JoeVI said 10 years, 11 months ago:

Throughout all the posts that I have read, I see people who have said to have once been Christian, or rather they have grown up in a Christian household, but have not embraced the faith. What were the reasons for never growing into the faith/rejecting it? What branch of Christianity did you grow up in?

Ruhoodenough said 10 years, 11 months ago:

I never grew up in a strict christian home. i know my dad says he’s a born again christian and my moms parents were very catholic. But my mom was that person to look at people as now and who they are now, not whom they follow or believe in. Me? Its not that i don’t have faith or anything. Its just the same thing i’ve said before, i just can’t think of a “heaven” That is all good. You just can’t die and your soul, with all those memories and same thoughts can go to a place like that and not be corrupt in some way. I never had a guide in my family. My sister is pretty on the discovery of god. She got married but under the god ideal. And she believes that churches aren’t needed. Due to her belief that god is within yourself, and when you pray, don’t tell people you pray for them. Because god is between you and him, nobody else. And i like the idea of that, so i guess i can live it up that direction. But i’m still iffy on the whole ways of god. Like how everyone is gods child, but yet we separate ourselves from those called “sinners”. ex. Gays. I mean, i can’t grasp some things.

Deleted User said 10 years, 11 months ago:

I was raised in a very Catholic home, my mother being very devout. My father is an atheist, so that’s always been an interesting dynamic. Still, I grew up in the Catholic church and made all of the sacraments up until Confirmation.

I was sent to a private, non-denominational Christian school for 13 years. In high school, I began attending the youth group for the Pentecostal church attached to my school. I’ve touched on this a little bit on BlahTherapy radio, but I mostly adopted that faith because I wanted to fit in with all the people there. It was a great way to make friends.

Since being out of high school and experiencing life outside of a sheltered environment, I have completely dropped all forms of organized religion. I have too many issues with the Catholic Church and even more with the Pentecostal Church that I began attending in my teens.

Mostly, I just hated the confusion and guilt that came with those beliefs. I was a good kid my whole life, but I always felt like I had a disappointed God looking down on me…but I was also supposed to believe that he loves and forgives me…but still, I can’t fuck up or do bad things…but I’ll never be perfect…but that’s ok because no one is perfect! But still, you’re guilty… so feel guilty all the time. It never made any sense to me. It still doesn’t to this day.

JoeVI said 10 years, 11 months ago:

@Rexual I see your point, a good person is a good person no matter what religious denomination they belong to, that is something that I can respect. And no to assume someone is going to hell for not being Christian is wrong…even for Christians. We now live in post-Vatican II and we acknowledge that ANY person of good will is welcome into whatever salvation awaits us…unless of course your atheist…then you don’t believe in a salvation in which case whatever salvation a Christian believes there is. Also I would consider forcing someone to believe in something against their will is bad too. @Ruhoodenough I see your family environment didn’t nurture this aspect of your lives properly and that unfortunately led to this confusion. Whether you are happy about it or not is well you business so I’ll leave it at that. I get what your sister is saying that “Why do we need to go to church to talk with God is he is in all of us?” question is something that a lot of people have great conversations with, but then I look at it as “The Lord has been faithful to me, so what kind of person would I be if I couldn’t take an hour or two out of my WEEK to visit Him in his house.” And although I like to keep quiet about the whole praying for other people thing too, I do find that knowing that someone is praying/thinking about them makes them feel better if they are in a slump. Also the whole ostracizing of “sinners” is wrong too. It is a Christian belief in general that all people are children of God, but people forget that and in return separate themselves from people who are considered “sinners” even though we should in actuality be closer to them to try and help them be better people. @Mysterium like the post before yours I think it was just not a proper nurturing. If you are happy good for you if you feel confused try to look into what is confusing you and see if you can grasp it or not. If you can’t then just be good and just, that is all anyone can ask for. @goodnitegracie I could only imagine the dynamics that went on in your home. Yes it is in the teenage years when people being to really doubt their faiths and being 17 myself that is completely understandable. To think that God is disappointed in you is an erroneous concept to some and seems right to others. To me it is erroneous, because in the belief that He is a father to us all we accept that He may be saddened by some of our actions, but to be perfect is something that we can never achieve and so he always forgives us. That is silly to some people, and I can understand why (especially if people have had issues with their own fathers), but it is a doctrine that many people believe in. In the early weeks of his Pontificate, Pope Francis said that it is not God who gets tired of forgiving us, rather it is us who get tired of asking for forgiveness. And I find that true, that asking someone to forgive some error is a lot harder that actually giving it someone who is truly remorseful. @Gail a personal relationship is something of great importance in any faith so kudos to you. Yes the ceremony of the Mass is something that greatly confuses a lot of people so yeah there really is no way around that except to look at their meanings. As for the “mean people” in the Churches I think that they look at themselves as being higher…no puns…that everyone else so they often keep to themselves, which is wrong. @swifting Are you sure it was Roman Catholic cause to assume someone is going to hell out of existence is more Lutheran or Jansenist. And yes a lot of Christians are not like Christ, and that is something that really irks me. Regarding the whole “torturing man for sin thing” that is a little wrong and a little right. The Christian belief is that Jesus came to the earth is human form to save us from sin. Obviously he didn’t just make it all go away, so the question is “What the hell did He do?” the answer that I can think of is that he gave us an example of how to live by (NO NOT BY DYING), but to experience sacrifice to help oneself be better, and to give us the ability to avoid sin by sacrifice (I hope this makes sense aesthetically). And by the way your dad was wrong is assuming you to be a “heathen” if you wanted an abortion for your rape. Although the Church can’t say it is happy with abortion it acknowledges the fact that a woman cannot be forced to carry around a child conceived through such impure and violent means. I’m sorry this post is so long I wanted to try and address everything.

JoeVI said 10 years, 11 months ago:

And it would only make sense to start with this. Look at the Race and Religion forum and you’ll see why.

JoeVI said 10 years, 11 months ago:

Yes we are human and we need to survive. I agree with that. In this post I do not agree with the whole “casting out of sinners thing.” That is a perverse way of thinking. Although many people think that many organized religions think that in reality we are taught to become closer to them to help them become better. If your lack of association with any religion helps you help people who are downtrodden then by all means do not associate yourself with anything. And you are right, no one knows if it is real, but I believe in it, think me crazy if you will, but that is my truth and I will live by it.

Robin said 10 years, 11 months ago:

as for me, personaly, I believe only in what I feel in my heart…and I keep that between God and myself. No one else needs to know, nor would they ever understand. ….Nope, …..it’s between God and myself.