When did you realize religion was bullshit?

Good for you. I really don’t give a shit, op. Do u have a point to make besides being a godless POS.???

^Found the Trumper

R1, it's dinner time. Time to chow down on Herr Trump's shit encrusted asshole. Put on your bib and dig in, the eatin' especially good tonight.

I’m a democrat and voted for Pete in the primary, r2. Sorry, try again!

What has standing up for Jesus got to do with Trump?

Never! I believe in God and Science.

I've been around a long time; since people were living in the dark in the superunknown (which was/is sometimes referred to as the Afterlife). That was before there was life on Earth.

We all knew God.

Most people hated her without reason. She was a skinny, red-haired Jamaican lady that loved her pets very much, especially the rats. She trained people to stop shitting themselves and taught them how to read, speak and walk properly, and then all they wanted to do was spite her.

It was in Catechism class when I was quite young. The nun said that children who don’t get baptized go to hell. I said, “but that’s not the baby’s fault.” And the nun said that’s just the way it is. Unbaptized babies go to hell.

From then on I was a major distraction in class until they kicked me out. The nun didn’t appreciate when I put worms on the picture of Jesus at the front of the room. She wouldn’t have noticed, except they started falling to the floor in the middle of class.

One pastor at a Lutheran school I was forced to go to told us a terrible joke about Jews and saw the look of displeasure on my face (I'm half Jewish) and he tried to explain that Jews were going to hell for not believing in Christ as their savior and I was out. I told my parents that I'd rather face the bullies in public school than deal with that kind of rhetoric. I don't believe in organized religion. Anyone can twist what's in the Bible for their personal gains. Look at what's going on right now. If the virus takes these fake Christians out, then so be it. They already voted in their Anti-Christ.

When I read Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion". I was actually trying to be a more knowledgeable Catholic at the time. I went to Catholic school for 10 years but most the the doctrine never made any sense to me. So I decided to take a course offered by a Catholic priest online. At the same time, I enrolled in a science book club. The one where you agree to buy a book every month or so at regular price and they'll ship you three free books as a "thank you". Well, one of the free books they sent me was The God Delusion. I was ready to toss it, but said to myself I should be open minded and read it. I never looked back at religion after I finished it.

I remember being on the playground at school during recess. It was December, and some kid kept on talking about how Santa was going to come down the chimney and bring him toys, and then he would do the same to all our houses. He flew around in a magic sleigh with reindeer and had a large bag of toys with enough for everyone in the entire world. Right then and there I thought this kid was mentally retarded. The devout, delusional look on his face spoke volumes. That was also the moment I thought religion was absolute, retarded shit. Believing in Santa was/is the exact same thing as believing in a god creature. I was 5.

Rational empiricist here.

Never required any particular epiphany.

R11

Without Saul/Paul, Christianity would have never gotten any traction and would have died out in the 2nd century.

I am not sure about anything. I do ask Christians to explain to me that if the Bible is true, how did the first two people on Earth, Adam and Eve create the world's population at that time. Who did their children marry and have kids with to populate the world. One person said each other. I said so then we are all inbred.

Organized religion is complete and total bullshit. It’s a way to control the masses.

The existence of dinosaurs

Probably somewhere in my 30s, I tried to hang on as long as I could. But, the evidence that there was nothing, is too hard to ignore.

R14 True, religion is for the simpletons and hypocrits .

Around 14. You realize stories about modern religions are no different than stories about Zeus. Fables.

I get a kick out of atheists. Morons!

[quote]Atheist Libertarian...It's the ONLY way to go.

Well, you're half right.

When God chose a white man to represent himself, first grade.

Maybe there's something else that happens with death and there really is a place living things transcend to on a physical level. Something religion or science never accurately nailed.

Maybe it's something aliens know about. Maybe they've seen the matrix. 😆

I remember questioning the existence of God as far back as age 9. I grew up with an agnostic father and a quasi-Irish Catholic mother (i.e., typical cafeteria Catholic who rarely, if ever, went to mass). My dad refused to let my mother raise us kids in any religion, as he felt we should come to it on our own terms if we wanted. I went through a Catholic phase when I was a teenager and went so far as being baptized in the church, but as an adult, I can honestly say that I don't really know.

I don't think religion is bullshit, per se—I think each of them started as philosophies to explain the unexplainable in the world and promote well-being and good-doing. We are the only creatures on this planet who have the cognizant ability to reflect on our own mortality, so it's only natural that we would attempt to seek answers. The problem is that most organized religions have been twisted and perverted into something used to manipulate and control people. I suppose, at this moment, I believe there is some truth in all religions. When you really boil them down to their base elements, most of them have more in common with one another than you might think.

R19 Going to chuch every Sunday is NOT going to get your fat carcass into heaven when you die soon.. you will be wormfood like everyone else you nasty old Foot fetish freak!!

[quote] When God chose a white man to represent himself

?

Religion answers the sightings of unexplained things arriving from the "heavens". Angels "on high" etc. Explains that entities from other planets were here from the beginning of written history. Religion is mythology and a way to control large groups of people.

R20. I don't know which half you think is correct but, being an atheist libertarian is the ONLY thing that makes sense. I can only surmise that you think the "half right" part is being atheist, if so, you have much inquiry ahead of you.

R25 The fact that God is supposed to be equal and He only looked like a fraction of human beings.

The fact God is He. Saw that racist patriarchy.

There is nothing sadder than a Libertarian over the age of 25.

I get some many guys go through that phase at like 19, but then you grow up.

R29

No one goes through any serious inquiry about ANYTHING at 19....no one.

I can see ignorance is your kind of bliss.

[quote]No one goes through any serious inquiry about ANYTHING at 19....no one.

And that stupidity, ladies and gentlemen, sums up the libertarian mindset in one sentence.

I've never believed in an afterlife or a soul since I was a kid. We are just animals. Evolved animals, but still just animals. Religion can teach good moral lessons, but I don't believe there is a punishment coming down the line if you don't follow them.

I do struggle with the creation of existence itself though. I have no reason to doubt the theory of the Big Bang, but where did that initial matter/energy come from? Matter and energy and interchangeable so where did it come from?

So I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a "God" but I wouldn't bet money on it.

Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior!!!

Or my Lord and Taylor!!!

R31

One sentence nevers sums up ANYTHING.

Seriously? Why are you liberals so obsessed with youth? Why?

You constantly try and "woo" the youth vote only to be disappointed...every....single....time.

The vast majority of young people don't give a shit about consequential themes and grand philosophical & political platforms....and rightly so, because they're not wired YET to do so.

I have no interest in a fleeting, transitional stage in human development. Only you suckers on the left are.

Why are atheists such evangelists and zealots for their beliefs? You would think that atheists would lean toward not mentioning religion at all instead of bringing it up incessantly.

I was really young (maybe eight or nine) when I figured it out. I had been raised with Bible stories, but I also loved dinosaurs. I couldn’t figure out how dinosaurs fit in with the Garden of Eden. Eventually it came to me: I could see dinosaur bones, so I knew they existed. But there was no PROOF of anything from the Bible. The light bulb went off that one was true, the other was just an old book of stories. I was done with religion from that point on.

Seventh grade. It really pissed off my parents when I started declaring that I was an atheist. Then in high school I got suckered into playing the "Born Again Christian" game. That pissed off my parents even more. Then in college I pretty much figured out that I had it right all along.

I'm now more of what Christopher Hitchens would call an Anti-theist: "[Someone] could be an atheist and wish that belief in God were correct, [but] an antitheist [...] is someone who is relieved that there's no evidence for such an assertion." He also said, "Life would be miserable if what the faithful affirmed was actually true. There may be people who wish to live their lives under cradle-to-grave divine supervision, a permanent surveillance and monitoring. But I cannot imagine anything more horrible or grotesque.”

R36 I think about this a lot too. The ardent zealot atheists are simply the inverse of Bible-thumping Christians. They're just as obnoxious, just as lazy, and just as boring. There may be no concrete evidence proving God or some form of afterlife (be it heaven, reincarnation, or returning to a ball of electricity somewhere in the ether) , but there's also no evidence concretely disproving it either. The fact of the matter is that no one really knows what happens to us, and to pretend to know one way or the other seems ridiculous to me.

[quote]There may be people who wish to live their lives under cradle-to-grave divine supervision

I would say cradle-to-grave (and beyond) divine comfort and protection. It feels very nice.

[quote]One sentence nevers sums up ANYTHING.

Yeah, it kinda did in this case, as it summed up your contributions to this thread. If you don't like the way you are being judged, then stop writing such idiotic drivel.

When I realized Eve had to fuck her sons for the human species to.continue.

r36, this current crisis has become a struggle of ideologies. Religious people think it's okay to kill themselves and us with it because of their belief they will be ushered to the bosom of God, they believe that Trump is their savior (welcome to your Anti-Christ--aren't you supposed to buy into his bullshit before you see him for what he is?) and they are content to consider this pandemic a hoax, against their rights, etc.. Why the fuck are you on this thread, troll, other than to antagonize people with your superstitious beliefs. Fuck off with your idols.

R43 you are projecting a lot—R36 never claimed to be a Trumper or a holy-rolling Christian. There are sensible religious people who are not Trump supporters and who do not believe the virus is a hoax. What you are referring to is a very vocal, uneducated group of inbreds.

Dad was an atheist yet I went to catholic school because it was the best school in the area.

I would come home confused as I would weigh the Jesus stuff with my Dad’s discussions about how religion is meant to control.

As I grew up, religion made less and less sense

What a coincidence that for the vast majority of the world, the religion they were coincidentally born into turned out to be the true one!

After being a dyehard atheist since I was a teen I "discovered" catholicism in my 40s and it saved my life.

I've been devout ever since

Oh bless your heart R47

'What you are referring to is a very vocal, uneducated group of inbreds.'

I don't think this is projecting at all.

When I realized this "god" was a plushie making $5.35 an hour.

My parents were atheists and did not practice any religion. I was baptized as a tradition. Each time I ran into religious people they had such simplistic views on life that I knew it was not for me.

God chose a “white man” to represent him? You do realize there aren’t white people in the Bible, right?

At the age of 10, my 5 year old brother asked me "why did Mommie die"?

She had just died of breast cancer at the age of 33. At that point, I realized no god would allow that. While I went through the motions of religion, including being an alter boy through high school, I was an aetheist starting at the age of 10.

Alternate.

Without exception every and I do mean every person I know who is hyper religious / consumed by religiosity is trying desperately to over compensate for some character flaw / "sin" they find in themselves. I'm glad their "faith" helps them deal with their guilt over their alcoholism,opiod addiction,infidelity,thievery,previous abortions.child molestation,murders, same sex attraction and just plain self loathing. Since luckily I have none of these issues, don't shove your delusions down my throat.

When I asked my dad what the “proof” was and he said there wasn’t any.

I was never religious, but it was junior high was I decided it was all bullshit. We were learning Greek and Roman “mythology,” and I could not reconcile how that was so easily considered fictional while religion was to be believed.

I was around 8 years old when I though something was up with Catholicism. Then when I was around 14 years old preparing for my confirmation in the final interview with the priest I told him I had a hard time with the faith thing. They confirmed me anyhow.

Of course he next year in my Catholic high school we studied the texts of the King James Version of he Bible. It's there I found out about Genesis IV, 16-20. You know, when Cain goes out of he Garden east into he land of Nod where he knows his wife who bore him Enoch. The question there is who he fuck were he other people in Nod?

Of course that was he seed of my disbelief. The more we studied the more convinced I became that he Bible was NOT he inspired word of a god. It was he words of scribes, of copy error, translation error and even editorializing by scribes.

Fast forward a few years my father and I are in the car, I'm driving. I forget what we were talking about but he said "You never believed in God" And I replied with "You put me through catholic schools in he post Vatican II era and you're right, I don't believe in any god. "

Offered to let him off at the side of the road if he couldn't handle it. And honestly I look forward to the day when we no longer have to profess a sky fairy.

I just instinctively knew from a very early age (like, 7) that it just didn’t make sense, and was obviously fake.

Sorry, True Believers.

No one can prove whether there’s a god or not.

On the other hand, organized religion is the root of all evil.

I eat piles and piles - and PILES - of shit.

R58, is the lower case “t” on your typewriter wobbly?

Oh yeah and since I've studied a number of different Bibles I knew something was up. I mean come on the NSIV Bible cannot bring itself to mention the land of Nod as the KJV does.

And as to he big bang - if you know about string theory and he math behind it, you find there's more than one Universe. So my theory is his Universe came about as he result of a collapse of another Universe. As ours will one day go cold and dark. But there will still be matter. And E=MC^2 has an inverse ENERGY==MASS.

I’m a Christian. I do not believe my faith is bs. I do believe there are false prophets and Elmer Gantries running amok throughout Christian religion and giving it such a bad name. That is why I identify more as a Follower of Christ than a Christian. I’ve said over recent years, “Dude, who hijacked my religion?“

R57 One person's religion is another person's superstition.

R64 Get out of the church now!

If you don't like the way you are being judged, then stop writing such idiotic drivel. R41

I don't even know what being judged means. Seriously. I don't know what it feels. I don't know what emotions I'm supposed to have if I am judged. It's just more liberal, verbal slather.

Your point was that individuals under 25 seriously consider a worldview....LOL I told you no one in that age group considers anything that consequential because they're not mentally developed for that task

You had a hissy fit.

R55 Scratch the surface of a proselytizing moralizer and you'll find a self loathing hypocrite. Every time.

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule

I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black

I held my tongue as she told me

"Son, fear is the heart of love"

So I never went back

What if God was one of us?

Just a slob like one of us

Just a stranger on the bus

Tryin' to make his way home?

Just tryin' to make his way home

Like back up to heaven all alone

Nobody callin' on the phone

'Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

I don't want to start

Any blasphemous rumors

But I think that God's

Got a sick sense of humor

And when I die

I expect to find Him laughing

Emily Dickinson you ain’t.

[quote] Why are atheists such evangelists and zealots for their beliefs? You would think that atheists would lean toward not mentioning religion at all instead of bringing it up incessantly.

Just as their are many believers who keep their faith to themselves, there are many atheists who keep their atheism to themselves.

When I was a freshman in high school I identified as an atheist. My immediate family did not attend church regularly but my parents expressed a belief in generic Protestant Christianity. We read some book in 9th grade English and our public school teacher — a conservative Catholic — asked a question about sin related to the book (maybe it was Jane Eyre???). Another student said anyone who had an abortion was a sinner and would go to hell. I publicly disagreed. My teacher proceeded to interrogate me about abortion rights and God’s directives, ultimately asking if I believed in God. I said I did not, my first outing as an atheist. Bitch Gabe me a B+,‘though I received A or A+ in English in all subsequent years and got the English department award when I graduated. Penalized because I didn’t drink the Kool-Ade

Specifically when I was 8 years old. I recall sitting on the back steps, wondering HOW there could be so many gods/religions. None of it made sense!!!

Religion as the second oldest profession has much in common with the oldest.

What's so wrong with religion controlling things? It's usually more moral than nihilism or Nazism.

When religion is ok, it's ok. Issac Newton wrote more about Christianity and the Trinity than math and physics. Maybe he needed that to guide him as he studied the heavens.

age 5

By age 7. My family was Catholic and when I heard that you could confess all your sins and be forgiven for anything, that's all I needed to know.

Even at the age of 7, I thought to myself, "should they really be telling us that? it tells us we can do whatever we want and still be forgiven".

I also had relatives who were so religious and yet were the worst people on earth outside of church. That's what sealed the deal with me

When our priest, who'd come to our classes once a week for q and a, but mostly just to humblebrag said pets don't go to heaven and women were too dumb to be priests. He tried to save it by saying women cared too much

When three of my neighbors became tax exempt "Pastors".

Age 6, first year of Catholic school. My family did not attend church but my grandmother paid for us kids to go to Catholic school.

Guardian angels, water into wine, no dogs allowed because they don’t have “souls,” unbaptized babies floating around in purgatory: I specifically recall being told about those things in first grade, by a nun, and knew then it was bullshit.

When I was 9 and going through conformation in the Episcopal Church( you're supposed to be around 11 but I went early). The whole story about Jonah and the whale came up during one of the classes. I just looked around the class hoping to catch another wavering auspicious eye, thinking they CAN NOT be serious. Then I realized, it was just me, I was all alone !

When I was about 12. I was walking home from church and I just started laughing and said to myself “really? What a bunch of shit.”

For real? In the third grade.

It hit me how religion seemed wholly determined by geography, and by any assessment was all highly unlikely.

Y'all, they were just metaphors for how to deal with adversity. Just some ancient rabbi steps for how to live life, mixed in with some editing by Emperor Constantine and rewritten by King James' scribes.

I know y'all we're children but you have to take it metaphorically and allegorically. Plus listen up here. I read the Bible the other day and add it to Genesis 1:2 "and the spirit of God moved onto the waters."

Now WTF. We all know from science class we started out in the primordial waters! Maybe this was trying to connect the prokaryotic transformation into eukaryotic cells! All from Chariots of the Gods. The Gods are aliens, they sent their DNA here and it went in the water and that's Genesis. That's how it all happened.

Read that fucking Bible again. There's shit in there, I'm telling you.

R86 Oh, I'm not saying, I don't believe in God, I do. I just realized at that moment while contimplating the Jonah and whale story as it was being discussed , something ( not God) was amiss. Of course I realized later that belief in God and Religion could be separated.

When Father Charles grabbed my 13 year old buttocks, looked straight into my eyes and ran his tongue around his lips. This was when I was being fitted for a Catholic school uniform. My mother was present and oblivious.

On my first night at the Catholic boarding school an older student took us on a tour of the school and, as we walked along the draughty halls and passageways he detailed which monks to avoid. One, in particular, enjoyed taking boys temperatures anally using his fingers. Another sent boys on punishing cross country runs and when they inevitably failed to complete them in the allotted time he would be waiting in his car at the remote finishing destination. There he would rape them against the car as punishment.

I spent five years at the place. Long enough to see how the pious hypocrites told pupils and parishioners how to live while either covering up the abuse of their brothers or participating in one form or another. I was also able to watch the blind acceptance of their rules and standards, ones they rarely followed themselves, by the so aptly named ‘flock’ and recognised what a powerful form of social control it could be. Fear and guilt are such effective manacles.

If there was an all knowing loving ‘God’ that god would be neither as indifferent or as tyrannical. No beneficent, compassionate ‘God’ would countenance the cruelties visited by his creation on their fellows. Equally, if you need the ‘reward’ of eternal life in harmony as encouragement not to harm your fellows then you are no better than a trained animal.

For crying out loud R88, why didn't tell your parents or another family member about this? This has nothing to do with God and everything to do with the local authorities and federal agents. Is that what eventually happened ? Surely this was exposed.

When I was 12 years old, our Midwestern small town Methodist church had a sort of revival rally. And it was focused on the teens in church. We were all marched up to front of the church and were expected to step forward and declare ourselves reborn. I stood there like a statue and refused to do it. I was the only one who wouldn't come forward. I never went back there again -- by mutual agreement. I felt they were brainwashing kids and I refused to do it.

When our Priest didn’t molest me.

[quote] I felt they were brainwashing kids and I refused to do it.

Did you tell your parents that? If so what did they say?

The day I walked into the Vatican.

I was 12. And I looked around at all the splendor that hand't been given to the poor and knew that religion was just another business.

[quote]When our Priest didn’t molest me.

Goodness, you must have been ugly!

[quote]When our Priest didn’t molest me.

Tell me about it. I was a cute kid, but no priest molested me. All the other boys were molested. It made me feel like I wasn't good enough. You think I got a viable lawsuit?

I actually gave up on God before religion. At least with organized religions you have systems that exist for a reason. Like-minded people congregating to celebrate their shared vision has a purpose. But God? I never really did once I was able to think for myself. I am just now realizing that, despite growing up going to mass and performing all the rituals of the Catholic Church, I never did believe. I am 60 years old and I am just now understanding it. I guess I was fearful of a vengeful god/God in my youth, however.

Who knew that a simple question on a forum like DL would provoke me to dig deep for an answer?

When I realized that 95% of what people pray for could also be directed at Santa Claus.

I don't think I was even 10 years old when I realized it was all bullshit.

I had a children's Bible story book. One of the early ones was about how Abraham was directed to sacrifice his son on an altar. There was a picture with a boy strapped down and Abraham with a knife held over his head.

Then basically God said - "Nah! I was just testing your faith!"

Being a boy of the same age, I thought God must be some sick fucker and Abraham was a horrible dad. I wouldn't say it turned me just there and then - but let's just say it always seemed to be this belief that everyone had except me.

I would see religiosity around me and think - is everyone in agreement here? It just seemed so strange and woe to you if you questioned it.

Now there's so much information on internet, it's so easy to see how it is man-made. I can't believe anyone buys into it.

Sometimes I wonder if I had the only parents in America who were ambivalent about religion. There was no talk of it in our house and I didn't learn about Jesus until a neighbor kid told me about him when I was five. Then his mom sat me down and explained that people who don't believe in Jesus burn in hell forever. It was the first I'd heard of Jesus and how he loves people so much he burns them in fire for eternity if they don't love him back.

It provoked my imagination and scared me, but I couldn't relate to it. I mean, I loved many things as a 5-year old, but none in a way that would make me want to burn them in fire. Jesus seemed more like a villain than a hero.

For years after I learned of Jesus' love I thought there might be something wrong with me, because as I grew up there were kids in my school whose families seemed to believe - and of course I began to recognize it on TV and all over the place in our culture. It wasn't until I was an adult and realized that it's just one of the facts of life that there are people susceptible to believing religious stories are facts and I didn't get the "belief" gene.

R100 - people want to believe in 'magic' and be told what to do and not think for themselves. Then there's the constant pressure to believe or risk being ostracised by family AND being told that you will spend the rest of your life burning in hell.

What people fail to realize is that there were tons and tons of people who questioned religion and church practices. And they were killed. Painfully.

Most people forget that they believe in their religion because somewhere along the line of history, someone put a gun (metaphorically) to their ancestor's head and said "believe this or you die".

People did not CHOOSE their religion because it was the best one. There are so many people under this delusion. They focus on the Christians who were persecuted in the 2nd century but seem to forget about the reverse persecution afterwards.

Unfortunately, most of the muslim world is still under this mortal threat.

When the priest performed fellatio on me and swallowed my load and told me it was all part of God’s plan.

When the Nun was in cucumber patch... going up and down ,up and down.

I was probably 12 when I realized I was an atheist. I had a civil confirmation and opted out of the church as soon as I could.

My mother was a wonderful person. She never took us to church - she loathed organized religion and said most of the people in our town were hypocrites that smiled at you on Sunday and talked shit about you all week long. (She totally had their numbers, believe me.)

Anyway, she believed in God and prayed, but what I appreciated with what she did for us...well, at least for me, was to sit with the Bible if a question came up, a moral dilemma, a story on the news. I can't tell you exactly what we talked about, but what she instilled in me was to think carefully before making a judgement, that there might be multiple ways to look at a problem, that grabbing glory for yourself at the expense of others was a horrible thing.

I am now a Unitarian because a lot of that has overlap (e.g. everyone has value, the things you do will affect others) but that's not a belief oriented religion. Atheists and agnostics are members too. I like the social aspects and the rituals, but appreciate that there's no one way to do things. It reminds me of when Mom and I would talk over those moral questions. Who is involved? Who benefits, who loses?

I don't believe in a literal way in any sort of religion. People will roll their eyes at me but I feel that you can sort of harness an energy when people are praying or thinking good thoughts, and I think what we call "God" might be that energy. But I don't think there's a Sky Being who acts like some sort of Santa. That makes no sense and would represent so much cruelty on behalf of such a being.

I do think there may be mysteries beyond our consciousness. I can appreciate a lot of Buddhist teachings, which are more about a journey than an Almighty. I have had moments where I felt the presence of people that makes me think there's a spirit world. But no, I haven't had the unquestioning belief in traditional middle of the road religion as sold in this country since I was a teenager.

The thing that broke it for me, ironically, was when our fundie neighbors relentlessly recruited me and a few others in our housing plan for a sunday Bible camp - which was essentially riding an old schoolbus to their church every Sunday. I knew when they were offering kids toys and even money to bring in new members that there was something terribly, terribly wrong with that picture.

I can get behind some of the stories of the Bible as wise allegories or fables about human behavior. But I leave behind the pretzel logic of some of the things that make no sense or exist to manipulate believers or control people.

As much as I despise alchemy for most intents and purposes, it can be used to confirm that God exists.

Use magic to ask the lie detector spell if God is real. You will always get a "true" or "yes" as an answer, without fail.

God was and is originally Black-multiracial and female. She's had three lifetimes; the first as herself in the superunknown, where she came into being alone and spontaneously; the second as Jesus Christ, and the third as Dan Harada. She's herself again these days after having been born in 1987 and resents having had to be reborn as a man twice, although it was part of her fate.

She's also limitless, an intellectual and a hobbyist, perhaps the most accomplished human being being on the planet. Although her spirit, soul and personality are beyond perfect, she is steered by a head party of about 11 idiots at almost all times.

Angelina Jolie gets her facial merges and physical magic from God. AJ is actually really dusty-looking and homely without her beloved physical magic, which she'd have no career or status as a sex symbol without.

The moment I was coerced into putting my last quarter into the collection basket. I was five.

[quote]The moment I was coerced into putting my last quarter into the collection basket. I was five.

But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money!

I can remember being very young - 8 maybe? When I found out Santa wasn't real, I started asking about all the other fantasies, including God, etc. My religious grandmother was actually very patient with a persistent little nerdy kid who was just asking out of genuine interest. No one could ever give me enough factual information, so I wrote off God just like I did with Easter Bunny, Santa, etc.

My favorite thing about believers, especially the ones here, is how unhinged they sound. It's like they can feel their grip on reality slowly failing, and they blame everybody else but themselves for that. It's hilarious, really, and they all look like fucking fools. I mean, they always have, but they especially look like fools now.

What bothers them the most is that no one gives a fuck about their faith anymore. It's helping literally NOBODY and it's actually GETTING PEOPLE KILLED, which is ironic considering Jesus healed leprosy. He didn't spread it. Whatever though... believers will dash lemming-like wherever their pious little hearts tell them to. Off a cliff is what they seem to like now, so let them eat dirt.

The church my mother dragged me to when I was a child was not particularly conservative. A Methodist church in the 1960s was a pretty quiet place. The politicization it is experiencing is much more recent. This church had a "Confirmation" ceremony for children after they turned 12 years of age. Leading up to it was several months of indoctrination into the tenets of the Methodist faith. They called it instruction. I thought it was all intimidation. That's what Christians do. Intimidate. Get on board or you're going to Hell!

Even though I was only 12, I bristled at all of it. Hated it. I thought everything I was being "taught" was wrong and I thought it was wrong to be pushed into it. But 12 year olds are not 16 year olds. I was not ready to be as rebellious as I needed to be to defend myself from the church's instruction. Of course, if they waited until 16 to confirm young people, their haul would be reduced nearly to zero. So I went along with it, at least outwardly. I went to the classes. I got up in front of the congregation with the other kids my age and did as I was nudged to do. But I had my fingers crossed. Even at 12, I thought the entirety of the doctrine being laid out was appalling. And I still do.

The moral and ethical teachings of Jesus Christ are entirely secondary to the Christian faith. The absolute bedrock issue is that you get in line and conform your identity to that of a Christian. Join the team. Everything else, all the teachings, all the examples... eh.

R108 if I could ww your post more than once I would!

I remember talking to my dad about tithing and saying, "Why would I give money to an institution that's against me? Why not give the money to an environmental org?" I never paid tithe lol. I actually left the church at around 18. First year of college or so. My parents are still in the church, but we thankfully have a good relationship. I know a shit ton about the Bible though, and can read Hebrew and am deeply familiar with the Old Testament and enough of the New to know that no one [italic]really[/italic] knows what they're talking about. Religious scholars do, but their knowledge is distinct from faith-based knowledge.

Humanity's a HOT MESS!

R113, which church?

When an Episcopal priest I was friendly with revealed to me over cocktails that God is not a being but way of life, in that God is anything that is good and positive and life affirming. He said the church preaches that God is a real being because to preach anything else would be the end of the church and society would have nothing to believe in any longer.

He didn't "reveal" anything, R115, but his own personal thoughts on the matter of the nature of God. He's got no inside scoop.

114 Seventh-day Adventist.

Sorry, that was meant for R114.

R116 he certainly had an inside scoop on the true feelings about "God" of the Episcopal church.

Religiosity should be classified as a mental illness.

When you non believers are burning in the fires of hell. You'll be wishing you had believed, but sadly, it will be too late.

And there is r121, right on time, to prove R120's point.

R121

M

A

R

Y

!!!!!!

V I R G I N

M A R Y

Fixed it for R123

R121 Fires of Hell

[quote] 114 Seventh-day Adventist.

Thank you.

My parents were at most lukewarm Christians, my mother somewhat more so. Her family had had a lot to do with funding the growth of Methodism in America, but when I was a child she went to church only now and then, to chauffeur around old woman friends and, occasionally, to help with some charitable event. We never prayed and what I knew of religion came from television or my mother's explanation of why people go to church. I was never taken to church, nor do I recall my father ever going until I announced at age 10 that I was an atheist. I had seen Madalyn Murray O'Hare on the Phil Donahue Show and thought: yes, agreed, that's a load of nonsense.

My parents were oddly bothered by this and insisted on hauling me to church. My father and I ate two rolls of Lifesavers and I would smirk when he pointed out a woman with an ugly hat or a man picking at his ear hair. We never went again and never really talked about religion until college days or later.

R127, what was said in your college days?

R128: Not much. After I was living on my own my mother asked a couple of times if I ever went to church. I explained, no, I don't believe in a god nor like religion. She pretended to be mildly surprised each time. That was the the nature of the conversation if it ever arose.

Thanks, R127/R129.

1. When I found out the priest of my parish molested my classmates (and me? I can't remember) after having been transferred to a new parish with the church's full knowledge of his previous molestations.

2. When tRump got elected president and he wasn't quickly struck down.

^^ He wasn't much of a priest if you can't remember.

They made the mistake of teaching the bible to a heathen like me. I was 15. Loved it but it also made me secular. They should only teach it to believers if they know what's good for them.

Vengeful old testament god vs forgive new testament God. About 5 miss daisy's sunday school class. I got in trouble and learned to shut up.

Years later at the church for a funeral in the fellowship hall miss daisy's donated books filled the bookshelves. One was like The Magic of the Vagina...it was a self love guide!

From a non-Christian perspective:

I was raised in a (very) Reform Jewish household. We were the only Jews in our suburban neighborhood so, in addition to being teased by the neighbor boys and being called a fairy and a sissy, I was called a 'dirty Jew' and was told I was going to hell. I guess it bothered me, but not to any great extent. I disliked going to synagogue on Friday nights because that's when THE ADDAMS FAMILY was on, and I hated to miss it (no VCRs in the 1960s). I always felt bad about missing school in September for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because they fall early in the term and it always made me feel like an outsider to be absent when everybody else was in class, just getting to know each other.

I went to a Jewish summer camp when I was 12 and LOVED it. Aside from the joy of group showers and getting to see all my friends naked when we changed for swimming session (little pervert that I was), I enjoyed the rituals and melodies. But nothing ever really clicked for me. I went through the motions but it never felt 'right'. Same with my Bar Mitzvah. It felt like checking off boxes on a list of Things I Need To Do To Keep My Parents Happy.

In my 9th grade Sunday School class we studied comparative religion. Every Sunday we'd visit another church. All very nice, but I kept thinking 'If there is one god, why are there so many different religions?', so I guess that's when I got off the religion train.

Later, I would accompany my parents to synagogue (rarely) when they got older and didn't want to drive at night, but as soon as they died, I was officially done. Now I only go for weddings and funerals.

One day, well into my 50s, I heard the author Phil Zuckerman on the radio discussing his book LIVING THE SECULAR LIFE so I went out and bought it and finally, everything clicked for me.

R121: And your assumption that there is a hell where we'll burn is interesting. As an example in the Old Testament there's no mention of Hell. None. It isn't until the texts of the New Testament where it gets defined. And know where the concept for it came from, it was he Persians aka modern day Iran where it originated.

And here's one for you, what language was he original New Testament written in? It was Greek. Not Aramaic, not any Semitic language. Plus there are the multiple revisions of the Bible in the KJV, NIV, NSIV et al.

What the Hell is r106 on?

[quote] When I realized Eve had to fuck her sons for the human species to.continue.

What the Hell Bible are you reading?

[quote] Plus there are the multiple revisions of the Bible in the KJV, NIV, NSIV et al.

Those are not revisions, those are translations.

I was in the hospital after a suicide attempt. I was 16. The pastor of my church visited me. He told me not to listen to anything that they psychiatrists were saying to me. I was crying by the time he left. I told my mother not to allow him back because I didn't want of his religious bullshit. She told him. The doctors were pissed at him. I, being a good kid later went to the church and apologized to him, but I didn't mean it.

R133 here. ETA And then I read Why I am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell. Not that I was one either but still.

I'll have to say a lil prayer against y'all.

At St. Rose. In the 60s.

In theology class. A girl asked why their weren't women apostles. The priest said that women and men held separate, distinct roles to Jesus and help him serve. The girl responded something like "Isn't that kind of sexist" Father Wassisface obviously wasn't prepared for the question, and it seemed hadn't really contemplated it himself. He left the priesthood a few years later, incidentally.

This is the moment where it clicked for me. Priests don't know what they are talking about half the time, this one just wasn't quick enough to answer "God works in mysterious ways" when faced with a contradiction. It was surprisingly calming to learn.

In the 80s, when Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and the rest of the Religious RIght. started speaking for "God" and "God" did nothing to correct it. Also, judgmental hypocrites like R1, R33, R36,, r47, and r64 exposed the true face of Christianity during the AIDS crisis.

I come from a family of mixed religions.

While some of them pray as a ritual, not for religious reasons, nobody forced me to pick one or any religion as a crutch.

Education and knowledge was always more important than belief in fairytales/religion. Of course, a part of me thinks being ignorant is more of a bliss in this world than being knowledgeable. But I'll never know now.

^^^ I come from a family of...

R137 is exceedingly stupid.

It's really quite simple and all you have to do is look at history. Man created God (or gods), not the other way around. If it comforts you to think there is an all-knowing, all-seeing, all powerful entity that watches over you and guides you through life then fine. But it's not true.

And wouldn't you say just looking around that if there was a God, he's really fucked up a lot of times.