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If you believe they exist, what do you see as to their mission, or purpose for hanging around planet earth?

No problem. I think most of us are able to figure out what you meant to say. I don't use the text dictate here, but my phone screws things up when I use it to text a message.

I found another mistake. My phone translated something that I didn’t say at all. I said to put it honestly, not to put it on. Please pardon my mess ups.

This darn phone is something else. I meant sipped a cuppa coffee. Not ship a cup of coffee. Darn text dictate anyway!

I did not know what I was in for. I assumed that my friend finally came out of their shell when they invited me over for coffee this morning. So I went to their apartment, sat in a chair, and ship a cuppa coffee. They told me the story of their life. Yeah, that was fine. Then, they started telling me about what drove them to the apostolic church. After they finished, they started to deliver what I felt was a very pressuring speech of why I need to keep going to their church. To put it on, it feels if I had just run face first Into a tree full of thorns along this trail in my life. I did not see that one coming. Before I left, I told them that I was going to continue my own way. However, they kept insisting. I am pretty sure I will get the cold shoulder. Definitely when I finally tell them not only know, but hell no. I tried to be nice, and now it is starting to feel more cultic. This pressure to go is what gets to me. It is one thing to talk to me about it, but it is another thing to push me into a corner, to make me feel like I have no way out. However, this time, I am standing tall, like a raging grizzly bear, and I will confront this thing head on. That thorn tree, which was right in the middle of my trail, caught me off guard, but I am not wincing on account of the pain. This time, I am going to topple that tree and keep going forward.

Indeed, Weezer, I am into extraterrestrials and UFOs. Very much so. I want to apologize for not getting back to you as soon as I have, but I have been really busy. I’ve been hanging out with a friend across town. I hope you’re doing well. You take care.

If there is one thing I have learned about this long walk on this long trail through my life, it is that there are thorns along the way. That’s right. I have learned that I will encounter these thorns and I will have to occasionally bend down and pull one out of my foot. An example of that is a recent friendship that went to hell. This person invited me to their apartment. Without being specific, I will talk about them without giving name or exact gender. Yeah, they started off really nice. Then, they invited me to the apostolic church. Don’t get me wrong. I am not an atheist, and I wanted to see if there was something different about the apostolic church. I don’t believe in evolution, but I do believe that we were created by somebody who has the know how to create life. I believe we were put here for a reason. I can’t tell you if the being is spiritual or extraterrestrial, but there is a reason for us being here. With that said, I attended the apostolic church two times, and I got a weird vibe. I didn’t like the touchy feeling nature, and I certainly didn’t like the unknown tongue. To make a long story short, last Sunday, I backed out. Well, in doing so , our friendship ended abruptly. This person hasn’t called me since. They used to call me every morning and invite me over for coffee. Now, they won’t even speak to me at all. This was the day I learned that religion is nothing more than a cult. again, encountered a big thorn that I have to deal with. So what is the deal? Am I going to continue walking with this big thorn in my foot and let it hinder me for the rest of my life? Do I just reach down, pull it out, and chuck it off into the woods? I chose to bend down, pull it out, and chuck it into the woods. That’s right. Life is what you make of it. You can go through life feeling sorry and scared because you chose to turn your back on another religion, or you can say, I am going to make the best of my situation, no matter what. This person wants to act childish by turning their back on me. They want to act childish and make out that I did something very bad by backing out of the apostolic church. That is on them. However, I will not be moved. I will continue on the path I am on , I hope this story serves as a motivational means for everybody who may be struggling with the decisions they make. This friendship turned out to be just another thorn, and I chucked it.

Interesting idea and parallel reasoning Weez. Like you said, our supposed "Father," via Abrahamic religions. set us up to think that we are somehow sick and inferior to some perfection standard -- original sin etc.

For years I have called the "Doctrine of Original Sin" a self fulfilling prophecy, which is a prophecy that helps itself to become true, if it is believed! Reading the book DIABOLICAL TRINITY by Mark Karris, which is about recognizing and resolving religious trauma, I ran across another way to look at the doctrine. The doctrine is also similar to Munchausen by Proxy which you may have heard of. It is demonstrated by a movie that came out in 2020 called RUN, HIDE, FIGHT. It is when a person makes or keeps a person sick, so they need continual care. It is typically done by a mother who has an abnormal need to be needed, and is regarded as a mental sickness, and a form of child abuse. And the mother often comes across as being VERY concerned about her child. That can even be a tip off to doctors that the mother (or father) can be perpetuating the illness. And that is what the doctrine of original sin was designed to do! Our "Father" set us up to be sick and inferior! And his "holy ones", most having been decieved themselves, have kept it going for ages. It is now a multi-billion dollar industry. One of the biggest scams ever played on human beings. I highly recommend the book if you want to better understand religious (and family) trauma. Or trauma of any kind. It is more complex than many realize.

This image perfectly encapsulates my bizarre sense humor. It's Hatsune Miku with Jesus Christ building a sandcastle.

Howdy KKP, A warm welcome to our forum. Yeah KKP, this forum is dedicated to Ex-Christians, many or most of which are not atheists like I am, since many still believe in a God of some kind, just not a Christian biblical kind of God. As you know, the God of the old Testament is a pretty tough and vengeful God, while Jesus of the New testament is a pussycat like person who turns the other cheek and forgives the enemies of the Jews. The old testament is an interesting collection of fictional stories, and the new testament is comprised of more gentle and sorrowful fairy tales. Religion can be a happy or a daunting experience. Your gf unfortunately also believes in the BS in the bible. Many people here have spent a great deal of time studying the bible, and some have studied it from different perspectives including myself. Many believe that all man-made religions are pure BS. According to my beliefs, humans are simply animals, just more intelligent than the others. There's nothing to be afraid of. Live the only life you will ever have, this one -- to the best of your understanding and ability. If fear is a part of your belief then you haven't studied or learned enough yet IMHO. Cheers to you and welcome to our forum. Hope you decide to stay with us. If so I believe most of your fears will fade away on an ongoing basis.

Firstly, I would like to say hello @KrustyKrabPizza, and welcome to the forum!! Love the username btw! Spongebob was my childhood! Secondly, this part here feels pretty similar to my experiences surrounding my sexuality, although I never had a bf. I too would pray for my attraction to men to go away numerous times. I would feel guilty and disgusted by myself for feelings certain feelings, thinking certain thoughts. I tried to convince myself over and over again that I wasn't gay, and did everything in my power to get rid of it, wether it be praying to rid myself of it, looking at Bible verses or preachers condemning homosexuality, looking at stories of ex-gays, or trying to force myself to watch straight porn to try and "fix" myself. It didn't work, and after so much wrestling with myself and inner turmoil, after countless unanswered prayers, after not even receiving a sliver of acceptance from a god I thought I could wholeheartedly trust, after all the contradictions and questions I had just not adding up, I couldn't believe it anymore. Giving it up wasn't easy, but I feel more free than I did under Christianity's oppressive rules and restrictions. I prefer keeping an open mind, so I go by agnostic because it not only feels right to me, but also intellectually honest because I don't believe in god, but there could be something out there. I (and the rest of us) hope you will have a positive experience on this forum as you progress through your journey. We will be here every step of the way! This site is full of many wonderful people, so hope you find a little home of sorts here! See ya on the forums! -Casual P.S THE KRUSTY KRAB PIZZA IS THE PIZZA FOR YOU AND ME (I would send a gif, but my connection is bad)

I also had people come up to me with specific prophecies and "words from the lord." One was an evangelist who came to the church and called me out specifically and shared very detailed information. I found out later a couple of the guys in the men's prayer group I led had had lunch with the evangelist a few days beforehand and my name had come up during the course of their conversation. What the guy shared wasn't specific details from god; it was just gossip. Another was a woman I had never met who knew the particular details of a missions ministry I was preparing to launch. Turned out she was involved in the same seniors ministry as my mom, who had mentioned my plans in a prayer request. Again, nothing more spiritual than plain old gossip. People talk. Shallow people talk about other people and not much else.