I Broke Free

I can remember one time when my dad actually did explain something to me like Calvin’s dad. Sometime around 1965 when I was five years old. We were on a family vacation and driving around dusk when noticed a very tall red and white metal tower. [A radio transmission tower] I asked my dad, “Dad, what is the red light for on top of the tower for?” His response “It’s to keep aircraft from hitting the tower at night.” My follow up question “What is the tower for?” and my dad’s response, “It holds up the red light.” I bought that answer and did not question if for a number of more miles.

Should people who eat well, exercise, and generally live a healthy lifestyle pay more in taxes to pay for their extended use of Social Security? It is a lifestyle choice that costs everyone else more money. Right?

Hi Hoju, another gay ex-Christian here. A forum member asked me to check out your post. I doubt I fit your criteria either. I grew up in a family that was not religious at all but I decided to seek out the Mormon Church at the at the age 16 because I thought a conservative religious experience would “straighten” me out. I went on my own to the church for two years until I graduated from high school. To be perfectly honest the members of the church were very nice to me. I was experiencing extreme inner turmoil regarding my sexuality and going to church only made matters worse. But I knew I was in control of my life and could leave without incident whenever I wanted. When I did stop going right after high school graduation my parents were pleased and the church members only reached out once or twice in a non-threatening manner. I wish you luck finding the right person to talk to. I wish I could recommend someone from this forum, but I rarely post anymore and don’t know the members like I used to.

Gods lil angel?? How many gods are we talking about?

Hi BeyondReligiousity I like the dissertation style myself. We get a much better picture of the whole story. I have been a member here for 13 years and never tire of reading the testimonies. Yours was well thought out and engaging. Thank you. Welcome to our world. If you read long enough you will find posts that will speak directly to you and your experience. When I came here in 2003 I had already left Christianity behind 25 years earlier when I was only 18. I came to this site by accident and found myself staying. While I thought my break with religion was something in my past; I learned through reading posts here that I was still carrying a lot of resentment that I needed to purge. It took a while, but it worked. In fact, many reading this post today may not even know who I am as I post so seldom now. Eventually even the fact you left Christianity become a non-issue in your life. That is where I am now. Welcome to you I Broke Free

I have worked for ten years in the accounting department of a huge mutual fund company in New Hampshire. The topic of religion never comes up at all. I know that New Hampshire ranks near the bottom of church attendance in the nation so I suppose that has something to do with it. I have never heard of anyone mentioning what faith they are or what church they go to so I suppose religion to most here is just a big…Meh..Whatever. I love it. Outside of work the only people I know who go to a church are several of my gay male friends. “Oh you really should come. This church is really gay affirming.” I have let them know that I have no desire to go and that I don’t hold their belief, but part of me just wants to scream! “What’s The Matter With You!”

Same here, I gave up Facebook completely. It became impossible to try and limit access to some family members without all the others finding out about it. My brother’s family is Mormon, and the rest of us are secular. Surprisingly it was politics and not religion that caused 95% of the friction. It was hard a first to keep my Facebook account closed. It was the third time about two years ago when I finally broke the cord for good. After a few weeks you began to wonder what was so interesting about Facebook. I still keep in touch with all my family members and the discussions are now civil. I work for a huge corporation and I fairly certain they monitor their employee’s internet activity. After Facebook, I have cancelled my Linkedin, and YouTube accounts too. So far the transition has been painless. i got rid of my Linkedin too after i noticed someone from my work had had a quick look at my profile- got rid of it straight away. Isn't this the point of Linkedin? I got it for future work while doing my masters....believe me no one in my current work needs to be looking at my profile. That was my feeling too. I am 54 years old and plan on working for the same employeer until retirement. I see no reason to have a Linkedin account. I see only the drawbacks and no benefits of maintaining it.

Same here, I gave up Facebook completely. It became impossible to try and limit access to some family members without all the others finding out about it. My brother’s family is Mormon, and the rest of us are secular. Surprisingly it was politics and not religion that caused 95% of the friction. It was hard a first to keep my Facebook account closed. It was the third time about two years ago when I finally broke the cord for good. After a few weeks you began to wonder what was so interesting about Facebook. I still keep in touch with all my family members and the discussions are now civil. I work for a huge corporation and I fairly certain they monitor their employee’s internet activity. After Facebook, I have cancelled my Linkedin, and YouTube accounts too. So far the transition has been painless.

Welcome unbuckledreads We have a number of lgbt forum members here, me included. I discovered this site 11 years ago and never tire of it. Enjoy yourself and welcome. IBF

My husband was born and raised in Fresno (1967-1985) . ...My heart goes out to you; what a tragedy.

Today was the first time I read this thread; riveting from beginning to end. There was so much I could relate to in my own life. I have a Mormon identical twin brother whose religion has always put a wedge in our relationship. However in the past few years it is his political obsessions that are much more difficult to endure. Somehow a mind primed for religious indoctrination is wide open political indoctrination as well. There remains no room for discussion or debate in his mind for either his faith or his politics. Stamp, thank you so much for sharing the story and for updating the thread with your friend’s current condition; my thoughts are with you today. IBF

It must be because of my demographic but half the ads I see are for men with low testosterone and broken dicks. I am sick of all of it. If you can’t get it up for your wife or girlfriend try getting a boyfriend….I’m 53 years old and still getting on just fine. NOT A PET PEEVE…Everyone has driving pet peeves, but I would just love to have some kind of light on the top of my car that would indicate the following….”I AM SO SORRY! I HONESTLY DID NOT SEE YOU AND THIS IS ALL MY FAULT” I think most of us wish we had that at times. If you are going into the left lane to pass a slow truck on the right, at least keep your original speed or preferably go a little faster to pass the slow truck. Why slow down to crawl relative to the truck and then speed up again once you pass? I have been stuck behind cars that take forever to pass a truck and then when they get back in the right lane will go like bat out of hell. What’s up with that? If you are walking down a narrow corridor keep to the right (at least in North America) so others can pass. If you are in a narrow corridor and you are with friends don’t walk slowly three abreast. I work in a huge building with 3200 people and I am amazed at how slowly people can walk and still remain upright. People who cannot drive around a bend in the road without crossing over the line. Getting stuck behind someone who feels that you should be traveling 30mph at the end of on an onramp to an Interstate Highway where everyone is going 70mph. Tailgaters: (1) Tailgaters that suddenly lose their nerve to drive fast when I pull over and leave them at the head of the pack. They seemed more than willing to push me into the position of getting a ticket! (2) If I am driving 10 miles over the limit in the left lane and you come up behind me and tailgate I will pull over to the right when I can! Don’t even think about trying to make me drive even faster so I can pull over sooner. I WILL SLOW DOWN and pull over to the right behind the cars in the right lane if you do. Because of one douche-bag back in the early 1980s (Remember the Tylenol scare?) I have to deal with tamper proof packaging. UGH! I miss the only days when you did not have deal with that crap.

You alreadyexplained WHY it was immoral. The fact that they cannot accept a secular non-faith-based answer is not your problem. The same thing that prevents most of us from doing it....the legal and social consequences. God played no role in the decision at all. If God’s disapproval really affected your decisions then you would not even lie or take a pen from the office...but you do.

Many Christians can't fathom the idea that two people of the same sex actually love each other. My sexual attraction the same sex is not nearly as strong as my romantic attraction. My husband and I have been together for 14 years and the frequency of our sex is probably the same as the average for heterosexual couples. But guess what! I love him more now than I ever have. As long as we sleep together and I can hold to that nice warm body at night, I am satisfied.

I thought that was odd too. I saw these films about ten year after they were produced and lived in the same area of So Cal. I can assure you that no kid I knew EVER got in the car of a stranger. It was unheard of.