any goal or purpose besides just enjoying life, I was being refrained from enjoying life...
It's "just enjoying life" only the reptilian brain's purpose. (Call it instinct, Id, etc.). Maybe there really is less baggage now that you are no longer religious, but real life carries baggage also! The harm you suffered from religion was their hedonistic, egotistical outlook on motivation has brushed off onto you and lingers there still. (Heaven is most often a hedonistic reward for not being hedonistic on Earth, wanting allegiance with power and "correctness" is also an egotistical boost). For most men (at least in culture's I've known), sex is also about hedonism and ego. But imagine that you felt so good that you didn't desire to exchange it for sex, that would be so pleasurable (supposed Heaven).
The experience of ecstasy, of being touched by God, is not restricted to Christians. "The path to true ecstasy begins by earnestly seeking ecstasy, which requires the rebuking of one's ego. Attaining that ecstasy requires drowning of the ego. Without doubt, true ecstasy is a blessed elusive state. It is indeed closeness to God." "Although it is a fascinating state, those who give themselves to it entirely become unbalanced, for too much of anything can be self-destructive." "Yet in time the aspirant realizes that this wonderful ecstasy is ultimately a form of intoxication." Understanding this is the key to the whole experience of being "touched by God." Watch the video to the end, because it explains so much.
This experience of being touched by something divine is an experience that has been shared by countless people around the world throughout history.
The question that must be asked is, what, if anything, does the experience have to do with something which is valid and true?
No, the question that has to be asked is, what spirit does it exalt? And if it's not G-d and His Son, it's the wrong spirit regardless of how it makes the flesh feel. You said it all in the first quote....seeking ECSTASY. Wrong motive of the heart. I've watched whirling dervish videos before, recently, in fact, so I'll pass. But have a nice day. Peace
I feel like i used to be or still am mentally handicapped or have some kind of mental issue. How can a 12 or 14 year old realize that there is no god. I was about 24 when I became atheist. That's a lot of years of my life wasted. I went to church every sunday, didnt have sex, etc. I was a slave ruled by many do's and dont's. How can I live with myself
Look at it this way. You can probably whip right through the Bible categories that appear on Jeopardy from time to time. I know I can from all the Sunday School I attended and memory verses I learned as a child.
J/K, but you learned things. Now you will learn other things.
Take five minutes to continue to regret your past and contemplate how you can change the past. Then realize you can't, and move forward. There could be adventure ahead.
I feel like i used to be or still am mentally handicapped or have some kind of mental issue. How can a 12 or 14 year old realize that there is no god. I was about 24 when I became atheist. That's a lot of years of my life wasted. I went to church every sunday, didnt have sex, etc. I was a slave ruled by many do's and dont's. How can I live with myself
Clearly, you are not speaking for a person who believes in the God of Israel, you proved that you were never religious and under the covenant of God in your opening post, so whatever you say does not reflect on a religious person of the bible.
You prove that you were never a believer from jump street, and so you do not, and couldn't possibly speak for a believer in the bible because your very words condemn you, they mark you right between your eyes and upon your right hand as a person who doesn't follow God, and who never has, and so you don't have much to say either way, not unlike many Christians. You didn't even follow the Ten commandments, your words teach lawlessness.
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