Guest Sybaris Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 I don't have anything nearly as dramatic as some of the testimonies posted here but it is nice to have some place to talk where sane people can relate. I wasn't raised in an overtly religious home. My parents are both baptised and when I was very young I think an attempt was made to attend services with the Methodists regularly but soon fell away due to whatever lack of motivation. When I was in my 20's I read the christian bible from cover to cover. I thought it was a pretty good collection of stories and contained a lot of wisdom for living your life. I never really bought the whole Jesus thing and other "historical" events within the pages. I was always much too practical to put much stock in it. Still, I had this lingering thought, "What if you're wrong?". After many years I figured out that this doubt was due to having been raised in a judeo-christian society and was merely subtle conditioning. That's when I realized that if I had been born 10,000 miles east or west of cornfield county I would have been muslim or buddhist and been having the same doubt. About 5 years ago at a 20 year high school reunion I met up with one of my old flames. We hit it off and have been seeing each other ever since. She's a regular church goer and I go along 'cause I like the social interaction and they have a lot of pitch in dinners with great food. When we first started seeing each other we were going to this run-of-the-mill non-denom church. After about a year I decided to either get serious with this Jesus stuff or take a walk. So the minister and I embarked on some exchanges via e-mail. I sent him about 20 questions dealing with some things I thought were just totally illogical, chiefly among them Noah and the flood. Well we didn't even get past my first question before I concluded that it was all a bunch of hooey. The minister asked that my girlfriend and I meet with him to discuss my questions. At our meeting the minister immediately went into how I had to believe that JC was a liar and megalomaniac or he was who he said he was. Well I relayed that since Noah and his ride weren't real and since JC spoke of Noah then JC was an unintentional liar. I went on that I thought JC was probably an Essene priest who had been holed up in Qumran for most of his life and one day decided to be a self-fulfilling prophesy in the name of the much persecuted Jews, utlimately sacrificing himself hoping to incite a revolt against the Romans or something to that effect. Needless to say the minister didn't like my version and told me that there was more evidence that JC was alive than George Washington. Being an avid genealogist I just shook my head and walked out. Needless to say my girlfriend and I stopped going to that church and ironically within a couple months we learned that about half the congregation dropped out as well. Turns out some financial issues arose and the minister stepped down from his duties. Next we tried another non-denom church but after a few months got tired of the prayer request/testimonial hour that was nothing more than gossip and tales of woe and despair from people who could obviously elevate their positions in life with some formal education and common sense. I suppose the initial indicator that things weren't right in Mayberry was on a Sunday when the minister retold the story of an exorcism performed on his daughter by he and several members of the congragation the previous Thursday evening. Now we go to a Quaker church and are quite pleased. Very low key service, devoid of ceremony and ritual. No money grubbing, fire and brimstone, or hilljacks blaming their possessed ferret for what ails them. Regardless of my attempts to reason with my girlfriend she still holds onto this irrational belief system. It's not a hinderance to our relationship so I usually just let things go but I sure would like to sleep in on some Sundays! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Rhino Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 Sybaris, Welcome! Pull up a keyboard and make yourself at home. I'm sure that you'll find plenty of conversations to jump in on from philosophical to just fun. PR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ophy Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 Nice to meet you, Sybaris. I hope you like it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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