http://www.scribd.com/doc/14080011/88-Reasons-Why-The-Rapture-Will-Be-in-1988

What a bunch of bullshit. The guy who wrote it went to a lot of trouble. All for nothing except to look foolish...

Jesus, if he lived in history at all, is long dead. He ain't never coming back...

"In a season of suffering, we may question God's intentions. But, sometimes His plans for deliverance are greater than our desire for relief."

This was posted by a slave with no brain. Once you get to the point you can acknowledge the absence of god's hand of protection and justify it by calling this a "season of suffering" and a plan of deliverance. WHAT PLAN! I have a finite brain and I can think of a better plan. The posts get worse but this one really set me off. I want so bad to post...

"If there was no god, what would the world look like?"

But I cant bring my self to do it so I deal with this.

The Governor of Oklahoma was interviewed and was asked how people could help. Her answer? "PRAYER!" Seriously? talk to the sky to help? Thats worse than doing nothing because its wasting energy that can be used to rebuild house, hug a childless parent, etc. what more PROOF do you need that THERE IS NO GOD.

also she has been telling my kids not to listen to anyone ( my bf, who doesn't tell them anything or try to discipline them anyways) and this resulted in them coming back very disrespectful and my 6 yr old has been not listening to her teachers at school.  Also I didn't let them go to my moms house for nearly a month and they were very well behaved and my 6 yr old was on green ( very good alll day) at school that entire time!  anyone else have to deal with family like this?? ( also my 6 yr old spent the night at my moms and was on red ( not listening) today.. )

I think that christian youth was trapped by the culture of  the church that seemed to encoargaege almost a form of A sexuality.men and women who denied their gender identity and were incongruent to their feelings,their desire even to the point of ignoring the opposite sex and inability to flirt.And i think as its basis wastoo the fear of being disapproved of,being lablled as a loose woman or a male player,a serial dater.then there was the unhelpful attitude to sex and relationships which we are all painfully aware of I suspect.

I think in my church being single for God was valued among men.it resulted in a few angry women who were left with an even more depleted pool of available men.

Somehow non christians and I am speaking of bboth genders were more genuine and i count myself as one of these incongruent individuals trappped in the unspoken culture of how to behave.

We know Jesus Anteater has to be God the Son because that is the only way such a miracle could have happened.  Once Jesus Anteater is baptized and begins his ministry we can completely trust that his message is the gospel truth.  This miracle birth is testimony from God the Father that the words of God's son are true.

 Let us worship the newborn king!

I can no longer understand it. I've been removed from the faith for a while, and now Christian behavior often perplexes me. Things I'm sure I once grasped and understood no longer make sense. It's kind of strange and it's as if I've 'lost' something somehow.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like losing a vital memory or important part of myself. I just don't 'get' them anymore, and I'm not exactly sure why, how, or when it exactly happened.

Take the story of Jonah and the Whale. At one time, this story made sense, I understood why people believed it, and grasped the 'lesson' of what it was meant to show.

Now I haven't got a fucking clue what the hell it's all about. It doesn't make any sense, and not just because it's improbable. It just isn't something I get anymore, there is no real lesson in it. It's just a silly story about how some guy got swallowed by some big ocean thing and was spit out after a while. There's no 'lesson' in it.

It's not just things like that, but behaviors and thought patterns as well. I no longer understand the Christian obsession with sex being evil and dirty. I don't get it anymore. When I was a Christian, it made sense, it just doesn't now. I'm not sure what the difference is. It's almost like I forgot, and perhaps I did. That's not a regret or anything, but it's kind of strange. I don't get why anyone would even think of an idea like a 'purity ball'. Way back when, there was reasoning involved that made sense to me, but it's gone now.

I'm not suggesting I really miss this 'understanding' but it's weird that I've lost touch with it in such a way. I mean, I understand He-Man is a horrible show that is badly animated and created entirely to sell toys. I know why I once liked it, and I still understand the reasoning I had at the time. I remember how awesome the NES was when it was released, how amazing the graphics looked and how smooth the gameplay was compared to what was out before it. It sounds silly and would likely be hard to grasp for someone who grew up with the Xbox 360, but I remember it and still understand the reasoning and why it was so amazing.

I no longer 'get' Christianity though. I often ask myself 'what was I thinking' and I can no longer think of what the fuck I actually was thinking. It just draws a blank and I simply get annoyed about how I was such an idiot and how I've really got no idea what the hell was going on with me back then. It's just gone now.

I'm not complaining, it's just weird is all. Not like I miss it or anything, but I can't think of anything else where I completely lost all context of what was going on with me at the time.

I'm a cripplingly shy person, I never feel good enough, I don't expect people to like me and kinda go around apologising for my very existence. The reason mystified me these past few years, most normal people aren't like that right?

Well, today I got a book from the bible study group I recently stopped going to called 'The Hole in our Holiness'. I haven't read past the blurb because I still feel kinda.. like I'm fuckin' sick of people talking to me about religion. Anyway, it's focused on holiness, being more like Jesus, because not enough Christians are like Jesus or holy enough and clearly they need a book to shovel people into it while being all chummy and 'it's okay I'm one of the sinners too so this is a nice friendly book teaching you to strive for a standard you can never attain'.

And I just thought, I've been taught that message since birth - I need to be something I'll never be able to be, I should follow the bible because I can't be trusted to do my own thing, I'm nothing without Jesus.

That's not helpful is it? What good's that going to do? Why does Christianity want a bunch of people with their belief in themselves knocked out of them? Being humble and serving others is a lovely thing to do - but why does that need to be done with the belief you're only doing it because it's what you deserve?

I feel like this damage done to me by religion was created with the original purpose of keeping me in line. To put a melodramatic slant on it - I feel like the church has castrated me.

I hope I can grow from this point and believe in myself  and that I don't need to be constantly berating myself for not being perfect but I honestly don't know if I ever will - I'm an adult now and my brain has developed stewing in those thoughts. I don't really know what to do about it D: But I am angry about it so maybe there's a start!

I was wondering... anyone here come out of religion feeling the same? Have you regained something of yourself do you think?

I was gonna say sorry if this topic has recently come up already but... well.