Hercules Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Hello All! This is Hercules from Scandinavia! My story. My mother is reborn christian and has a very strong belief in God. She is evangelic lutheran like I was. We have kind of a state church in my country so most of the people are members of church whether they believe or not. My father was agnostic.. he has been dead for a 3 years now. I was raised into christianity by my mother. She was very consistent that I went into sunday school and other. My father tried to slow my mother a bit but couldn´t do much, because my mother is very strong person. So.. I believed. I went into confirmation school and was very active in church events. My uncle who is very devout and fundamental christian, introduced me into christian rock and metal and taught me that all secular music is from Satan. I spend my youth in a church. Lutheran church over all is not very fundamental, but the sect where I was was fundamental and my mother and my uncle always staying very close to me helped me to become very fundamental and black and white. After high school I went into Bible school to become a christian youth counsillor. I spent 12 years in church being a youth councillor and bringing kids into Christ. But all the time I was in church I started feel myself strange. The world view I had just seemed not to fit in the reality of life. Ever growing scientific interest and knowledge started to eat my christian world view. Also the things I saw inside the church.. unintellectuality and actual lies that workers of church were spreading around was something so nauseating and disturbing that I couldn´t just stand it. The amount of hypocrisy and back- stabbing was unbelievable. I was always taught that God is love and christians are on a mission to love... but that wasn´t truth. As I studied Bible over and over again... made me to realize how it was in error... and that God was actually a vengefull sadist that was about to throw us all into flames. And how God was ready to comdemn people for minor wrongs to death.. just to name few. I tried to justify it for years.. saying there is so much good in christianity. But in the end I had to surrender. Christianity is a primitive religious system from a primitive time and it has no place in our scientific, rational world anymore. We don´t need God to show love and compassion. Actually we do better without God.. we don´t need to scare the shit out of people with Hell and we can instead love other human beings just using our humanist belief. I gave up my church work last july and immediately after that separated from church. I now study journalism and I am happy agnostic, that have no reason to believe in God or Gods. This real life is enough. Thanks ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugene39 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 ... God was actually a vengeful sadist that was about to throw us all into flames. And how God was ready to comdemn people for minor wrongs to death.. just to name few. Yep, the God of Christianity sure isn't a very nice fellow. Enjoyed your story - welcome to Ex-c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted September 27, 2011 Super Moderator Share Posted September 27, 2011 Thanks for sharing your story. Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovemybrain Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Welcome! I agree - real life is enough. It is wonderful and mysterious and much more interesting than life under the curiosity-killing religion of christianity! Thanks for introducing yourself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitchu Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Welcome to the forums, Hercules. I appreciate your story and I could almost hear the Finnish lilt as I read your words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notazombie Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Welcome! Thank you for sharing your story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hercules Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 Thanks for welcomes! I´m glad I found out this site. I visit also in one national site for sceptics, but I´ve always liked international connections. It also helps me to keep my english in a decent level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Welcome to ExC, Hercules. I like your online name. I take that name to mean you were strong enough finally to see the truth about Christianity and ultimately leave it. And this is very well said and I agree with every word of it: Christianity is a primitive religious system from a primitive time and it has no place in our scientific, rational world anymore. We don´t need God to show love and compassion. Actually we do better without God.. we don´t need to scare the shit out of people with Hell and we can instead love other human beings just using our humanist belief. P.S. Your English is very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Margee Posted September 28, 2011 Moderator Share Posted September 28, 2011 Hello All! This is Hercules from Scandinavia! The world view I had just seemed not to fit in the reality of life........ Also the things I saw inside the church.. unintellectuality and actual lies that workers of church were spreading around was something so nauseating and disturbing that I couldn´t just stand it. The amount of hypocrisy and back- stabbing was unbelievable. I was always taught that God is love and christians are on a mission to love... but that wasn´t truth. As I studied Bible over and over again... made me to realize how it was in error... and that God was actually a vengefull sadist that was about to throw us all into flames. And how God was ready to comdemn people for minor wrongs to death.. just to name few. I tried to justify it for years.. saying there is so much good in christianity. But in the end I had to surrender. Christianity is a primitive religious system from a primitive time and it has no place in our scientific, rational world anymore. We don´t need God to show love and compassion. Actually we do better without God.. we don´t need to scare the shit out of people with Hell and we can instead love other human beings just using our humanist belief. I gave up my church work last july and immediately after that separated from church. I now study journalism and I am happy agnostic, that have no reason to believe in God or Gods. This real life is enough. Thanks ! Welcome Hercules! Thanks for sharing your story. I definetely could relate. Good to have you here with us. I look forward to hearing more from you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
openpalm45 Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Welcome!! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeasabird Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I enjoyed your story, thanks for sharing and welcome to Ex-C. To borrow from Dawkins, I think the garden is more beautiful WITHOUT the invisible dancing fairies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hercules Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Thanks again for warm welcomes! I´m trying to get to know this board. Well this is huge place with lots of threads, and I´m having difficulties to where to jump in. I´ll find it don´t worry. Freeasabird - I just started reading Richard Dawkins "God delusion". So far I´m enjoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandora Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Welcome to the forums from a fellow Finn! I'm third generation Finnish-American, but I do not know Finnish. How has your mother taken the news that you are no longer Christian? Here in the US, it is more common for spouses and parents to take the news badly. It causes a lot of tension for many families here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hercules Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 Hello Pandora! I have relatives in USA. I have never met them but I know that in Florida lives cousins of my grandfather. Or propably those cousins don´t live anymore but their sons and daughters etc. I have a hope that I could get in touch with them in the future. My mother took my departure from faith pretty badly. Me and my wife are about to have our first child in a matter of few days. We have decided that we will not get the child baptized. In Finland and especially in evangelic lutheran church it is a custom that children are baptized within 3 months after birth and then they are members of church... even if parents are not believers they usually do this. It is a custom here. But since I don´t believe in a god and my wife doesn´t either, we have decided that our child is not baptized and we will not raise him / her into any religion. Needless to say my mother was very upset of this. She is in a shock and is fearing for the soul of our child. For christians it seems that the baptism is kind of a magic trick.. I think it is superstision. I love my mother... but she needs to accept this and respect my choice. I will respect her beliefs and I will never be militant against her beliefs but I want her to show me the same respect. And that, I know, is not going to be easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxie Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Hello Hercules. Hope you'll stick around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hercules Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 I got my first child two weeks ago and have been pretty busy in taking care of her and learning how to be a father. It is awesome to see how nature works so delicately! I allways wondered, will it somehow make me to be less astonished of the miracle of birth since I don´t believe in any religious setting inside of it. But being there in the moment when my daughter arrived into this world I have to say that the beauty of the moment is much brighter when you see it as a natural happening without any religious agenda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrox Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Congratulations on escaping from looneyland. Welcome to ex-Xian.net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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