Did religion play a negative role in your upbringing?

[Leros]

I got kicked out of boy scouts for not being Christian. I lost several of my friends for not being Christian. Both of those were tough.

 

[JS80]

I got kicked out of boy scouts for not being Christian. I lost several of my friends for not being Christian. Both of those were tough.

Shens. More than half my Boy Scouts peers were Jewish.

 

[Leros]

Shens. More than half my Boy Scouts peers were Jewish.

You're supposed to be Christian. Part of the boy scout pledge says something about God.

 

[ahenkel]

I got kicked out of boy scouts for not being Christian. I lost several of my friends for not being Christian. Both of those were tough.

Ugh my best friend in high school got swallowed up by the foursquare church that infested the school. Went from rational thinking intelligent to mindless bible quoting drone.

 

[schneiderguy]

My parents made me go to church on Christmas which always sucked. Other than that I was never forced to go. So besides ruining every Christmas morning until I was 18 it didn't have any negative role

 

[kia75]

You're supposed to be Christian. Part of the boy scout pledge says something about God.

You're supposed to believe in a higher power. Whether that higher power is Yaweh, Jesus, Allah, or Bob Saget, the Boy Scouts don't care.

Of course, since so much of the Boyscouts is organized locally, a lot of this stuff depends on the specific den you attend.

Some dens are perfectly fine with Atheist scouts (though technically they shouldn't be allowed in). One den I attended was run by Mormans and if you weren't Morman you faced discrimination.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I was bored to death and made somewhat nervous during church services. In the end all religion did was demonstrate to me that religion was bullshit. Despite what mystics, shamans, preachers, rabbi, ministers, priests, and grand hoobaahs of all orders will say, I believe that is the only real knowledge religion has to offer.

 

[El Guaraguao]

I lost a very good friend to Christianity many years ago. :\

It always makes me laugh when people bring up stuff like that as some sort of argument against Christianity. You need to know your enemy before you can really fight him.

Whats so funny about stoning a woman to death if shes not a virgin on the wedding day? What enemy are you talking about? I think its a valid argument against Christianity, especially the crap thats in the old testament.

Oh wait, were supposed to not take the bible literally and leave it to another man (pastor) to decipher the holy text to us mere mortals. 🙄

Bible publishers really should consider adding this label to their bibles

 

[JS80]

You're supposed to be Christian. Part of the boy scout pledge says something about God.

Not too bright are you

 

[rudeguy]

It definitely played a negative roll in mine. I was raised with a vengeful God and had no idea what He was really like. I thought he was only there to punish me and condemn me for my sins.

After 30 years I finally found out who He really is and I am so grateful. I can't stand religion.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Raised Catholic. I don't think it had much of an effect on me other than I went to better schools that the public ones, without my parents spending private school money for them.

My parents aren't really very religious either. We only started going to Mass regularly when we switched from the public schools in to the private schools.

 

[rudeguy]

I lost a very good friend to Christianity many years ago. :\



Whats so funny about stoning a woman to death if shes not a virgin on the wedding day? What enemy are you talking about? I think its a valid argument against Christianity, especially the crap thats in the old testament.

Oh wait, were supposed to not take the bible literally and leave it to another man (pastor) to decipher the holy text to us mere mortals. 🙄

Bible publishers really should consider adding this label to their bibles

Have you ever actually read the whole thing?

The Law of Moses was rendered null when Jesus lived perfectly by it. Your argument would be great against Jews or possibly Muslims, but not the Bible.

 

[SlitheryDee]

It definitely played a negative roll in mine. I was raised with a vengeful God and had no idea what He was really like. I thought he was only there to punish me and condemn me for my sins.

After 30 years I finally found out who He really is and I am so grateful. I can't stand religion.

This is a notion I never understood. You can't cut God loose from the thing that first introduced you to the idea of him. That's like refusing to believe that eggs come from chickens because you don't like fowl. Actually It's more like "I don't like the way this looks, I think I'll make something better up". Actually it's more like "I can't believe in that and consider myself a decent person. I think I'll invent something that works better and pretend that I 'realized' it through some sort of divine revelation". "The base religion that I'm "editing" for my own purposes is still out there though. I'll speak out against it and hint at some deeper knowledge (the same aforementioned knowledge that I made up and am pretending that I 'realized')."

I think that if you can convince yourself that God is somehow approving of the random thoughts that enter your head; you then empower yourself to put words in his mouth for your own peace of mind.

 

[dud]

It did for me. Everything I learned revolved around the bible and the small group of worshipers that attended my church. This has led to among other problems:

- stopped me from getting to know and learn to cope with different types of people

- made me think of sex as something forbidden (yeah, this one really sucks)

- And now that I don't believe in the tenets of Christianity I have been marred with low self-esteem because it is really hard to get over doing the contrary to what one was taught growing up.

- Family is dysfunctional because problems are solved by waiting on a god

- other non-believing brother is stigmatized by my family for REALLY getting away from their ideals.

Anyone else?

Yeah, it's always easier to blame someone else for your problems.

This is the worst place to discuss the subject ... that is unless you want a biased opinion. Few users here believe in anything other than their computer and monitor sitting in front of their eyes.

 

[Dumac]

I can't really call the role religion played negative, but it did definitely play a role.

As I kid, I couldn't find a religion that suited me. I tried a good bit. Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Unitarian, Mormon, etc, but not on them ever felt right. So after a while, my beliefs became private based, and then I evolved into an agnostic/weak athiest.

I remember a lot of lessons taught at church confusing me and making me feel like I was doing something wrong. For example, I remember my CCD teacher telling me and me and my family were going to hell because we watched FRIENDS, in a lecture called "TV Shows That People Who Go TO Hell Watch".

Then, come highschool, I was partially outcast for not being big on Jesus. My school's population was mostly Christian. I remember kid's saying Obama was a muslim and that he only swore his hand on the Qu'ran. I also remember when my friend was suspended for saying he didn't believe in God. Thankfully, I found a group of friends who were equally non-Religious. They also happened to be the upper portion of the class, grade-wise.

 

[rudeguy]

This is a notion I never understood. You can't cut God loose from the thing that first introduced you to the idea of him. That's like refusing to believe that eggs come from chickens because you don't like fowl. Actually It's more like "I don't like the way this looks, I think I'll make something better up". Actually it's more like "I can't believe in that and consider myself a decent person. I think I'll invent something that works better and pretend that I 'realized' it through some sort of divine revelation". "The base religion that I'm "editing" for my own purposes is still out there though. I'll speak out against it and hint at some deeper knowledge (the same aforementioned knowledge that I made up and am pretending that I 'realized')."

I think that of you can convince yourself that God is somehow approving of the random thoughts that enter your head; you then empower yourself to put words in his mouth for your own peace of mind.

I live by the Word and Spirit...not just the word.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I live by the Word and Spirit...not just the word.

Fair enough. I still don't understand how people can think that way. I won't argue the point further though.

 

[IAteYourMother]

nm

 

[coloumb]

Nope honestly when I look back my 15 years in the church was fairly positive. I've been a non believer most of my life, but part of it was spent I guess you could say testing it out because It's the social norm. I went to the same church as my parents. I remember the pastor believing in evolution, and not taking the bible literally. He was fairly liberal which was nice because you could ask questions and not told to shut up or you'll go to hell.

My wife attended the Catholic school system in Canada - she often question "religion" [using scientific facts] and was often kicked out of class. 😀

I grew up with the option of going to church and/or following a religion. Of the few times I did go - I really never understood why people go to church - you dress up, go sit down on an uncomfortable bench, and sing a few songs.

Honestly - the only reason I would go to church now - to find a reliable [and trustworthy] babysitter for when the wife and I want to get out because both our families are too far away to help out. 🙂

 

[rudeguy]

Fair enough. I still don't understand how people can think that way. I won't argue the point further though.

I'm really not trying to argue. I just see modern religion as another attempt for man to control man. Look at all the rulings, decisions and bullshit that the church puts out. Who are they to decide what others should do? We were given the Holy Spirit so that we wouldn't have to rely on prophets and church leaders anymore.

My life changed when someone I know to be very Christian told me that Satan is thriving in the modern church. It makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[angminas]

Where does it say you shouldn't take drugs in Christianity? How do you differentiate taking an asprin or drinking alcohol from smoking crack in your mind if so? Because one is illegal in laws created by man and the other two aren't?

Oh, COME ON.

Maybe those were bad examples, but I just wanted to generalize, "Bad stuff" in general. Sex is clearly in the bible as being a bad thing to do unless it's with the person you are married with. Drugs probably are probably debatable. The Bible does say to obey your authorities, which means the law, so if it's against the law to do something, then don't do it or you sin. Of course there are acceptation to that, if there are laws put in place that force you to do things against the Bible. Like when Jesus broke the laws of the sabbath by healing people, he was still committing good deeds and it was not a sin.

Jesus didn't break THE laws of the Sabbath...he broke MEN'S laws of the Sabbath in the process of obeying GOD'S laws of the Sabbath. Gotta be careful with how you phrase such things, or you're continuing the process of misunderstanding and deception.

Satan is God's enemy right? So if you refuse to obey God, why would Satan punish you? You'd be his ally, no? 😉

Don't be ridiculous. Even evil human beings turn on and betray their former supporters. If Satan is the origin of sin, do you seriously think he would have coffee and donuts ready in Hell? Satan hates us, because God loves us. Anything Satan does to hurt us is a spit in God's face. Not that I believe in Hell as it's commonly portrayed.

I'm really not trying to argue. I just see modern religion as another attempt for man to control man. Look at all the rulings, decisions and bullshit that the church puts out. Who are they to decide what others should do? We were given the Holy Spirit so that we wouldn't have to rely on prophets and church leaders anymore.

My life changed when someone I know to be very Christian told me that Satan is thriving in the modern church. It makes a lot of sense to me.

Yes, MODERN religion is pretty messed up, and yes, it's significantly or maybe even mostly run by Satan. Most forms of "Christianity" today have little to do with what's actually in the Bible. I could go on and on and on with examples, and will post some if you like. The existence of bad religion doesn't mean there's no good religion out there.

The Holy Spirit isn't there to keep us from relying on church leaders. The New Testament is chock full of people with the Holy Spirit attending church regularly and relying on church leaders. Neither are the church leaders there to keep us from relying on God. Does the existence of mothers and fathers mean we don't need brothers and sisters, or vice versa?

******************************

Blaming things on "religion" is a copout. Saying that all religion is bad is a copout. Most people just like to wad up issues or people and toss them in neat little baskets, but that's a coward's solution. Ever hear the phrase "Guns don't kill people- people kill people"? Well, there ya go.

 

[rudeguy]

Oh, COME ON.

Yes, MODERN religion is pretty messed up, and yes, it's significantly or maybe even mostly run by Satan. Most forms of "Christianity" today have little to do with what's actually in the Bible. I could go on and on and on with examples, and will post some if you like. The existence of bad religion doesn't mean there's no good religion out there.

The Holy Spirit isn't there to keep us from relying on church leaders. The New Testament is chock full of people with the Holy Spirit attending church regularly and relying on church leaders. Neither are the church leaders there to keep us from relying on God. Does the existence of mothers and fathers mean we don't need brothers and sisters, or vice versa?

******************************

Blaming things on "religion" is a copout. Saying that all religion is bad is a copout. Most people just like to wad up issues or people and toss them in neat little baskets, but that's a coward's solution. Ever hear the phrase "Guns don't kill people- people kill people"? Well, there ya go.

There are some that need to be led, other that lead and then there are people like me that will never fit into religion's neat little rows. If you truly believe the scripture, each of us receives different spiritual gifts and this is what make each of us a part in the body of Christ and the Church. I freely share my gifts and draw off of other's gifts. However I don't go to a certain building at a certain time on a set day of the week to sing songs that I don't understand and listen to someone else tell me about what God has shared with them. I prefer to go to the source.

And yes I said it, the Church is not a building.

 

[shortylickens]

Gee, I could never imagine a thread like this going downhill.

 

[TridenT]

Gee, I could never imagine a thread like this going downhill.

It can only go towards the heavens... :awe:

 

[evident]

nah, really gave me a perspective and a moral compass and made me a much better person for it. I went to catholic schools all my life including college and can see how some shitty teachers can totally miss the point and give students a very bad taste in their mouth about religion.

I'm moderatly religious, but not a bible toting asshole