oladotun Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 The confusion you feel is normal, so if you can, try not to worry about it. It's also a tool used by Christianity to “keep you in the fold” and to try to dissuade you from asking these important questions, because being confused is uncomfortable, according to them. But as you'll discover if you keep on this worthy path, the answers in the real world aren't as black and white as the Christians would like you to believe. The answers are in fact much more interesting and complete, and you;ll probably start to enjoy and embrace the grey areas too. I've read some Yancey (Disappointment with God, Jesus I Never Knew), but I found that he didn't go “far enough” with his thoughts, arguments, etc. Perhaps he didn't want to alienate his target market. I found better answers in the writings of Spong (Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism), Jack Miles (God: A Biography, Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God) and, of course Dawkins (The Blind Watchmaker) and Darwin himself, among others. Apologies for the long post, but your original post has made for some fascinating discussion. I hope you stick around. I agree, most Christians would have you believe that simply applying Biblical principles is the answer to all of the world's problems, but they themselves are not even fully applying these principles. And if you are a skeptic of any kind, you are deemed as not having "enough faith" or simply "not in the word enough"......Yeah, right. All I am saying is that it is rare you find real authenticity amongst Christians, there is so much bullshit in their dialogue sometimes I want to puke. One of the best quotes I ever heard was from Author Tony Campolo, who once said in a speech at a Christian revival that "there are over 10,000 children that will die of hunger today in the world, and most of you don't give a shit, but what is more disturbing is that more of you are now more concerned about the fact that I used a "bad" word than the fact that children will die of hunger". It seems that we "Christians" are more concerned than the appearance of righteousness (don't do this, don't do that..etc) than the human suffering and real attempts to alleviate it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Checkmate Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Hello oladotun. Welcome to the forums and the world of Free Thought. I won't bother belaboring the excellent points that the others have previously made. I'd just like to congratulate you and encourage you to keep plugging away. We've all been where you're at, so we know how difficult "Faith Exiting" can be. For another source of on-line encouragement and ammunition, may I recommend the link in my signature? It is chock full of excellent articles and videos to help navigate you out of the religious mindfuck -- er, mindFIELD. Toodles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaman Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 bump... to see updates on this fellow exchristian.net member... and wondering if there are any hyprocrits around. You know the kind that post up their exchristain testimonial but months later, you don't hear about them on this site again because they came back to god. If you lose a fellow post mate on this site, now you wonder why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponymic Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 So I agree with you. The problem I am having is that in questioning the teachings that I have held on to for along time, some have labelled me a heretic or think that I am simply not submitting myself to Biblical authority..If I can't question my beliefs, then what is the point of holding on to dogmatic teachings that seem to be causing me more harm than good?!!!! . Consider that many people fear questioning their beliefs because they know that they are flawed. It seems that we "Christians" are more concerned than the appearance of righteousness (don't do this, don't do that..etc) than the human suffering and real attempts to alleviate it... That is one of the flaws of the religion. It advocates fear much more than action or good will in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oladotun Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 So I agree with you. The problem I am having is that in questioning the teachings that I have held on to for along time, some have labelled me a heretic or think that I am simply not submitting myself to Biblical authority..If I can't question my beliefs, then what is the point of holding on to dogmatic teachings that seem to be causing me more harm than good?!!!! . Consider that many people fear questioning their beliefs because they know that they are flawed. It seems that we "Christians" are more concerned than the appearance of righteousness (don't do this, don't do that..etc) than the human suffering and real attempts to alleviate it...That is one of the flaws of the religion. It advocates fear much more than action or good will in general. so would you say that one of the primary functions of religion is to invoke fear and to cause bondage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanInPA Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi Oladatun Christianity is a meme, a "mind virus". The primary function of a meme is to survive, just like any other virus. Fear is a good tool to ensure christianity's survival. Fear of spending eternity in hell is a strong motivator for many people to stay in the cult. I was lucky in that long before I left I questioned the existence of any kind of life after death. HERE is a site about the christian meme. I have not read it yet, just found it with Google, but maybe it'll help you. Jesus and Yahweh are no more real than Zeus, Apollo, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Dyionisis, etc. But most of us have been conditioned from birth to believe otherwise. Just do a search on "christ myth" and you'll find enough information to occupy you for days. Good luck on your journey and keep in touch. The people of Ex-C.net are a great group. Dan *EDIT* Almost forgot, for an amusing yet thought provoking take on religion, check out George Carlin on religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponymic Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 so would you say that one of the primary functions of religion is to invoke fear and to cause bondage? Indubitably. The only real hold Christianity has on anyone is through fear. If they gave up that, then people would leave by the droves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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