Guest Sidwell Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 I'm new here. Not searching - actually I have completed my search, but I figured I would come check this place out. Anyway I turned away from the Christianity I was raised in when I was 19. My mother is a bible believing (thumping would fit in here perfectly) Baptist, my father is more open-minded and a lot less pushy about his beliefs. In my church, the pastor left his wife and kids and ran off with another woman, his teenage daughter was pregnant at the time and one of the sons was in trouble with the police for suspicion of selling drugs. My mother also regularly abused me whenever my father was not at home, and yet she still expected me to attend church on Sundays and act as if everything was fine. I was "saved" at age 10, but immediately knew I was not a real christian because I prayed the sinners prayer with my eyes open. (everyone knows you have to shut your eyes to be praying for real - LOL). I was "saved" again at age 16 and even got baptised, but I still had trouble believing. I was still being abused, and by now I was reading a lot of history and learning about the crusades. When I asked about the christians killing the muslims during the crusades, I was told - Thats the catholics. We Baptists dont do that sort of stuff. By 18 I had had enough and firmly told my parents on my 18th birthday that I refused to go to church again. My mother refused to accept, and said I had to go. Since I was still living at home, I could not disobey as I had been raised to obey. The next 12 months were the worst. I continually stated that I did not wish to attend church, but every sunday I went and sat there and was bored. I did not want to be part of a hateful, hypocritcal religion. Sometimes I even took a book with me and would read during the sermon. Thats how bored I was. When I turned 19, my father finally said I could stop going. My mother disagreed, but my father knew how much I hated it. The next 12 months were not so bad, but while I stayed home on sundays (mostly watching TV) my mother would come home and do a guilt trip on me - without fail - every sunday. "Mary was asking after you today. The pastors wife was wondering where you were today. Alison was wondering if you wanted to go to her place for lunch. I said you weren't feeling well." etc etc. During this time I read Holy Blood Holy Grail. This opened my eyes to the real history of christianity. I was stunned to learn all this history that noone at church had ever mentioned. So I continued searching. At 22, I finally left home. A few years later I spent 2 years at a pentecostal church, and was treated in a not very nice way because I didnt have a strong faith, didnt speak in tongues and didnt get all excited about preaching the word of god. I mainly went there for social reasons. I finally left and have not been back to any organised church for over 10 years now The following is what I have come to accept as truth. "Jesus was a great teacher, but he was just a man, not a god. He was probably married to Mary Magdalene, and it is quite possible that they had children. However there is no proof. But there is also no proof (outside the bible) that he died. He was crucified, but its more likely he survived. Maybe he went to India - the legends seem to indicate that - but again there is no proof. I did also thought seriously and read a lot about Buddhism. I firmly beleive that a lot of Jesus's teachings comes from Buddhism (since Buddhism is 500 years older than christianity) but I still didnt like the "organized" part of it. I have since married. Ironically my spouse is a lapsed catholic, neither of us attend any church. Our son was baptized a catholic ONLY so he could attend a catholic school (a requirement for elementary catholic schools in Canada), because catholic schools have smaller classes, and a reputation for better education. I will be telling him the real story of the catholic church (when he is older). I also will be discouraging him from attending any mass and church service. The only times he has been inside a catholic church was his own baptism, and his grandfathers funeral - both before he was 18 months old. And thats my story. Sidwell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Hi Sidwell, Wecome to Ex-C. If you stick around, you will learn a lot here. Here's a site you might be interested in: Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth Taph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sidwell Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Hi Sidwell,Here's a site you might be interested in: Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth Taph Thank you Taph for an excellent site. Cant believe I never saw that one before. I already knew the basics of the "borrowed from other religions" but not the details. POCM gives me ALL the lovely details and the sources. Have been looking for a comprehensive lists of original sources for quite some time. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftofpunk Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Hi Sidwell, Wecome to Ex-C. If you stick around, you will learn a lot here. Here's a site you might be interested in: Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth Taph Nice link recommendation. I do not believe Jesus was a "great teacher" mainly because I don't believe he ever actually existed in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trashy Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 I do not believe Jesus was a "great teacher" mainly because I don't believe he ever actually existed in the first place. Yeah, what HE said. Welcome to the den of iniquity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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