Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susie O on July 7, 2009 at 1:25am

Hi everyone,
This is my first ever post here after lurking around for a while trying to get the feel of things.
I would imagine that is pretty common! I'm so impressed with this site, the members, and the discussions here. How refreshing!

I'm a 53 y.o. woman, married for 28 years, childless by choice.

I grew up in a Lutheran church and then became pretty much agnostic/positive thought/semi-metaphysical from when I graduated from high school until I was 41 y.o.

I got re-introduced (badgered) to Christianity through my super fundamental sister. I rejoined the Lutheran church, then went off with her to join a very fundamental Pentecostal style home church. Full of conspiracy nuts, tongues talkers and bible thumpers.

Anyway, after 3 years of that it became a requirement to cover my head and wear only dresses. I began to see the complete stupidity of it. My husband the lifelong atheist was sure happy!

I can't remember who said, "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."
I think it is the single best quote I have ever read. I changed how I looked at the bible and christian beliefs and can't believe I ever fell for it!

Anyway, haven't come out to my family yet. I know the day is coming soon though. My husband and I are on exactly the same page finally, thank goodness. We have good friends that are very like minded so it's fun to learn with them too. Can't wait til the day that atheism is the norm, and not the "weird uncle." :o)

Thanks for your time. I look forward to reading more about you all in the future.

Permalink Reply by William Young on July 19, 2009 at 5:42pm

Started out as a Catholic. Was also a Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist for a time.

Permalink Reply by William Young on November 21, 2009 at 8:14pm

I started out as a Catholic then went through a number of other sects, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist etc. and finally chucked the whole deal first as a deist, then an agnostic and finally threw of the yoke completely and declared myself Atheist. The whole process took from age 20 to age 45.

Permalink Reply by Richard Healy on July 6, 2010 at 10:49am

I don't think I ever was a denomination, religion never quite got it's hooks into me in that way.

The Church I was taken to as a child, if I can distinguish it like that, was a United Reformed Church set up my some ex-pat Scottish Presbyterians living south of the border.

My memories of it are mostly centred on the Sunday school / crèche part - where there was some religion on show but mostly arts and crafts. I remember making cristingle candles out of satsuma, a candle and some tine foil, shredded wheat nests with chocolate eggs in for Easter and inordinate amounts of glitter and non-toxic glue

I do remember we had children's bible's there becuase it had "good news" on the front. I always wondered but never asked what that was supposed to be. To me good news would be "schools cancelled" or "free Nintendos." But it was just a story book about stuff I largely didn't understand. It always impressed me that the pages were so thin and the drawings so terrible. I remember we covered the usual, loaves and fishes, good Samaritans and they were to me just stories.

In fact a great deal of the experience sailed me by completely.

I was back there recently (mum still goes so I get roped in for doing the heavy lifting)

And I made a point of detouring through the kids bit - and on the wall were heavily glittered decorative posters saying things like "Jesus's loves changes me like a butterfly." (on a cut-out piece of card in the shape of a butterfly.)

Which as a metaphor fails utterly - Christians don't pupate (... or do they?) but I thought was emblematic of why they failed to get me. I still have no real idea what that means twenty years later.

Permalink Reply by Sicile on July 9, 2010 at 12:02am

I was raised very fundamental, Independent Baptist. We did not belong to the Southern Baptist Assoc. because "those" people were too liberal!

Permalink Reply by Preacher's Kid on September 23, 2010 at 1:45am

Raised Pentecostal. With the whole speaking in tongues and baptism in the Holy Spirit. It's pretty terrible, but the worst of the worst are the Charismatic denominations. They're all about the "signs and wonders", which involve ridiculous claims like gold dust appearing on people's palms, people sweating holy oil, and diamonds and angel feathers falling from the sky. My father once invited one of those lunatics to a youth retreat, and the guy was all talk. The only spectacle was his ability to bully teens into buying into his garbage. It just made me despise religion even more.

Permalink Reply by Noh Name on November 18, 2010 at 7:25am

I was raised in both pentecostal (assemblies of god) and independent baptist churches. There were some differences in opinion about speaking in tongues, how much whooping and hollering was permissible, and the unofficial dress codes. Other than that there wasn't much of a difference in ideologies. I saw the baptist church as stuck in the '50s and the pentecostal as more relaxed but essentially they were pushing the same messages. Praying to jesus for salvation, symbolism of baptism, free will, the devil was out to get you, the Moral Majority was right, patriotism=belief in god/jesus=patriotism, etc. When I realized they were poisoning my mind I didn't flee one and not the other I left hating both equally.

Perhaps if I were able to live out the scenarios of growing up baptist only, and then growing up pentecostal only , I could compare them. I could possibly say "Yes leaving one was easier than leaving the other." But to me they were always an equal influence despite the differences. So from my experience neither one was easier/more difficult to leave. They both fed me full of self loathing, doubt, fear, hate, anger, depression and an in ability to cope or function as a human being. It took me just a moment to recognize that I needed to leave and it's taken me 18 years to learn what was wrong and how to move beyond that programming.

Permalink Reply by John Harber on September 20, 2012 at 11:34pm

Southern Baptist in the buckle of the bible belt.

Permalink Reply by diane sholly on January 9, 2013 at 9:42pm

I was brought up as a Mormon. I just quit the church and god a little over a month ago after 18 years of lies. Before I quit, the members told me that they loved me and would be there for me "no matter what". Since I quit the church and god, these people have not spoken one word to me.

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