Shut up and have faith
Sent in by Chris
Let me first say that this site is a haven from Bible spouting Christian people that I encounter. I am a 23-year-old black man who has come to the decision that I despise religion. I have not grown up on it as others may have, but encountered it at the beginning of my teens. My mother converted to Baptist after years of never going to church and began on me and my brother. I will stop on personal story to tell all here (even the foolish Christians) that I converted to atheism because of doubts and the sneaky ways of Christian followers.
Let's start with the doubts that fuel my separation from Christianity and other forms of religion. The first being the question is how an all-powerful and all-knowing God can allow such pain to even exist if he is so loving. Then there's the question of how the Bible can speak of the beginning when nobody was there. Another question is why I have to repent and suffer for the sins of an idiot ancestor. And there is the constant sorrow of trying to stay on the righteous path that is supposed to give me peace of mind, and it doesn't. The constant question of which of the world religions is the true path, since they all claim to be the 1-and-only path in life. Why is it that we consider those who here God from Bible days as miraculous, and yet now the same situation would give you a padded cell? Why prayer and faith DO NOT WORK. Yet, the worst part to all the doubt and questions is that when asked to a Christian, you are told a slew of things that all add up to... "Shut up and have faith!"
So what do you do in this situation? My answer was to abandon God and spirituality completely. Since all religions claim to have the path, I chose to stand outside them all. I chose to remove myself from religion to get an unbiased view of them all. This is when I started to see the true side of Christians. The two-faced, ignorant, hatefulness: the everything that they say they are not. The driving force for my stubbornness regarding religion has been Christians. The ones that insult me when they believe I am a devil worshiper. Those that feel the need to convert me as though I'm broken. The one's who nag and nag and nag... to the point that I want to put super glue in their mouth. In the Christian's attempt to change my mind they have only pushed me further away.
Today, I'm still an atheist, but one who has taken on Buddhist philosophy. I ignore them (Christians) and laugh to myself. To this I say to Christians: You can do more by not trying than by fervently pursuing. I believe in balance, action through inaction, one's personal thoughts and feelings are what you make them and the same applies to others. To me the more I am preached to, the more I despise your God, the Bible, and it's followers. And here's the worst part, if Christians are what it means to follow the word of "God," I'd rather be in Hell. The Bible gives me no comfort and neither does prayer. I will shape my future, or die trying. I will live as I see fit in fairness, happiness, and understanding. For me I know who I am, and it is not to be found in the Bible.
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Let me first say that this site is a haven from Bible spouting Christian people that I encounter. I am a 23-year-old black man who has come to the decision that I despise religion. I have not grown up on it as others may have, but encountered it at the beginning of my teens. My mother converted to Baptist after years of never going to church and began on me and my brother. I will stop on personal story to tell all here (even the foolish Christians) that I converted to atheism because of doubts and the sneaky ways of Christian followers.
Let's start with the doubts that fuel my separation from Christianity and other forms of religion. The first being the question is how an all-powerful and all-knowing God can allow such pain to even exist if he is so loving. Then there's the question of how the Bible can speak of the beginning when nobody was there. Another question is why I have to repent and suffer for the sins of an idiot ancestor. And there is the constant sorrow of trying to stay on the righteous path that is supposed to give me peace of mind, and it doesn't. The constant question of which of the world religions is the true path, since they all claim to be the 1-and-only path in life. Why is it that we consider those who here God from Bible days as miraculous, and yet now the same situation would give you a padded cell? Why prayer and faith DO NOT WORK. Yet, the worst part to all the doubt and questions is that when asked to a Christian, you are told a slew of things that all add up to... "Shut up and have faith!"
So what do you do in this situation? My answer was to abandon God and spirituality completely. Since all religions claim to have the path, I chose to stand outside them all. I chose to remove myself from religion to get an unbiased view of them all. This is when I started to see the true side of Christians. The two-faced, ignorant, hatefulness: the everything that they say they are not. The driving force for my stubbornness regarding religion has been Christians. The ones that insult me when they believe I am a devil worshiper. Those that feel the need to convert me as though I'm broken. The one's who nag and nag and nag... to the point that I want to put super glue in their mouth. In the Christian's attempt to change my mind they have only pushed me further away.
Today, I'm still an atheist, but one who has taken on Buddhist philosophy. I ignore them (Christians) and laugh to myself. To this I say to Christians: You can do more by not trying than by fervently pursuing. I believe in balance, action through inaction, one's personal thoughts and feelings are what you make them and the same applies to others. To me the more I am preached to, the more I despise your God, the Bible, and it's followers. And here's the worst part, if Christians are what it means to follow the word of "God," I'd rather be in Hell. The Bible gives me no comfort and neither does prayer. I will shape my future, or die trying. I will live as I see fit in fairness, happiness, and understanding. For me I know who I am, and it is not to be found in the Bible.
To monitor comments posted to this topic, use
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Comments
Now that I've moved on from christianity, I can see how much I've truly fucked up my life due to 'christian' ideals.
It's too late to fix this tragedy.
christianity sux.
Anyway, I am glad to know I'm not alone in this struggle. It is easy to feel that way, since atheists are usually independent thinkers and don't gather like sheep as christians do. But, when we get together, we usually are like 10 church services in 1 meeting. At least with our brain power.
Hope to read more of your thoughts in the forum.
Intriguing. I like the sound of this. ;)
Like you I'm an atheist and I've embraced Buddhist and Taoist philosophies, and I find them much more beneficial than praying to some make believe man in the sky.
I'm 29 and I wish I had deconverted when I was 23! Lucky you.
I really like the way you said that. Original sin is one of the most immoral religious doctrines Christianity has. Combine that with the doctrine of hell and you have one monstrous deity there.
would make very good politicians.
The very fact that they're upfront
about their beliefs, or the lack thereof, shows they're way too honest for political office!
Meanwhile, there are plenty of
office seekers who will cover
their ineptitude and dishonesty
under the cloak of Christianity.
As a matter of fact, there's this
guy in the White House...
Atheist, who was happy Atheists
had little chance of being elected
to political office. I guess his
comments have been removed.
Well, wherever the hell he/she/it went---for a Theist, that's an impossible concept if "A-theist" means lack of belief in godS(and it does).
That would mean that this person who claims to be anti-Atheist would have to believe, not only in their own "God" of choice, but EVERY god known to man. They cannot deny ANY gods, else, they cannot be "Anti-Atheist".
"Anti-Atheist" said: By the way, your hate filled rant about how you despise religion just means that you have moved from one brand of fundamentalism to another.
Yes, yes, moron..."tit-for-tat". Okay, even if such an assertion were true---so then, whAT?..."fundamentalism" is bad?....or it's "good"? If it's "bad", then you haven't really accomplished anything for your position, have you?....shit = shit, right?(rhetorical) If "fundamentalism" is "good", then "yay" for us. We can pass out Atheist tracts. lol
"Anti-Atheist" continues: Fortunately, the chances of any atheist being elected to political office and getting power over me is very low.
Yes, yes!... I'd muCH rather be told what to do by a leader who formulates his daily agenda by having conversations with an invisible life-coach-in-the-sky, through his hair dryer.
Oh, wait, speaking of....
LMAO!
WEBMASTER SAID:
<<< Anti-atheist is a long-time troll. He posts the same thing every time. >>>
If "Anti-Atheist" is a christian, then it wouldn't surprise me that he does post the same thing everytime.
Most christians repeat the same thing everytime, because they don't know how to be creative. They are taught not to think for themselves, and rely on their god to make decisions in life.
your friend, philip
"just wait til you see MY agenda!!!"
webmaster: i know i'm gonna get booted eventually. you should probably just pull the trigger now. I WANNA BE FAMOUS!!!!
"action through inaction"
This appeals to my laziness in a way that feels sooo right.
As a black man, church is a big thing in my community and I will be extremely isolated if I stop believing. No one wants to be around someone that is considered a heathen in the bible and it sucks. I'm thinking about just being an undercover agnostic for now just to ease the pain of telling my family and friends. I'm just not ready to lose everything yet. Props to you for telling everyone how you really feel.
That's true about a lot of Christians. They don't want to be around anyone who doesn't subscribe to their beliefs. They don't want to be associated with anyone who is open minded. That's the way they have been taught to be.
If christians were loving, like their God taught them to be, they would not act like that.
All I will say D, is if they can't accept you for who "YOU" are, than they never truly cared about you in the first place.
That's the problem with most christians. They aren't willing to accept people for "WHO" they are, they mostly accept people for "WHAT" they believe.
Best wishes to you.
If you are not true to yourself you will allways be questioning things. There will allways be someone who shuns you. Wethter you like it or not, the world is only what you make it. I am atheist because I am, nobody can change that since that is a part of who I am. I will not be moved. I will not be changed. I will not be controled. African- americans have been slaves fartoo long, and I bow to nobody, nothing, or hateful god.
I have made my stand, can you make yours?
I have to disagree with Poltergoost a little, though. Human love is human love, with or without a sky-daddy to worship. A person's family will always love them on some level (if they ever did.)
Would D's family treat him differently if he told them he was no longer a believer? Almost certainly. They may even choose Jesus over their lost family member, but I don't think they would stop loving him.
Becoming an apostate in a group of true believers will be painful and difficult, which is why some of us choose to do it in secret.
It's not for everyone, granted, but for me, for now, it works.
Thanks for the post.
As a white man I have often wondered why black culture seems to embrace Christianity, when it is that same Christianity that preached the benefits and of slavery so long, and kept it in force in the U.S. for hundreds of years.
For me the slavery issue was one of the things that showed me that if there was a loving god, it was not the god of the bible. The whole concept of slavery just makes me sick.
So my question for you is why does the fact that the bible supports slavery, and the fact that bible believing Christians enforced slavery because of their faith, not send more black people away from the garbage that is in the bible? Do they just ignore it? How do they explain it away?
I am curious as to your opinion on this, or the opinion of any other person of color.
And Congrats on getting out of mental mess that is Christianity at so young an age.
The only answer is that Christianity is now a part of black culture. Just as "Soulffood" is a part of black culture, even though the direct link to slavery times. Christianity's nature puts a veil over the eyes of the believers, making it possible for them to believe that everything is ok when it's not. Also Making it possible for them be ignorant to the world as it truly is and believe with blind belief
So, to make it simple, the same religion that was forced upon us as a people also keeps us believeing in the tradition.
That makes sense.
You said:
"Christianity's nature puts a veil over the eyes of the believers, making it possible for them to believe that everything is ok when it's not."
That kind of sums it up for the way people ignore all sorts of weirdness about Christianity.
Thanks.
Lance