36 replies to this topic

[sjessen]

I accepted Christian salvation because I was afraid of going to hell. Was wondering if that was the majority reason others did too.

BTW, I may use this "unofficial" poll and any comments you make about it in my book I'm working on. I will, of course, get your okay before including your comments. Thanks.

[Kaiser01]

It was simply indoctrination, i had no choice, i knew no other way but "the way."

[mcdaddy]

Same as Kaiser. But, to be with jeebus.

[freeasabird]

It was simply indoctrination, i had no choice, i knew no other way but "the way."

+2

[oddbird1963]

It seemed the right thing to do at the time. The vacation bible school teacher went over the collection of scriptures known as "the Roman road" - a cherry picked assortment of scriptures out of the Epistle to the Romans. .I think the desire for social acceptance and to be a "good guy " (to borrow from George Carlin) mostly motivated me. She didn't really emphasize hellfire or anything.

Preachers always used to say "I've never met a person who ever regretted giving their live to Jesus!" Well, he wasn't looking very closely at all 30 years later I regretted it big time and continue to regret that day.

[Lilith666]

I was four when my dad told me about X's great gift of salvation. All I knew was that I had done bad things, and unless I believed that X had taken punishment that I deserved--never mind that I was only four--I would go to a dark scary place when I die and would never ever get out. I hate that Xians drill this into children's heads. How can faith be called genuine belief if they were told all their lives to believe it or they would go to Hell? To this day, my mother can come up with no better reason for her faith than "I know in my heart Jesus saved me. I see his grace in my life." (Granted, she joined the Church in her twenties, but had had no particular opinions about religion and was still threatened with Hell.)
I doubt there are many people who know why they believe--they are just in the habit of believing it.

[Babylonian Dream]

Both. Other being family pressure and tradition.

[ficino]

I was attracted by the sense of close friendship that I thought Christians shared, but fear of hell was definitely the main reason.

[GardenerGal]

I was young and trying to find meaning in my life. Coming from a dysfunctional family, seeing functioning Christians in my husband's hometown led me to believe they were in on something I was missing.

[OpenPalm89]

It was simply indoctrination, i had no choice, i knew no other way but "the way."

+2

Same here.

[BrotherJosh]

It was the religion of my family, and they sat my ass in a Christian school from K-12. I tried a charter school my sophomore year of high school, and that was quickly ended. Father is a mental case who needs to be right. Mother is a weak willed people pleaser who lets others walk all over her. Great combo, let me tell ya.

Went to college, got an education, a library card, and some friends outside of the church. Never looked back.

[par4dcourse]

Both. Other being family pressure and tradition.

Me too.

[sarahlee]

I grew up in a place where it was either Christ or drugs/pregnancy. As soon moved to a place with a third option, I kicked Jesus to the curb.

[Serendipity Rose]

I wanted to make my mother happy.

[merck]

My first 'real' born again experience was during one of those "seeker" services. The pastor told a story about a childhood friend drowning and how the child died twice. One physical death and another spiritual death because he was not a Christian. He told us all how horrible it was that he could have told him about the "saving power of Jesus" but didn't and now he was burning in hell for forever. Half the congregation was in tears. He went on to tell us the story of a man who had to decided between crushing his son with a drawbridge or save his son but kill everyone on the train about to cross the bridge. He told us how that was what it was like for god to sacrifice Jesus and blah blah blah. He really laid the emotional blackmail on thick. So at the end, when he did the whole "pray the sinner's pray after me" routine, I followed suit.

Looking back on it, Christianity is just one big emotional mind fuck.

[Inqui]

One of my parents told me about God and how Jesus died for our sins and all.

As far as I was concerned, I didn't have a choice.

[jackbauer]

Hell.

[stryper]

It was expected.

[ConureDelSol]

I chose both options. I WAS afraid of going to Hell but I also accepted salvation due to peer pressure. After all, all my friends at church had been saved, if I didn't get saved, I'd be the odd one out. I also wanted my parents to feel proud of me. The other kids always got praised and everyone was so happy afterwards. I wanted to experience that for myself. I don't think I really understood what it was to be saved though really. I remember being "saved" multiple times and each time I would say "Well I didn't know what I was doing before, but this time I'll know why I'm making this decision."

Even now, I don't think I really got it. The way that people would explain why I should be saved would just sound like a bunch of words that meant nothing to me. It made them happy though, so I did it.

[florduh]

What Motivated You To Accept Salvation?

In hindsight, I'm leaning toward brain aneurysm.