|
snakechic
|
1# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:3507
From:
Registered:
11/02/2004
Time spent:
6158 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/07/2007 01:56:50)
Hiya Allison 
I'm happy to read you are free and looking forward to rebuilding...
I get so mad / sad reading how christianity...the penties wreck so many lives...families. We have an Abundant LIfe here in Aust...(what a joke!...'aband&damnment" centre)
Glad you made it...
enjoy WAFF!
--------------------------------------------------------------
In exchange for obedience, Christianity promises salvation in an afterlife; but in order to elicit obedience through this promise, Christianity must convince people that they need salvation, that there is something to be saved from. Christianity has nothing to offer a happy person living in a natural, intelligible universe. If Christianity is to gain a motivational foothold, it must declare war on earthly pleasure and happiness, and this, historically, has been its precise course of action. In the eyes of Christianity, woman(man) is sinful and helpless in the face of God, and is potential fuel for the flames of hell. Just as Christianity must destroy reason before it can introduce faith, so it must destroy happiness before it can introduce salvation.
-- George H Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God
|
|
free2knowme
|
2# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:43
From:
Registered:
05/11/2007
Time spent:
0 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/08/2007 04:25:34)
Hi Meagain
welcome to this forum. You are a brave lady. I can relate to so much of your experience. I've been out for a month now and feeling so much better. Like you I started to question the bibles inerrancy. I consider myself spiritual but don't believe in xtian exclusivity anymore either.
I no longer felt safe in church. I have been reading a book by Bette Eady "The ripple effect". Although she does quote some scripture in it, it embraces people of all religions and portrays God to be far bigger than the pettiness of doctrine and church. It gave me comfort and the will to get back up on my feet and start rebuilding my life. I won't let anyone dictate my beliefs either anymore and feel more connected to humanity today. We put up with so much shit in our lives because of fundi teachings. My understanding of the NT is that the body of Christ has a huge responsibility to care for the poor. The church is a multi-trillion dollar industry that has more than enough funds to erradicate world poverty, ie, food, shelter, education and health care. Today churches are very expensive buildings and prime real estate and all the money goes into that. They need bums on seats to pay for them. If the church claims to follow the teachings of Jesus, they have got their priorities wrong.
I made this claim in the above paragraph not to to shove a belief down any ones throat but to expose the hypocrisy from my observation of church life. Being in the fundi fold, seeing this hypocrisy going on around you while being preached it's opposite just does your head in. They talk the talk but not walk the walk. Truely, most of the kindest people I've ever met are athiests. They don't need any preaching and bibles to teach them kindness eh. They just do it. Most of my hurt has come from xtians but I choose to do myself a big favour by forgiving them so that I can get on with my life. I believe that the church creates an atmosphere of judgement and guilt, cutting people off from loving others because they are badgered with guilt and fear of hell. we can't love others unless we learn to love ourselves warts and all IMHO.
I know the silence, the abandonment and harshness of fundamentalism. I've seen one of my best friends change from being a down to earth, intelligent, practical and funloving woman with depth to a pretentious, condescending, dizzy pretty piece of fluff as a result of becoming a fundi. She moved to another town and I paid her a visit in the new year. I saw a person I didn't like. And she didn't have a nice thing to say about any one. She really looked down on us by her manner and I had to feel quite sorry for her because she must be feeling pretty insecure in herself. She became a total fake. I don't like losing friends. But people like that are no friends of mine.
Fundamentalism does a lot of damage to families. I hate the way they scare little children by filling their little hearts with fear and visions of hell if they don't believe. They prey on people with broken lives and offer false hope, with the blame for their unfulfilled promises being placed squarely on the broken one. This is a good place to start your walk away.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Positive thinking means finding the good in all experiences, including the ones that guide you away from repeating them.
|
|
Maeagain
|
3# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:6
From:
Registered:
06/06/2007
Time spent:
0 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/08/2007 13:31:08)
Reply to : Maeagain
Fundamentalism does a lot of damage to families. I hate the way they scare little children by filling their little hearts with fear and visions of hell if they don't believe. They prey on people with broken lives and offer false hope, with the blame for their unfulfilled promises being placed squarely on the broken one. This is a good place to start your walk away
Alison: That's how I got in the first place - fear of hell from 5 years old (younger possibly but don't remeber...) This was compounded by a church school education. I grew up, moved away and moved from an evangelical anglican 'hellfire' background into a pentie type church. My life has had a lot of issues and your right, the blame has always been put on me. I was never good enough. I believe this is because I'm not blonde, ditzy and skinny. Straight up, I really believe this. Ever noticed how the plain girls, the overweight girls, the brainy girls, the ones with a mind of their own are overlooked and 'criticized'? Now me, I have all 4 plus a sometimes dysfunctional home life.....I'm relaying this but in fact I have come a long way in forgiving many people, they know no better, holding on to the hurt causes me pain kinda thing. Women in most churches aren't allowed to be anything more than be pretty or useful. The pretty ones have 'public' ministries but are only really extensions of their menfolk, not in their own right. They're fashion accessories so men can say nhow blessed they are with the 'model girl' wife.The plain ones make coffee and clean and usually stay single - no blessed xtain guy wants the fat girl right? I married a non xtian which caused issues but I also saw there was a valid world 'out there'. (Until he became a xtain and the problems really started especially after he left church and I stayed.)
I'm finding 'me' right now, thing is I can't learn to be 'me' again as I've been involved in church all my life!
|
|
free2knowme
|
4# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:43
From:
Registered:
05/11/2007
Time spent:
0 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/09/2007 05:04:27)
Reply to : Maeagain
Yeah, funny that, the blond skinny ditzy ones getting the more public roles in the church.......my observation too. reminds me of the hillsong dvds. The guys look like teen idols in these praise and worship bands. I nicknamed the chief pastors wife the divine fashionista. She was all that.........blond, petite and basically a cute lil' piece of fluff. I couldn't take her seriously. To think I tried to be one of them. It's all advertising. All their brochures for up and coming events had the beautiful people on them just like the advertising in the media. They really pushed the hype. I reckon there were a lot of young women with eating disorders in that church.
Join the club of real gals....me have a big bum and over 40, brainy and strong stroppy personality to boot. It's interesting how they overlook us real gals. They had very expensive counselling available for those with "ISSUES" In caps out of sarcasm. I have to say I did use one of their counsellors, who was very qualified and awesome. she was one of those real people with a lovely peacefulness about her.
I started to notice that my daughter was being brushed off too because she is brainy, tall, strong and very mature for her age. when I was in their I put my observations down to being negative but since I have been out I have seen it for what it is. There was nothing spiritual and loving about my church. It had a great appearance, slick marketing and basically a very performance based business. I am really rapt that I am no longer in there. My H has become an xtian too but he basically remained uninvolved and warmed the seat on sundays. He is not very motivated outside of his work to do anything without me. Basically he prefers to sleep in on his sundays..........LOL.
I am finding that the world is not so scary after church. Really, I think that most of us have issues of some sort and life was never intended to be sweet all the time. In life Shit happens.I think those fluffy chics live in a world of denial. I think if you are highly intelligent that it is humanly impossible to live like that. There must be a lot of unhappy people in there that would be too scared to face the truth and run.
There are a variety of folk here and I love the different ways that people experience and see things here. There are others who left fundamentalist churches after being involved with them all their lives. I was in it for 5.5 yrs and that was enough. You will be inspired by the courage of others here.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Positive thinking means finding the good in all experiences, including the ones that guide you away from repeating them.
|
|
Maeagain
|
5# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:6
From:
Registered:
06/06/2007
Time spent:
0 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/09/2007 12:25:06)
Reply to : free2knowme
There was nothing spiritual and loving about my church. It had a great appearance, slick marketing and basically a very performance based business
Alison: My feelings exactly. I think for many years the church marketed itself poorly, was seen as 'lame', so along came the marketing men and church became a consumer brand - 'Hillsongs' and the associated church being a very good point, Hillsongs and all those Life centers wrldwide........
I'm sorry your daughter had a hard time, kids hate being over looked. mine had a similar experience.... Good to be out eh?
|
|
free2knowme
|
6# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:43
From:
Registered:
05/11/2007
Time spent:
0 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/10/2007 10:29:30)
Reply to : Maeagain
Hillsongs and all those Life centers wrldwide........I'm sorry your daughter had a hard time, kids hate being over looked. mine had a similar experience.... Good to be out eh?
Yep, it's good to be out of there. Haven't heard from anyone which is a blessing in disguise but conmfirms that they don't care. Your daughter got overlooked too? At least we got them out before too much damage was done. My daughter noticed the hypocrisy before I did. She was the one that got me into church in the first place and we got baptised together. We both ended up disappointed but getting over it. Our church was one of those life centres, overseen by Hillsong. I just checked out Abundant Life's UK website. LMAO I'm sure the people who appear in the pics are the same ones that go to my ex church. The web layout in pretty much the same. Do they clone the people to appear in the church literature? And the websites are generic. Ministries are identical. Some one must have got rich from their marketing campaign. Nothing original there. It worked once until the cracks stated to show. I only know of a couple of others in church besides myself that voted for the anti-smacking bill that has just been passed over here. The fundis were up in arms about it. Spare the rod spoil the child shit............xtian excuse for child abuse IMHO.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Positive thinking means finding the good in all experiences, including the ones that guide you away from repeating them.
|
|
Maeagain
|
7# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:6
From:
Registered:
06/06/2007
Time spent:
0 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/10/2007 13:29:40)
Reply to : free2knowme
just checked out Abundant Life's UK website. LMAO I'm sure the people who appear in the pics are the same ones that go to my ex church. The web layout in pretty much the same. Do they clone the people to appear in the church literature? And the websites are generic. Ministries are identical. Some one must have got rich from their marketing campaign. Nothing original there. It worked once until the cracks stated to show.
Alison: That's because they are in each other's pcokets. Paul Scanlon, pastor at the life centre in Bradford is very matey with Brain (can't remeber other name), pastor at Sydney hillsongs. Dave Gilpin pastor at Hope of Sheffield is a friend of Brians's an an Aussie to boot......Paul Scanlon wrote a book about 'excellence' where he admitted to AL bradford as being run as a business on the same ethical lines....I noticed the cracks too a while ago. Thing is if you take Jesus teaching on not favouring the rich then these churches are in direct opposition to the word that they find 'inerrant'. White washed tombs come to mind, the healthy don't need a physician etc. They have forgotten that Jesus message was to those who needed love and reassurance.
|
|
free2knowme
|
8# |
Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:43
From:
Registered:
05/11/2007
Time spent:
0 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/10/2007 15:01:12)
Reply to : Maeagain
Alison: That's because they are in each other's pcokets. Paul Scanlon, pastor at the life centre in Bradford is very matey with Brain (can't remeber other name), pastor at Sydney hillsongs. Dave Gilpin pastor at Hope of Sheffield is a friend of Brians's an an Aussie to boot......Paul Scanlon wrote a book about 'excellence' where he admitted to AL bradford as being run as a business on the same ethical lines....I noticed the cracks too a while ago. Thing is if you take Jesus teaching on not favouring the rich then these churches are in direct opposition to the word that they find 'inerrant'. White washed tombs come to mind, the healthy don't need a physician etc. They have forgotten that Jesus message was to those who needed love and reassurance.
Brian Houston. He's a Kiwi. Paul Scanlon visited my ex church last month to speak at one of their conferences. His daughter Charlotte Scanlon Gambill spoke at the women's conferece over here last year. I have to say I did like her. But she may have just been talking the talk too. Can't say i am all that inspired by them any more. These churches are not scriptural considering their stand on the inerrancy of the bible. beware of false prophets come to mind? Wolves in sheeps clothing. The appostle Peter warns about churches like these. Revelations says something about them too. Which part of the bible is God's word? One has to ask them that question based on their claims that the bible is the inerrant word of God. They have totally lost the plot. It's a big money spinner with all the hype. I wonder how long it will take for enough people to wise up and put them out of business. How many more people are going to be hurt?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Positive thinking means finding the good in all experiences, including the ones that guide you away from repeating them.
|
|
Shadowself
|
9# |
Status:
From:
Registered:
01/16/2004
Time spent:
1773 hours
|
(Date Posted:06/22/2007 07:41:05)
Hello Maeagain. Hope we may be of some help to you. I'm sure you'll have much to add to our forum. New voices are always welcome.
--------------------------------------------------------------
A big revelation in my professional training was that humans can learn skills for living and relating. We don"t have to be desperate for a miracle of God to make us decent.--Marlene Winell
|
| | Welcome to The Collection of Flashlights!Wolf-eyes ,your eyes break the darkness! | | |
