| Something I've noticed about ex-Christians
Posted: 3/8/2005 9:08:10 PM | | There is something I have noticed about ex-Christians, not just on this forum but elsewhere as well. They all seem to have been either Catholic or Pentecostal/Charismatic. Now I know as soon as I post this someone will come along claiming they used to be a Methodist, but that is ok. It is not a blanket statement, just something I have observed. In fact, I was raised Lutheran and became a Pentecostal as a teen. Years later, wondering if there really was a God, I left the Pentecostals and re-joined the Lutheran Church where my sanity and belief in God returned. So I have some personal experience here as well. Anyone have any ideas or comments about this? | |
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| Something I've noticed about ex-Christians
Posted: 3/8/2005 11:16:14 PM | | Not sure exactly what you are asking but here goes. I was catholic, i stopped believing in God, the bible and organized religion, here i am now. | |
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| Something I've noticed about ex-Christians
Posted: 3/9/2005 12:51:36 AM | Maybe you are biased...you are in Lutheran environment so are only exposed to people who came back to Lutheran church.
Cause when I still went to my Charismatic church I sure heard of a lot of people who came back to church. | |
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| Something I've noticed about ex-Christians
Posted: 3/9/2005 6:27:56 AM | | The term ex-Christian really bothers me! I understand the thought behind the term, but I am of the belief that if you are ever a true believer in Christ, you can't just up and not believe. If someone claims to be an ex-Christian, then more than likely they never had a true relationship with Christ....maybe only an emotional, superficial relationship. Just my two cents! | |
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| Something I've noticed about ex-Christians
Posted: 3/9/2005 9:08:39 AM | or maybe, there's no such thing as a "relationship with christ" because it turns out he's no more real than santa claus.
see, the existence of ex-christians is threatening to your worldview. if someone who sincerely believed comes to no longer believe, it opens up the possibility that everything you know is wrong, and that's too terrifying a possibility for a christian to consider, so they have to hide behind the "you were never a True Christian(TM)" line.
never mind that that's just the No True Scotsman fallacy rearing its ugly head. | |
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craww
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Joined: 2/16/2005
Msg: 7 | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 9:34:34 AM | i suspect a lot of so called ex-christians who talk about it continually like gamerdork really do still believe but they are just pissed cause they didn't get the goodies they wanted.
so they bash god and christians.
kinda like satan being mad that he can't act selfishly with self destructive behavior and still live forever...then blaming god. | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 9:51:00 AM | @rdtoo
I think that is because people who come from strict religious background are often the ones that speak the loudest, because their anger and pain seems much deeper due to the fact that it had intergrated into every part of their childhood. | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 1:45:15 PM | nope, try again.
i went through a phase where i believed in but hated god, and wished i didnt hate him but couldnt help my feelings. then i discovered "universalism" and thought that was the answer, but then started to realise it didnt hold water, but what it did do was open me up toward questioning the bible. once i started to question the bible i realised how full of holes and contradictions it was, and the last vestiges of my christianity had finally slipped away, and i was finally free.
but forever scarred. it's like that for anyone who gets involved in a cult. they never truly recover, there is always some permanent damage.
christianity is just as much a cult as any fringe religion. the difference is its a socially accepted one. but the doctrines of christianity are built on the same formula as the teachings of cults - they're built for control and the destruction of the identity of self, so that the group identity becomes the only identity. | |
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craww
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Joined: 2/16/2005
Msg: 10 | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 2:04:16 PM | you make your veiw pointsound so honest gamerdork, and i am not the judge.
maybe you really believe that stuff.
satan probably believes it too. his process of picking the truths that are available have to do with picking selfish lies and condemning the truth.
then he claims god is unjust........... you claim god doesn't exist. and the nation of israel was a fake, and all their history was fake, and jesus was fake.
it's the same pattern, i'm familiar with it.
meanwhile, you spend your time bashing god. | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 3:13:28 PM | read your bible, satan works for god.
god TOLD him to do all that sh*tto job. | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 3:13:59 PM | Not that I want to jump in on either side...because truthfully, spitting venom from either side is usually counterproductive for all sides.
But he's not bashing god. God, bless his lightning throwing, locust plaguing, frog raining heart is not the topic at all...
He's bashing christianity. And I suspect that 'sound so honest' really underlies the problem.
He is being honest, about what christianity did to him. By saying he "sounds" honest...and that "maybe" he really believes this stuff, well, you're being a bit insulting to his reality. Not saying that he's not being insulting to yours with your religion, but let's be careful with glass houses, shall we?
And trust me, if there is a god, and there is a satan, and there is a considerable 'weighing of good and bad' going on at the end of the line...whoever it is that screwed him up is going to have a lot more to answer to than he will for his reaction to it. | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 3:15:55 PM | If someone claims to be an ex-Christian, then more than likely they never had a true relationship with Christ....maybe only an emotional, superficial relationship.
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| Something I've noticed about ex-Christians
Posted: 3/9/2005 3:24:16 PM | If you read my old diaries that I wrote when I still went to church, you would see that I really really believed deep down.
As far as this comment is concerned: really do still believe but they are just pissed cause they didn't get the goodies they wanted
I stopped believing BECAUSE I did not get what I wanted AND because I gradually discovered that the bible is full of condradictions etc...
If it was only one problem...I would probably still believe.
If my prayers were always answered but the Bible was faulty I would say well, God is taking good care of me so he's making the bible confound the wise and he said in the bible my prayers would be answered and they are so the rest must be true.
If my prayers weren't answered but the Bible was without one speck of contradiction I would say well, God's word is truth. I believe what he has said here.... I know God is doing everything for my own good. Things will work out eventually.
But the TWO problems together were just too much. So really, you're only half right.
There are other issues I have too but I won't go into them now. | |
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mudbug
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Joined: 2/15/2005
Msg: 15 | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 3:38:15 PM | [quote]If you read my old diaries that I wrote when I still went to church, you would see that I really really believed deep down.[/quote]
same here, there's old message board posts i have under an old screen name that i look at and think "holy sh*ti used to be ****ING INSANE!"
i remember at one point i was seriously considering emasculating myself because of that verse in the bible that says "if your hand causes you to sin cut it off" | |
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mudbug
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Joined: 2/15/2005
Msg: 17 | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 3:39:06 PM | ::::::sharp intake of breath::::::::;;
YOUR SOULL!!!!!!!!
aren't you gamer? | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 4:04:07 PM | | Indeed I was Lutheran. It's a very vanilla religion, comforting to the old folks who don't want to put a lot of energy into their faith. I left because it was just too tame. Since then I've found voodoo, and let me tell you, that's some exciting religion! What other faith includes the creation of zombies? Now excuse me, I gotta go read some entrails. | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 4:12:40 PM | | <---- just a regular old christian.......i don't hold any grudge against god or peoples beliefs......just the ass-holes who treated me like crap....... | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 4:15:02 PM |
Since then I've found voodoo, and let me tell you, that's some exciting religion! What other faith includes the creation of zombies? Now excuse me, I gotta go read some entrails.
I am intrigued by your beliefs and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. | |
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Posted: 3/9/2005 6:45:43 PM | I was hoping for a civil conversation for a change, but that is alot to hope for on this board. Someone always has to play one upmanship even when there is nothing at stake. The thread was not started so I could say "A-ha, I got you now". It was just something I have noticed. I am in full agreement with Woodrow that the back and forth bickering is not helpful to either side.
I remember when I was attending Charismatic meetings and we went to an event at a Presbyterian Church. I was floored how emotionally stable and grounded in the Faith the Presbyterians seemed. So different from the emotional roller coaster Charismatics. That helped me later on when I decided to walk away. | |
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craww
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Joined: 2/16/2005
Msg: 22 | |
| job and game er dork
Posted: 3/9/2005 7:17:11 PM | i see you know about job, gamerdork.
yes, god gave satan permission.
so you are busy bashing god......... and you believe in him like satan? | |
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craww
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Joined: 2/16/2005
Msg: 23 | |
| the bible is fault y
Posted: 3/9/2005 7:28:02 PM | dance in your pants,
so the bible is faulty?
hmmm............. i think you should be yourself and stand before god. are you sure the bible is full of it? | |
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| the bible is fault y
Posted: 3/10/2005 6:32:13 AM | | People who say they are ex-christians are just that, i mean i know i wasn't a go to church every sunday guy, but i sure as hell believed very faithfully in gods existance and often had religious discussions with my freinds and even my family. I am a very religious person and a former Luthern. I just woke up one day and realized that most of the stuff God does in the bible was really cruel... and spiteful, i suppose that seems harsh but thats just my take on it. So i found a path that better suited myself, i chose the path of the Wiccian(or witch) and have had a better and closer relationship with my gods then i ever did the christian God. In fact i can say he never said sh*tto me when i was going to church, and let me say my gods speak to me when i ask somthing and thats probably the biggest reason i stay, not to mention i just can't stand how almost all Jedo-Chrsitian faiths seem to bash all other faiths(not every person does this but the bible in general states its the only one right and true way a real miff with me). So yea i'm an Ex-Christian and proud of it better to be free willed then a slave and servent of God. | |
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| the bible is fault y
Posted: 3/10/2005 7:27:45 AM | | Loci, would you mind sharing with us what your "gods" are saying to you? | |
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