Maybe that is why I changed?
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The religion you rejected - why did you reject it?
- Thread starter 9-10ths_Penguin
- Start date
Sgt. Pepper
All you need is love.
I was a devout Christian for thirty years before I finally freed myself from the Christian indoctrination that I had been subjected to throughout my life, and it was very hard for me to break free of it all. I liken my experience of leaving Christianity to being imprisoned, except that the door to my cell was always open and I was unaware that I could leave whenever I wanted to. I feel as if Christianity was a dark prison and I was trapped within it, but now that I've freed myself from it, I never want to go back. Admittedly, I ignored the horrific things written in the Bible after I read it from cover to cover when I was a Christian. My learned belief in a loving, merciful God (a heavenly father) brazenly contradicted what I read in the Bible about him and what I experienced in my own life while growing up.
Personally speaking as a survivor of childhood abuse, I don't need or want the Christian God in my life. I turned my life around for the better and I began to heal emotionally only after I renounced my belief in God and my Christian faith. And now, there is no more fear, guilt, and shame hanging over my head since I disavowed my Christian faith and belief in God. It was such a relief for me, and it still is. I remember what my life was like when I was a Christian and the years before that, so there is no question in my mind that freeing myself from all the Christian indoctrination I had been subjected to in my life was the best decision that I've ever made for my mental health. For me, abandoning my Christian faith was a matter of survival since I found being a Christian to be a very painful experience that seriously harmed my mental health, which in turn badly affected my physical health. I don't regret my decision to abandon my Christian faith, but I wish I had done so years ago instead of holding onto the false hope and trust that I had in the Christian God.
I've talked about what the fearmongering tactics of Christianity were like for me and the emotionally devastating impact they had on my life in some of my posts. I remember fearing the wrath of God to the point of making myself physically sick. I lived in constant fear of God striking me down dead at any moment. I was afraid of God's wrath; I was afraid of disobeying God; and I felt deep shame and guilt for sinning against God. I was constantly afraid of losing my salvation if I sinned against God and then died without repenting, and I truly feared going to hell even though I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior (Matthew 7:21–23). There was absolutely no peace and joy in my life that was promised in the Bible to the followers of Jesus. To be honest, being a Christian was an absolute nightmare for me, and I never want to be a Christian again. It took me a very long time to finally break free from Christianity and deprogram myself from all the indoctrination that I had been subjected to while I was a Christian. It was very difficult for me to detox from it all.
I can recall most of the conflicting sermons I heard in church that varied from "God loves you and he sent his son to die for you" to "If you don't obey God's commands, then you'll suffer God's wrath and he'll cast you into hell." I remember thinking, "How can the same pastor tell me God loves me when he also tells me that if I don't obey God, he'll cast me into hell?" I'd also think, "If God loves me like the pastor says he does, then why won't he answer my prayers and stop my mom and older brother from hitting me?" or "Why won't God save me from being abused at home and bullied in school if he loves me so much?" Well, I eventually got to the breaking point when I was a teenager, and I stopped praying to God because I finally realized that there was really no point in praying to him. I finally accepted the fact that God (like my extended family, all of my neighbors, my school teachers, the pastor and congregation at church) wasn't going to save me, and I had to figure out how to save myself from the abuse and bullying if I was going to survive. Well, I found the courage within myself to confront my abusers shortly after I turned 18. I saved myself from the abuse and bullying I suffered.
As I said, it was very difficult for me to let go of my Christian faith and belief in God because I genuinely believed in him and had been a Christian for the majority of my life, but I can honestly say that it was the best decision that I've ever made for my emotional well-being. It was, without a doubt, the best decision that I've ever made for myself. It took some time for me to let go of my faith in God and heal, but forsaking my faith turned my life around for the better. I have peace and joy in my heart, and I feel content with my life. That's something that I never felt during the 30 years I was a Christian and during the years before when I sincerely believed in God and prayed to him, asking him to save me from being abused. As far as I'm concerned, Christianity is nothing more than a religion of shame, guilt trips, and fearmongering. There's no amount of inane shaming, guilt trips, or fearmongering that Christians can hurl at me that will ever convince me to become a Christian again. My mental health has significantly improved and I am a much happier person since I renounced my Christian faith and belief in God. I believe that my experience of improving my life on my own without having faith in God and relying on God validates Penn Jillette's quote that a person doesn't need God in their life to be a moral person.
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No... a secularist.
secular
sĕk′yə-lər
adjective
- Worldly rather than spiritual.
- Not relating to religion or to a religious body; nonreligious.
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Thank you!
Could I also say that atheism does believe in a type of salvation. That humanity, in and of itself with its capability, can fix the ills of humanity to be "saved" of its problems.
Atheists can be spiritual.
I'm just not that way.
So....when you were a secularist, were you an atheist?
If not, then what?
I'm gonna drag this out'a you yet, bub!
Sgt. Pepper
All you need is love.
I've had many hurtful experiences with Christians in the past too, so I sympathize with you, Christine. I've been mocked and verbally abused by Christians while I was either in church or talking to them personally. I have enough stories about being backstabbed and gossiped about during the years I was a Christian that I could probably write a book. I was once told by a pastor that I suffered abuse while growing up because God was punishing me for the sins of my biological parents. I truly believed it because generational sins are biblical. It's written in the Bible that God punishes generations of families for the sins of their ancestors. The same pastor who told me that God was punishing me also told me that it was obvious to him that God hated me, and he called me a cursed soul. He told me that there was nothing I could do to change God's mind about me. Of course, I believed him because I knew what the Bible said about God hating Esau and how God cursed Cain. So, there was no doubt in my mind that I was cursed by God and that he hated me. I was even told that I didn't have enough faith in God for him to save me. Remember, I was an abused child pleading to God, begging him to save me from being beaten by my adopted mother and adopted older brother. I'd like to reiterate the fact that being a Christian was detrimental to my mental, emotional, and physical well-being, and I can't emphasize enough that I never want to be a Christian again.
But were ya, ya swab.
Maybe you can help express it better. I wasn't an atheist... just a secularist.
(Channeling @audi a little there.)
@KenS said : "Could I also say that atheism does believe in a type of salvation. That humanity, in and of itself with its capability, can fix the ills of humanity to be "saved" of its problems."
Hi KenS,
While I certainly agree that some athiests might believe this, other athiests might believe humanity does not have the capability to fix its own problems. I don't think I can generalize about athiest in that specific way.
However, whether the persons athiest religion believes it can or whether they believe it cannot "save" humanity from the worse of it's ills, I certainly agree that athiesm is characterized by faith, and that it has a specific religious faith (e.g. "I have faith that there is no God") and is thus a religious faith like other religions.
Good journey KenS
Clear
φιτωσεω
Hi KenS,
While I certainly agree that some athiests might believe this, other athiests might believe humanity does not have the capability to fix its own problems. I don't think I can generalize about athiest in that specific way.
However, whether the persons athiest religion believes it can or whether they believe it cannot "save" humanity from the worse of it's ills, I certainly agree that athiesm is characterized by faith, and that it has a specific religious faith (e.g. "I have faith that there is no God") and is thus a religious faith like other religions.
Good journey KenS
Clear
φιτωσεω
LOL... I'm 68 raised in Venezuela - can you translate?
Thanks for you viewpoint. Will meditate on it.
Odds are a Catholic socialist.
Ew.
No... definitely not a Catholic. Didn't go to church.
EDIT:
Correction - was stuffed with my brothers in a monastery for 1 year when I was in 6th grade. But mass was in Latin. - Came out the same way I went in.
Scientologist?
Wiccan?
No religion. et al
Atheism is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby.
Like not playing football is a sport.
Like baldness is a hairstyle.
Like off is a tv channel
Naked is a clothing style.
It's more a case of i have no valid evidence that there is a god, do you want to prove that wrong?
I remember a day when my dad read in the newspaper "El Universal" something that said, "The earth has reached its half way mark". - He prayed. First and last prayer I remember him ever uttering.
Believed we came from monkeys and evolution brought us to what we are today. Universe existed. Probably believed something or someone started it, but no deep thought about it. Just living my life with my friends and family.
Probably started considering when in college. When married, I joined my wife to attend the Catholic Church (she was Catholic).
We both started actively seeking answers probably 5 years into the marriage. Remember having a Baptist pastor sharing the Bible during our marriage but then he said something that had me cross off Baptists. (Now I know he was an anomaly but didn't know it then)
When did I "awaken" to the possibility? Can't pinpoint. But certainly I can pinpoint when and how I gave my life to Jesus at age 28.
There...I knew you could do it.