Abuse Report
1 .  Thread's URL
2 .  Comment
3 .  Your Name
4 .  E-mail
    




User Name   Password
This is a support forum for those who have left
or are in the process of leaving fundamentalist Christianity
Current Forum Since June 2001


Views:740     

<<Previous ThreadNext Thread>>
Page 1 of 5    
Author Comment
Verne44
| Move to Bottom
 
Author



Status:
From:
Registered: 09/09/2002
Time spent: 0 hours

(Date Posted:03/07/2004 23:21:42)

What specifically did Christianity do to you? In other words what was the reason you left?

I hope this question is not annoying to you I suppose that if I read the entire group I could get the answers myself without bothering you. But I find as I read your posts I? become tempted to join in the conversation. And that just would not work out well. This is a safe house for you and I fear I would offend you. This is a support group and one that I defiantly don? belong to. As one who has been there {Fundi} walked away for 15 years then came back your group is not for me. And only a fool would come here to evangelize those injured by my faith. I have my own reasons why I turned my back and ran from Christianity all those years ago but my personal experience does not tell me why others do the same thing and never come back.

So honestly I will not argue with your answers nor will I try and change your mind. I will merely say thank you or respond to a question that does not draw this into a defense of my faith. You don? want that and I will honor that

Thank you in advance for your patience and your help
Verne44
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
1#



Status:
From:
Registered: 09/09/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/07/2004 23:21:43)

What specifically did Christianity do to you? In other words what was the reason you left?



I hope this question is not annoying to you I suppose that if I read the entire group I could get the answers myself without bothering you. But I find as I read your posts I? become tempted to join in the conversation. And that just would not work out well. This is a safe house for you and I fear I would offend you. This is a support group and one that I defiantly don? belong to. As one who has been there {Fundi} walked away for 15 years then came back your group is not for me. And only a fool would come here to evangelize those injured by my faith. I have my own reasons why I turned my back and ran from Christianity all those years ago but my personal experience does not tell me why others do the same thing and never come back.



So honestly I will not argue with your answers nor will I try and change your mind. I will merely say thank you or respond to a question that does not draw this into a defense of my faith. You don? want that and I will honor that



Thank you in advance for your patience and your help
kathymontana
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
2#



Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:90
From:
Registered: 06/12/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 00:08:29)

Reply to : Verne44


 But I find as I read your posts I? become tempted to join in the conversation. And that just would not work out well. This is a safe house for you and I fear I would offend you. This is a support group and one that I defiantly don? belong to.

How did you get to be a Silver Member and make 110 posts without joining conversations?

--------------------------------------------------------------
I don't believe in the sorcerers or the preachers. I just believe in you.

-Collective Soul
Verne44
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
3#



Status:
From:
Registered: 09/09/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 00:17:07)

Reply to : kathymontana




Reply to : Verne44But I find as I read your posts I? become tempted to join in the conversation. And that just would not work out well. This is a safe house for you and I fear I would offend you. This is a support group and one that I defiantly don? belong to.How did you get to be a Silver Member and make 110 posts without joining conversations?



Other aimoo.com groups



I'm an on again off again forum junkie (mostly off) but never on anti christin sites and never on this one. I have also been seen on Delfies groups and few others as well. But I don't stay on any of them long
JunblaA
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
4#



Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:294
From:
Registered: 04/14/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 01:28:03)

Christianity made me feel guilty.  My religion told me that I had to believe every non fundie Christian was damned to eternal torture in Hell.  That did not seem fair, I felt bad for those people.  One thing I hear fundies say all the time, even through their preaching against Muslims or Homosexuals is "Oh, I have many Muslim and Gay friends", but I don't buy that.  How can I relate to a world where I have to believe the vast majority will end up being tortured at the hands of a vengeful God?  A Buddhist who does not know Christ has done nothing wrong, yet I had to believe he was damned.  It is sick, and wrong.


In addition to that, I have always been good at and enjoyed science, and evolution and an old earth theory just made too much sense.  Snakes don't turn into sticks.  God doesn't cause rain.  Science has made god useless.  He has no role to play anymore.  I am too intelligent to believe in supernatural nonsense.
Verne44
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
5#



Status:
From:
Registered: 09/09/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 01:39:39)

Reply to : JunblaA




Christianity made me feel guilty. My religion told me that I had to believe every non fundie Christian was damned to eternal torture in Hell. That did not seem fair, I felt bad for those people. One thing I hear fundies say all the time, even through their preaching against Muslims or Homosexuals is "Oh, I have many Muslim and Gay friends", but I don't buy that. How can I relate to a world where I have to believe the vast majority will end up being tortured at the hands of a vengeful God? A Buddhist who does not know Christ has done nothing wrong, yet I had to believe he was damned. It is sick, and wrong.In addition to that, I have always been good at and enjoyed science, and evolution and an old earth theory just made too much sense. Snakes don't turn into sticks. God doesn't cause rain. Science has made go



Thank you



I wouldn't be to surprise to see that your reasons turn out to be common ones. And I can relate to the unnecessary guilt. Your scientific doubts are reasonable and lilky common
phoenixgirl
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
6#



Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:638
From:
Registered: 03/03/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 02:06:49)

Well, there are various things that believing in Christianity suppressed or augmented or perverted in my life.  However, I wouldn't say Christianity has "done things to me" -- people did things to me, I did things to me, shit happened, etc.


The reason that I left Christianity was the realization that I had believed a lie . . . that the god I believed in was too self-contradictory, was too similar to all the other religions found in this world, was patterned too much after the morals and customs of people we now consider primitive, to be the one true deity out of the lot.  When I realized that what I had believed didn't hold water, then the negative effects those beliefs had on my life became clear . . . the suppression of many facets of my person, such as my sexuality, my ability to protect myself through anger or aggression, etc; guilt as the main reason I did anything; judging other people too harshly; twisting my brain in a knot trying to reconcile irreconciliable ideologies found in the Bible; etc.


So the reason that I left was that I knew as much as I'll ever know anything that  it wasn't true.  You should check out the thread where we tell how sure we are that there is or isn't a god (probably in the Lion's Den).  As a result  of leaving, my life got a lot better, as you might expect when someone stops believing the ludicrous, but there were also difficulties to overcome, such as finding my own moral compass and more like-minded friends (didn't have a choice on this one, since most of my former fundy friends went a-runnin'). 


I like this Onion Article because it makes fun of how silly believing in the Bible is even though, like in "The Emperor's New Clothes," it is generally accepted as fact.


Speaking of fact, I wouldn't I have stated my opinion as such fact if we were having an amiable discussion on neutral territory, but you came into our support forum, so that's what you get.

--------------------------------------------------------------
--Phoenixgirl

"I am influenced at the present time by far higher considerations and by a nobler idea of duty than I ever was when I held the Evangelical belief." George Eliot
"I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating." Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country (I promise I read this before it was an Oprah book club book)
zonmoy
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
7#



Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:22
From:
Registered: 01/29/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 02:28:36)

Reply to : JunblaA


Christianity made me feel guilty. My religion told me that I had to believe every non fundie Christian was damned to eternal torture in Hell. That did not seem fair, I felt bad for those people. One thing I hear fundies say all the time, even through their preaching against Muslims or Homosexuals is "Oh, I have many Muslim and Gay friends", but I don't buy that. How can I relate to a world where I have to believe the vast majority will end up being tortured at the hands of a vengeful God? A Buddhist who does not know Christ has done nothing wrong, yet I had to believe he was damned. It is sick, and wrong.In addition to that, I have always been good at and enjoyed science, and evolution and an old earth theory just made too much sense. Snakes don't turn into sticks. God doesn't cause rain. Science has made go

All that those reasons did was make me realize that the christian god and probably any god must be evil. If not completely then it must at least be capable of evil and thus not trustable or worshipable by any good being.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Question everything
Verne44
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
8#



Status:
From:
Registered: 09/09/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 05:59:21)

Reply to : phoenixgirl




Speaking of fact, I wouldn't I have stated my opinion as such fact if we were having an amiable discussion on neutral territory, but you came into our support forum, so that's what you get.







No you gave a very polite and detailed answer thanks you. You were far from rude. If my feelings and faith were fragile I wouldn? be here and this is your house not mine I'm just an uninvited guest here



So if I got this correct your initial loss of faith came from damage done from people or maybe something self destructive and that lead you into doubt. From there you logically concluded that you had been believing a lie. If I got the right there is no need to rely and dredge things up if you would rather not
Verne44
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
9#



Status:
From:
Registered: 09/09/2002
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 06:04:47)

Reply to : zonmoy




All that those reasons did was make me realize that the Christian god and probably any god must be evil. If not completely then it must at least be capable of evil and thus not trustable or worshipable by any good being.



So were you actually a fundamentalist Christian? If so what was it specifically that started you thinking your religion illogical and evil? Really what I want to know was specifically what started to brake your faith

Lybra
| Move to Top | Move to Bottom
 
10#



Rank:none
Status:
Score:0
Posts:187
From:
Registered: 12/30/2001
Time spent: 0 hours


(Date Posted:03/08/2004 06:47:55)

Reply to : Verne44




So were you actually a fundamentalist Christian? If so what was it specifically that started you thinking your religion illogical and evil?





I've had questions about my fundy beliefs since I was a teenager. Women who think for themselves find the Baptist church an interesting and ocasionally hostile place. I often wondered why god bothered to give me a brain, desires and an independent spirit, if these things were so far away from his stated (by my minister) will for me. If all I was meant to be was a husband pleaser and baby producer why did I need all the rest. To give someone a gift and then tell them that it's sin