Guest Aidans Pop Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 This is about my fourth draft, because every time I start I realize there is too much about my life to say. So I’ll just say this: If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I would never believe that a mind virus like Christianity can be so powerful and effective. I cannot explain how much it even still affects me, even though I have denounced it and am completely against it. I took so strongly for granted that God and Jesus and the whole bit were real, and now I realize what a crock it is. I hate my mother for taking so many potentially wonderful years of my childhood from me. By developing paranoid schizophrenia and becoming very religious all at the same time, she forced me to live in a twisted world of negative emotions and experiences that can only be described by the term “perpetual nightmare”. The bible college I attended only made this worse with their ignorant closed-minded backwoods ideas, and I hate that it took me until I was 24 years old to begin to see the truth of the real world (although I am glad freedom eventually came). I hate Christianity with every fiber of my being, because in my opinion it is one of the most psychologically destructive belief systems out there. Fear, guilt, shame, and self-loathing lie at its very core, and are instilled by the zealous into the impressionable minds of young children. Children like me, who avoided doing just about anything in life for fear of angering God and/or my mother. This negative foundation of thinking can be extremely to change, and I realize little by little every day that it is responsible for most of the problems that my mind puts me through. Only heightened awareness of my thoughts through contemplation and sometimes meditation can provide a medium in which to “unbelieve” certain fundamental axioms and assumptions that are taken for granted by my unconscious mind. I know there is supposed to be this idea of tolerance but I cannot help but believe that humanity will never improve until Christianity and other mentalities like it are extinct. I will never stop trying to get rid of the evil effects of falsehoods like this one, and I am more than thankful to the men and women with the courage and initiative to create sites like ExChristian.net. Like a few others have said in their testimonies, Richard Dawkins is my hero, and I hope that I will have the same courage when my opportunity comes to battle these lies that I believe ultimately spell our impending doom. As far as suggestions on deprogramming, the best advice I can give is to practice seeing reality through logic and without emotion. Through reason and without fear. Emotions can be like those dirty spots on our glasses that would be blatantly obvious if they weren’t so close to our eyes. Make a deal with God. If Christianity is legit, then he should have no problem with your taking an honest look at your beliefs, right? Does the Bible not say “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:21)? If this seems to be a problem, then maybe you should rethink holding onto a faith that relies on your closing your eyes to see “truth”. I very much look forward to chatting with you all; I hope nobody minds a little fierce rhetoric, especially when it comes to something I am so passionate about: doing away with Christianity. Of course I do not believe that any amount of force will ever accomplish this: enlightenment and education are the only way. But in my humble opinion , being forceful about exposing lies is most definitely necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShackledNoMore Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 Aidans Pop, Just as you say, xtianity can be a very powerful and effective mind virus. I'm glad that you broke free from the destructiveness and can start living a life guided by reason and critical thought rather than fear and control mechanisms. I know that contemplation and critical thought like what you're engaging in went a long way in my own healing process from the ravages of xtianity. I think you will find many here that share your outlook. Welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astreja Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 Aidans Pop, welcome to Ex-C! Fierce rhetoric? Personally, I love it. Looking forward to hearing more from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirac Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I would never believe that a mind virus like Christianity can be so powerful and effective. I cannot explain how much it even still affects me, even though I have denounced it and am completely against it. I took so strongly for granted that God and Jesus and the whole bit were real, and now I realize what a crock it is. I hate Christianity with every fiber of my being, because in my opinion it is one of the most psychologically destructive belief systems out there. Fear, guilt, shame, and self-loathing lie at its very core, and are instilled by the zealous into the impressionable minds of young children. I very much look forward to chatting with you all; I hope nobody minds a little fierce rhetoric, especially when it comes to something I am so passionate about: doing away with Christianity. Brilliant! Please do feel free to throw in liberal doses of expletives, use as many extreme adjectives as you can and deploy huge dollops of vitriol. Please visit the rants page regularly to unload. Christianity is a convoy of steaming shite-laden trucks that has deprived many of us of self-esteem and worse. Worse of course being oodles of pre-marital sex. I didn't get laid till I was 22 (an extraordinary age for most of my non-Christian friends), all those wasted years of celibacy. This site helps me with my ongoing deprogramming, I hope it helps you too. A pleasure to meet you, stick around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandora Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 Welcome aboard! I look forward to your input. This place has been a great help to my husband and I, though I rarely post (anymore). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star Stuff Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Aidens Pop: I don't know if you're aware of it, but you are not an a-theist, you are an anti-theist. Something which I can relate to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidans Pop Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Thank you all for your encouragement. I definitely look forward to chatting here. First things first though. For the love of....well, Logic, can someone please explain, or point me to somewhere that explains how to use the quote system? It's a little different than another forum I frequent so I just need to learn it. Thanks. Then I will be able to reply like I wanted to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Make a deal with God. If Christianity is legit, then he should have no problem with your taking an honest look at your beliefs, right? Does the Bible not say “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:21)? If this seems to be a problem, then maybe you should rethink holding onto a faith that relies on your closing your eyes to see “truth”. Hey There! Thanks for your post! I'm new here and had to respond! I think God should just appear for us if we ask for proof. I mean, how hard is it if he really is real? How hard is it? If god really gave a $%^& about us, as the christians say, well, why won't he just show up when we ask or need him to? That's tormenting in my view. How loving is that? I'd do a better job of being god! I look forward to chatting again! Amelia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidans Pop Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I think God should just appear for us if we ask for proof. I mean, how hard is it if he really is real? How hard is it? If god really gave a $%^& about us, as the christians say, well, why won't he just show up when we ask or need him to? That's tormenting in my view. How loving is that? I'd do a better job of being god! It's funny how it's the simple questions that are so stunning. When I first joined the Army, I was in "rebellion" against god but I think I still very much believed in it all. I was in my classroom training portion of the Army, and a few of us were discussing religion. My friend brought up an interesting point which I have never forgotten. Loosely paraphrased, he said: "If god really existed, then he would be everywhere. I mean he would be just as obvious as gravity. There wouldn't be all these questions and debates. It would just be 'god this and god that' everywhere you look." He was a bit more eloquent than that, but that's the gist. Even though I thought his argument was a bit too simplistic at the time, now that it's been a couple years I see no problem with it at all. I believe religion has a tendency to unnecessarily complicate life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts