Kei Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 i guess i should have made my first post here when i joined, but i just noticed this forum today. so here goes. i was raised "traditional" Roman Catholic. I stuck with it until i was facing confirmation, which was when i was sixteen. there had already been alot of doubt in my mind and at that point in time, i was an agnostic trying to hold on to christianity. i finally accepted that i could ot be a christian and pretended to be "thinking about it" to put off my confirmation for almost a year. over that year i dropped little hints to my parents that i would not be a catholic like saying "everything in the bible can't be true" but i don't really think they caught on. eventually i couldn't stand pretending to be catholic anymore, so i told my mom and she freaked out, but my dad was slightly understanding. over time i came to beileve that there was indeed some higher power, but it was nothing like the god of christianity. i read a couple of books on buddhism that i quite enjoyed and decided to persue that. I did for two years, but after i while i just felt like it didn't quite fit the way i think spirituality should. but i did like the ideas of Karma, Reincarnation, and non-harming. I gave up on religion all together at that point. I did not think there was a "religion" that i could be a part of because i do not believe that there is a uniform set of rules to follow and an absolute knowledge of what happens after death that everyone should follow. I believed that all religion was like brainwashing. So i formed my own ideas about the universe and the spirits and whatnot. This lasted for a year and a half. a couple of months ago i was having a talk with a friend of mine who is ecclectic pagan and i came to find out that paganism for the most part aggrees with what i believe. it encourages logic, self discovery and open mindedness. so i bought and read as many books as i could and spent quite some time outdoors in nature and i do enjoy being a pagan. it's led me to a joyful spiritual place, rather than a sorrowful place that i started out in religiously. i suppose i have some bitterness towards christianity, as i expect is natural for all ex-christians to have. but i do my best to respect the spiritual (or non spiritual) beliefs of others. well, i suppose that's all of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Hey Kei, Welcome to ExC. I am a Catholic myself, practicing on and off even after announcing my disbelief to my spouse. I am a full-fledged agnostic and I have been dabbling a bit with certain "new-age, pagan" art forms like Sacred Geometry and Synchromysticism (a fancy word for finding interconnected themes in mass media and everyday life). If there was a spiritual force controlling everything, it would probably along the lines of a deity with a non-interference policy. In all honesty, I really think there is enough evidence out there to believe in some kind of spiritual presence, but I don't think it could stand up to strict scientific scrutiny. Either way, I liked your story and I am glad you came here. Thank you for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One_World Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Great post...it mirrors a lot of my formative years as well...except that I was actually confirmed in the Church (hey, peer pressure!). Your time spent learning about Buddhism allowed you to take away the same "good ideas" of it as I did. Thanks for sharing, it's nice to know someone else followed a nearly identical path. Mathgeek: Your line of "In all honesty, I really think there is enough evidence out there to believe in some kind of spiritual presence, but I don't think it could stand up to strict scientific scrutiny" is accurate in my opinion. Of course, it's all opinion but I do agree with you on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted April 21, 2008 Super Moderator Share Posted April 21, 2008 Don't forget that the Church started out Pagan and ended up Catholic! Guess you're getting back to the roots of the Church after all! Welcome. - Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIM Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 RCC is my xtian roots. Never went the pagan route, just drifted from it. Time, reading, pondering, those things eventually lead to deconverion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha centauri Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Hello, Kei! Thanks for sharing your background. Glad to have you participating on these message boards. Congratulations from freeing yourself of the thought-control of the church. While I'm not big on religion in general, I have disdain for the Abrahamic faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam. Judaism seems to have mellowed out for the most part, except for those extreme branches that are encouraged to spit in the faces of the surrounding nations thanks in part to a "blank check" of support from fundamentalist christians hell-bent on bringing about Armaggedon. I see most other religions, including paganism, Buddhism, etc. as much more tolerant. They seem to have a live and let live attitude. The attitude of many Christians and Muslims, on the other hand, is that if you don't believe in their particular brand of faith, then you can go to hell — literally. If there is a hell, one thinks it should be reserved for people with that attitude. But even then it definitely should not be permanent! Anyway, I hope you find a lot of interesting interaction here! All the best, Alpha Centauri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kei Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 MathGeek thank you for the welcome! "If there was a spiritual force controlling everything, it would probably along the lines of a deity with a non-interference policy. In all honesty, I really think there is enough evidence out there to believe in some kind of spiritual presence, but I don't think it could stand up to strict scientific scrutiny." i would have to agree with that. thank you for your reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kei Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 RCC is my xtian roots. Never went the pagan route, just drifted from it. Time, reading, pondering, those things eventually lead to deconverion. to each his own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kei Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 Don't forget that the Church started out Pagan and ended up Catholic! Guess you're getting back to the roots of the Church after all! Welcome. - Chris yes i suppose it did. however i am neo-pagan, which is not the same thing. thanks for the welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kei Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 One_World: thank you it's good for me to know i am not the only one who went through these experiences as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kei Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 Hello, Kei! Thanks for sharing your background. Glad to have you participating on these message boards. Congratulations from freeing yourself of the thought-control of the church. While I'm not big on religion in general, I have disdain for the Abrahamic faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam. Judaism seems to have mellowed out for the most part, except for those extreme branches that are encouraged to spit in the faces of the surrounding nations thanks in part to a "blank check" of support from fundamentalist christians hell-bent on bringing about Armaggedon. I see most other religions, including paganism, Buddhism, etc. as much more tolerant. They seem to have a live and let live attitude. The attitude of many Christians and Muslims, on the other hand, is that if you don't believe in their particular brand of faith, then you can go to hell — literally. If there is a hell, one thinks it should be reserved for people with that attitude. But even then it definitely should not be permanent! Anyway, I hope you find a lot of interesting interaction here! All the best, Alpha Centauri one of the first things that i hated about christianity was the hypocritical judgemental attitude they had (and failed to acknowledge. they would always have to play the victim). one of the reasons i think pagans generally do not have this attitude is because paganism does not claim to be the "right way" or the "only way" it's hard for most christians to wrap their heads around(that i have talked to) but i love it tolerence(acceptance would be a better word) is key to a peaceful existence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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