Vendredie Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 And I've never been happier. I'll introduce myself, as well as tell you about how I turned away from Christianity. Okay. So, As of right now, I am 7 days away from turning 16. I have been a non-Christian for a year and a half now. It's a tad difficult to be a non-Christian in eastern North Carolina, because the churches (more specifically, the Baptist churches) run EVERYTHING. But whatever. My journey to non-belief starts, strangely, at six. Before this I had moved to the UK at 4 and lived there for two years, and at 6 moved to Virginia. I had only gone to church a few times in the UK, but not often as my mother was Baptist and my father was non-denominational and it's a tad hard to find those kinds of churches there, I guess. But when we moved to Virginia my mother decided it wouldbe a good idea to go to church. So, we went to a Baptist church in Virginia. I lived in a small city in southern Virginia, and there were TONS of churches and denominations I had never seen before (perhaps because I didn't remember them from prior to the UK when I lived in a fairly large city in Ohio and hadn't seen them in the UK). So I constantly asked "What are Methodists? Who goes to the Catholic church? What are Pentecostals? And Jehovah's Witnesses? What do the LDS people believe in?" My parents only gave me the vaguest answers, I guess because I was 7 at the time. But we went to a Baptist church, and I hated it because I had to go to "big church" and it was BORING AS ANYTHING. After a while my parents got sick of it, citing reasons such as "they're sucking money out of us" and "I thought this was a church, not a junior high school!" I should note that I never thought of myself as Baptist. But anyway, when I was seven and a half I moved here to eastern North Carolina, and my parents were still looking for churches. By the time I was eight we'd left A Baptist for B Baptist, which we went to for a few weeks until my parents got sick of still being treated like "newcomers" and ignored. So we left B Baptist. Then there was C Baptist, which we only went to for one Sunday. I was eight or nine by this time. Once we'd left C Baptist, we didn't go to church again until I was 12. Well my "fundie days" began at 11, with all the talk about Bush and Kerry. I was super-Christian, anti-choice, anti-gays, pro-war, anti-"non believer". If you weren't a super fundie Christian, screw you. Thankfully I snapped out of this phase shortly after turning 13. At 13 I began to seriously question my beliefs. I didn't question my belief in God or Jesus, I was questioning what I actually believed about Christianity. I became a Christian in the loosest sense of the term. I was pro-choice, pro-gay, anti-war, and I'd done a complete 180 religion-wise. Strange eh? Well when I was 13, I joined a forum that I will call Girl. At Girl I came across their religion forums. I was more exposed to different religions than ever. I could read anything about other sects of Christianity, atheism, agnosticism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Paganism, and Wicca. I became pretty interested in Wicca, and I still very much am. However at 13 I stuck with Christianity. In January of 2006 I was introduced to this game, which I will call NationS. (If you know what NationS is, tell me!) In late February I decided to join the NationS General forums, and I became REALLY exposed to atheism and agnosticism. After reading soem posts there, debating, and questioning what I believed even further, I became an agnostic in the summer of 2006. And then I got into Wicca, but got out of it again after month or two. Then came Christmas 2006. It was my first Christmas as an atheist, so I told my friend. Unfortunately I had momentarily forgotten that this friend was also my younger sister's best friend, to whom she told everything. So my sister slipped this information to my mother, who proceeded to make that christmas hell, and after an attempt to run away, things quieted down. So forward to this summer, when I got into Wicca again. I remembered the Wicca forums at Girl, so I went back and found some WONDERFUL Wicca websites. I studied Wicca from July to about October, when I was like "what if this is jsut fluff?" and went back to atheism. And now I have created my own religion, which is a mix of atheism, Wicca, Theravada Buddhism, and pantheism. Strange combination? Yes, but it's my religion, not yours, ask me no st00pid questions I'll give you no snappy answers. Wow... this is longer than anything I have ever posted on any forum. And this is certainly the longest First Post of anyone on any forum in history. Wow. Anyway, hello, my fellow ex-Christians! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythra Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Hi Vendredie. Welcome to Ex-C. Must be tough living in the center of the babble belt. It looks like you're working pretty hard at finding your place in the world. Perfectly understandable, at your age. Nothing wrong with creating your own religion - christians do it all the time. Just as they have for a couple thousand years. Don't be in any hurry to say "I am this" or "I am that". Question, investigate, and keep an open mind. And carry a big dose of skepticism with you at all times. Because everyone in this world is going to try and sell you something, and try to make you feel guilty if you don't want to buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astreja Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Welcome, Vendredie! And I don't think your homemade religion is weird at all. (I'm an agnostic Ãsatrúar humanist with an interest in Zen/Vipassana.) Be sure to check out the Ex-Christian Theism or Spirituality sub-forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbobrob Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Home made religions are my speciality (being an MRI: Multiple Religious Identity). I currently call myself an Anti-Authoritarian/Apatheist/Buddhist/Taoist/Discordian/Pastafarian/Humanist/Unitarian Universalist. Although, for the most part, UU means the rest anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piprus Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Welcome, Vendredie, It's always good to read the extimony of a young person who's thinking. We are happy to hear the stories of teens who've made the jump away from the fundy mindset. Congratulations. And I agree with the others. Think for yourself, define your beliefs or lack of them as it suits your view. There's lots of reading here and elsewhere to help you on your way, and don't be shy...jump in any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upstarter Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Wow a smart, open-minded, freethinking 16 year old girl! Is there anything more exciting than that! Welcome. I'm curious why you named yourself after a French weekday? Is it significant? Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendredie Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Thanks for the warm welcome guys And Upstarter, I named myself Vendredi after my religion, which I came up with (or came up with the idea for) on a Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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