The lies the Catholic church fed me
sent in by Laura
I was born in a strict Catholic family and to a father that still attends church regularly and a mother that is atheist. So ofcoarse they HAD to have me baptized to clean off the original sin so I wouldn't burn in hell!
My brother and I had to go to Sunday school weekly and when I was eight I made my First Communion. I was fed the typical lies that the church teaches you like that Eve was born from Adam's rib or Jesus rose from his grave after being dead for 3 days.
For a very short time I actually believed it, then it just didn't make sense to me anymore. So when I was 13 I became pretty much atheist and skipped Sunday school . About a year later when I was 14 and my brother had just made his confirmation and it came to that time for me.
Luckliy my parents decided to let me decide whether to make my confirmation or not. Ofcoarse I said no and finished my last year of Sunday school, never to return to church again. I was sick of being atheist and wanted to belong to some kind of spiritual path when I started reading about Witchcraft and Paganism.
I soon found that the beliefs in the Goddess/God and practices of magick fit my style and I started studying the craft. All of this made so much sense to me and very spiritualy happy. I couldn't be sure whether there was a higher being or not so I became a agnostic Pagan, because it's impossible to know.
And that is my story.
Sex: female
City: Plattsburgh
State: NY
Country: USA
Became a Christian: When I was a baby, I had no choice
Ceased being a Christian: 13
Labels before: Roman Catholic Church
Labels now: Agnostic Pagan
Why I joined: I was forced to
Why I left: I didn't believe in it anymore
Email Address: Drama at Dublin.com
I was born in a strict Catholic family and to a father that still attends church regularly and a mother that is atheist. So ofcoarse they HAD to have me baptized to clean off the original sin so I wouldn't burn in hell!
My brother and I had to go to Sunday school weekly and when I was eight I made my First Communion. I was fed the typical lies that the church teaches you like that Eve was born from Adam's rib or Jesus rose from his grave after being dead for 3 days.
For a very short time I actually believed it, then it just didn't make sense to me anymore. So when I was 13 I became pretty much atheist and skipped Sunday school . About a year later when I was 14 and my brother had just made his confirmation and it came to that time for me.
Luckliy my parents decided to let me decide whether to make my confirmation or not. Ofcoarse I said no and finished my last year of Sunday school, never to return to church again. I was sick of being atheist and wanted to belong to some kind of spiritual path when I started reading about Witchcraft and Paganism.
I soon found that the beliefs in the Goddess/God and practices of magick fit my style and I started studying the craft. All of this made so much sense to me and very spiritualy happy. I couldn't be sure whether there was a higher being or not so I became a agnostic Pagan, because it's impossible to know.
And that is my story.
Sex: female
City: Plattsburgh
State: NY
Country: USA
Became a Christian: When I was a baby, I had no choice
Ceased being a Christian: 13
Labels before: Roman Catholic Church
Labels now: Agnostic Pagan
Why I joined: I was forced to
Why I left: I didn't believe in it anymore
Email Address: Drama at Dublin.com
Comments
You are trying to place strict (and, I believe, inappropriate) interpretations on informal summaries of what were, undoubtedly, complex personal choices. Hence, your assertions of logical shortcomings are out of place.
Moreover, it is perfectly reasonable for one to reject a belief system, and yet remain "unsure" for the following reason: Rejecting an argument, and therefore not believing in the truth of the proposition in question, is NOT the same as proving that the proposition is false. If I tell you that the core of Pluto is made of Rubidium, you may be curious as to how I know. If I then tell you that I reached that conclusion via my Ouija board, you would be quite right to NOT believe my claim, even though, technically, you have not ruled out the possibility that Pluto's core is made of Rubidium.
So it is with religions in general. You may tell me that there is an all-powerful invisible sentient being who can create galaxies at his whim. Of course, I am curious as to how you know that to be true, so I ask how you came to hold that belief. If you were to then point to an ancient book (written largely anonymously), or to an ineffable feeling, or to some strange occurrences, etc., am I not being rational in rejecting your claim unless or until those reasons are shown to be well-founded?
and how you came to know that they were lies. Just curious if you don't mind sharing since you didn't really explain what the lies were, but your heading is "The lies the Catholic Church fed me" :)
Also, im interested in which part of Witchcraft made sense, where Catholicism did not.
I am glad that you are spiritually happy, but would be interested in hearing more detail.
This post seems more like therapy for the one posting, because it sure leaves a lot to be desired when I read it. This text reads more like an unispired complaint letter than a convincing or heart felt testimony. She is basically saying that because she failed to understand the message, she rejected it, and has not found an appropriate replacemnet yet. the search for a replacement would indicate feelings of missing something or needing some kind of spiritual guidance. Spiritual guidance is the exact purpose and mission of the church. It is often very easy to criticise the "lies" of others but never question the "lies" we tell ourselves out of fear and uninformed conclusions. My prayers go out to all of you, for some of you, this is a matter of life and death and for me it is just a fun writing excercise.
"My prayers go out to all of you, for some of you, this is a matter of life and death and for me it is just a fun writing excercise."
Prayers?..more f%#king "prayers"? Listen up, Noah, and all other Christians---there are "prayers" being said for us on this website all day long, 365 days@ yr....and look...?...where is the evidence that your boy, Jebus, has EVER lifted a finger to answer your whimsical little prayers and "save" us all?....better yet, SAVE JUST ONE OF US!?!?!?! WHERE, Noah? Give us the "details"....::wink::
Your god doesn't exist, Noah. It's 2006, Noah.....time to grown up---you're a big boy now.
It is hilarious when they refer to "spiritual guidance." I guess they need to think up some sort of so-called cure for not being able to "find" what doesn't exist.
Noah, please fuck off.
By the way, that is art, right?
Everyday of my life is a blessing, not because I deserve it, but because God has compassion and unending love. He protects me and enables me to show his creative power and sense of humor to the rest of the world. These are things that I could never even ask for in prayer, they are what I am constantly thankful for. God has shown himself to me so clearly - through the people I know and all the beauty I am constantly overwhelmed with. That is why I pray that every human being could one day could see this and take ownership of all aspects of their being.
Noah: "Everyday of my life is a blessing, not because I deserve it, but because God has compassion and unending love."
Firstly, what exactly is a "blessing", Noah?.... Anybody? Surely it CANNOT mean that just because things "go well for Noah", that he has some special "benevolent" force looking after him. I mean, if that were the case, well, Christians have been asking their god for "His blessing" for thousands of years, and yet, we see suffering all around us....so God is certainly letting some people down, it would seem. If "suffering" is something that is part of a "plan"?...no thanks. If suffering is something that God can't prevent, then he's not worth my worshipping him/her/it.
And "unending love", you say? Not to be crass....but READ YOUR F%CKING BIBLE, Noah. The "love" ENDS the day you reject Jesus. Period. If the "choice" your Jesus offered was a really a choice and not coersion, the choices would not contrast each other to such a high degree. In other words, if your Jesus was so "loving", "He" wouldn't need the alternate option set up to "scare" you into the first option. Example of a balanced choice: "You can have steak for dinner....or if that doen't appeal to you, then you can have lobster". The biblical equivilant(coersion): "You can have steak for dinner...or if that doesn't appeal to you, I will dowse you charcoal lighter fluid and set you on fire." Duh.
Noah: "He protects me and enables me to show his creative power and sense of humor to the rest of the world."
He protects you? YOU? What about the thousands of starving children in third-world nations--nations that have supposedly been getting "God's blessing" for years? Or this the "humor" you speak of? "Ha ha...look at the little children with flys living in their noses...good one, God!"
Noah: "These are things that I could never even ask for in prayer, they are what I am constantly thankful for."
Prayer is useless. Utterly USELESS. Noah, please get as many Christians together as you can, join hands, and pray that this website is closed down by this monday at noon. Pray with all your might, Noah...."Uuuuhhhh! Amen".
Noah: "God has shown himself to me so clearly - through the people I know and all the beauty I am constantly overwhelmed with."
Why is it, Noah, that I can see ALL of the beauty around me that you see; all of the postitive influences that my friends and family offer, yet, I don't have or need a belief in God? And it's not because God really exists, and I don't just don't know it. If God's existance were evident, we wouldn't be having this debate. Here's why, Noah---God doesn't exist and is nothing more than a placebo for weak-minded people.
Noah: "That is why I pray that every human being could one day could see this and take ownership of all aspects of their being."
We've already established that prayer is useless superstition. BTW, to take "ownership" of yourself goes totally against what the bible teaches. The bible teaches to be totally 100% dependent on Jesus. GOD OWNS YOU, Noah!..you have no "self".
The off topic stabs just emphasize the fragmented understanding of what the Church actually teaches. The truth is not twisted very easily to one who understands it.
I have found meditation and prayer to be very centering activities and I would recommend them to anyone. Bashing such a non-confrontational and peace oriented activity is quite a contradiction coming from someone familiar with the horrors of war.
IMO, I think the initial "confusion" is that you either over-looked, or blatantly ignored the "sign on the front door". Your argument, like most of the Christians who oddly wish to share their subjective experiences here, amounts to "I still believe"--- which, that is pretty much immaterial to an EX-Christian. If I am in error and you didn't already know that---now you know.
"I was not attempting to explain human pain and suffering, nor convince anyone of the right way to think."
Loosely assuming that you didn't already know-----in Christianity, the notion that one DOES in fact have the "right way to think" is IMPLIED. Remember, most of us used to think exactly as you do. Offer us something different, for a change, k?
"I have not requested anything other than for people to use wisdom and respect as they communicate with each other."
Right-O, and we HAVE used that "wisdom"....and what we've concluded is that Christianity, like all religions, is based on mythology, and has zero referent in reality. I'd be willing to bet that if you could forget about the reward you've been promised in exchange for your belief, you could begin to look at Christianity objectively, and thereby deduce it as false---just like the hundreds of other religions that you ALREADY dismiss as false. Give it a try, won't you?
"The off topic stabs just emphasize the fragmented understanding of what the Church actually teaches."
No stabs...just honesty. Notice that, not you as a person, but the way that you think is what turns my stomach. Just like your implication that anyone who isn't a Christian like Noah, has a "fragmented" understanding of Christianity...i.e.."we did something WRONG"...."it's our OWN fault"..blah, blah, blah. I'm sorry, but it's redundant and annoying. Again, please offer us something different.
"The truth is not twisted very easily to one who understands it."
::yawn::......see, Noah? More of the same condescending tripe. Something different, please.
"I have found meditation and prayer to be very centering activities and I would recommend them to anyone. Bashing such a non-confrontational and peace oriented activity is quite a contradiction coming from someone familiar with the horrors of war."
The "horrors of war"? Boy, that came from outta left field. Care to elaborate?... and back it with facts? BTW, when people fly in here and ramble on about how they're going to "pray for us", etc...well, y'know what, Noah?...that IS "confrontational"...because, again, it implies that we NEED something, or lack something..i.e...that we are "deficient" in some way. Personally, I resent the implication. The fact that prayer is useless, is secondary. Take care.
Although most of everything that I posted makes absolutely no sense, I m sure God understands my intent of literal conveyance. Oh dear me! it must surely be Time For Tea. Ta Ta
First to anony 10/05/06. You stated that " As much as the Catholic Church would have you believe that they are Christian, they are the greatest FALSE RELIGION out there. The Catholic Church has all kinds of Pagan practices that are not Biblical."
First, everything you know is because of the catholic church. You claim it to be false and full of paganism. I agree and since all of christianity is built on the catholic myghology, then all of christianity is mythological in nature!
To anony 10/17/06, I also attended catholic schools for 12 years. It also preaches that salvation can only be achieved through the "one true apostolic faith". Meaning that if you are not a catholic, you will go to hell!
To both of you jesus freaks, just because it is in the bible does not make is so, right or worthy of any worship! Get a life!
Holy bout--15 rounds: "Shepherd's Chapel TV" VS "A billion" sold Catholics. Which one has the one and only "Truth"?
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
Which is it: Is it okay to call unbelievers fools or not?
A reading of the page linked will show that an exception is granted to those found to be innocently ignorant. They are given the benefit of the doubt in regards to salvation. However, those who are willful in their rejection of the Catholic faith... those people go straight to hell.
Think about it: Why exactly did you quote this verse here? Hmm?
We are ex-Christians. We know that verse. You weren't educating anyone.
Admit it to yourself — you are being disingenuous. You typed that verse because you wanted to lash out and call everyone who disagrees with your petty little deity and your ludicrous religion, a fool.
You sir, are a liar.
And if the majority decides truth, then Zeus exists, the world is flat and the center of the universe, and it is impossible to fly or go to the moon.
The majority is a mob. MObs have has never been a good place to find any kind of truth.
WHAT "big guy"?
What movie or restraunt would most people go to. The one that most people are saying is great or the one most people are avoiding?
McDonalds: BILLIONS served. Now, is it really a "great" restaurant?....or is it just CONVENIENT?(pun intended)
The atheist is actualy a tiny minority in this world.
Irrelevant conclusion. Fundonymous---"truth" isn't determined by popular vote. Back is your mythological Jebus' hay-day, the majority believed that the earth was flat.
I was pretty sure that I had retained something from my 12 years of brainwashing!
Anony, you would be wise to research your own faith before you ASSume you know what you are talking about!
I like it when someone real will be there for me. It is better than talking to imaginary friends like jesus!
Also, your pope is a neo-nazi bastard!
Fundonymous,
When I have a hunger for greasy food, sure, I'll hit a McDonalds. The difference being---if I choose to not eat there, Ronald's not going to track me down and send me into a fiery BBQ pit with Grimace. I like your analogy though---yes, Christianity is the "McDonalds" of religious beliefs--it's fast, convenient, many people pushing it are uneducated...::cough::..and after you partake of it, hours later you get a sick feeling deep down in your stomach = )
Ha You have a choice. A freewill. Research and follow you heart. Good luck.
Fundonymous, you have freewill too: You can choose lies and legendary thinking--or you can choose reality. In the mean time, please stop your amateur evangelizing. Thanks.
Most modern democratic societies on the globe right now have representative governments. The US is a republic.
True democracy is mob rule, that's why our founding fathers set it up the way it is. In Mob rule, the rights of minorities are trampled.
When the Catholic Church reigned supreme for 10 centuries, it was rule by the majority at the expense of everyone else. And it was called the Dark Ages.
You would do well to read it yourself.
I did read it myself. That's how I was able to point out your ignorance of your own religion.
At least know what the hell your religion preaches before you attempt to become an evangelist for it.
The most dedicated Christians are are frequently the most ignorant.
God has apparently hidden his truth from the wise, and given them instead to the most rude, arrogant and obnoxious idiots on the planet.
It says, "God must love stupid people because he made so many of them".
After reading the Divinci Code(which i realize is a totally ficticious novel). I did not believe in the Priory of Sion or anything, but I did have this one question that I still 2 years cannot answer. WAS/IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CORRUPTED? if so then can we really trust the quality of the information that is presented to us about Christianity? ( THE HOLY BIBLE) I am majoring in History, at the University of Texas, and to me all historical evidence pointed to the the Church's only concern from about 5,00 a.d to mabye even present day, was togain power to make money. then their is also the fact that their have been numerous historical documents found from around the same time as the one's in the New Testament that contradict the New Testament. I dont know what to think. All i know now is that their is a God, he created the Earth, and to believe anything else would just seem to me like a lost cause. I cannot call myself a christian, because I belsieve in God, but now the word of man, as is what is in the Bible. If anyone has any advice, or just wants to answer any question please feel free, because i am completly lost in life, and that may be from a lack of faith.
I hope I can get you at least consider this possibility: You are NOT lost--you are in fact in a very good position to set about making a reasoned judgment of your own. The being "lost" metaphor is probably something that has been instilled in you through Christianity. That is, to reject or to even seriously doubt the doctrines of the church is somehow unacceptable and one who does so is to be pitied. In my opinion, the very best favor you can do for yourself is to grant yourself the freedom to question and to investigate. There is not a doctrine in the world that is worth adhering to if it is false; therefore, any doctrine that insulates itself from critical inquiry ought not be respected.
Now, I say you are actually in a good position because you appear to be open to different possibilities. Use that to your advantage. Read. Study. Debate. Contemplate. Don't feel you need to come down on one side or the other until the evidence clearly dictates which is the most plausible. Many of the regulars here will be happy to share what they have learned and to answer questions. But be warned--there are no "sacred cows" here; and, by the very nature of this site, most here have already come to the conclusion that religions are *all* man-made and crumble under close scrutiny. If you can seriously consider that possibility, then welcome aboard.
this is anonymous my name is actually justin. thank you for responding, and what you said was really what i was hoping someone to say. I dont really know know whether illl become a "christian" or not. i know ill always dislike/mistrust the church. but believing in God..... Like you said this isnt the best sight to look for bible pushers, but it awesome to be able to just talk about what is really a very foggy area for me. so thank you
It's like, Hey I'm God, over here, you can't see me and no-one ever has, but if you do not believe in me or Jesus, then you're going straight to hell.
Does that sound like a reasonable thing for a loving God to do?
I God exist, because it says in a book written by men, that I God exist, therefore there's your proof.
A hell exists, because it says in a book written by men, that a hell exists, therefore there's your proof.
Now you have to wonder if a real God exists, or if this God does not have enough confidence in himself to make his presense known to people, without a single hesitant doubt.
Which is more plausible?
1. A God that exists, only from the pages of a book, written by humans?
2. An invisible God that stays hid, and is totally the fabrication of the human mind?
3. A loving God, whom often shows his presense and intervenes frequently and saves people from disaster, starvation, and diseases and casts no judgement based upon what a person chooses to believe?
4. None of the above?
Which of the four examples above strikes a tone of reason within one's own rational thinking sound mind?
the points that you have pointed out are very true. one cannot trust or even begin to have eason that God is real because of wht humans have written or say. The only question is now though is how was the world created, humans... how theycame into existence/... and everything that is outsideside of this earth. Many people have many theory's, but all have no proff. so the big question is...is their any supernatural powers? anything beyond what we see in our everyday lives. God mabye a world that humans created, and people will argue whether he is real or not forever, and noone will ever be certain, because the true answer that....