I'm Too Chicken To Be An Atheist

[Kaiser01]

Kaiser01- I'm surprised this site is so diverse. Hopefully, I'll learn something new.

 

 

 

Haha, at least I know I'm among weirdos (:

 

Oh yeah, I definitely know not to come out to anyone in my family. My oldest sister knows I'm questioning my beliefs and my little sister would probably say, "...Okay... and?" But, that's about it.

 

My dad does NOT like anyone arguing against his beliefs. He's actually really mean about it. Even, when I shared similar beliefs if I said anything he didn't agree with I'd get an ear full. He talks for hours, he's loud, and was on debate team. He never ends conversations :'(

 

I think he'd be really shocked. I was more religious than he is.

 

I wouldn't tell your parents, at least not now. mine found out by accident about 6 months ago, all hell broke loose. most people think it is worth it to tell their parents but in my experience it isnt. My faimly is like yours, my dad didnt even know what plate tectonics were, we argued about religion but he only hears what he wants to hear.

 

Edit: yea learning something new is always good and i promise you will learn something on this site, deconversion may b hard but it shapes you into a critical thinker.

[SilverLining]

 I wouldn't tell your parents, at least not now. mine found out by accident about 6 months ago, all hell broke loose. most people think it is worth it to tell their parents but in my experience it isnt. My faimly is like yours, my dad didnt even know what plate tectonics were, we argued about religion but he only hears what he wants to hear.

 

Edit: yea learning something new is always good and i promise you will learn something on this site, deconversion may b hard but it shapes you into a critical thinker.

 

I really don't plan on telling my parents. I don't plan on telling them a lot of things about me, which is actually kind of sad. 

 

My dad is the saame way. He doesn't just think he's right; He KNOWS he's right. He'll talk over you and then tell you to "listen" to him. And, tears do not phase him. Ughh, I can't stand people who yell.

 

I'm sorry all hell broke loose for you though :/

[lunaticheathen]

My mom threw me out by my hair when I was a teen when she found my witchcraft books. I grew up and she got over it.

 

But everyone deals with relatives in their own way. I'm just a terrible liar, so I tell the bald truth and ready my shield. My dad, at least, appreciates that whatever I am, I'm never a liar.

 

It's very sad that you feel you can't tell your parents about yourself. Parents should love their children no matter what. When my mom threw me out, I remember screaming "it's a book, not a crack pipe! IT COULD BE WORSE YOU DUMB BITCH!" Really, if there are parents out there that love their drug-addicted convict kids (and there are), parents should find it easy to accept kids with a simple difference of belief in god(s). Why do so many find that so difficult? Makes no sense. *grump*

[mcdaddy]

Kaiser01- I'm surprised this site is so diverse. Hopefully, I'll learn something new.

 

Lol I'm sure you wouldn't even want to be associated with me if you knew half the lame things I find interesting. In fact, I might just start compiling an atheist notebook. 

 

Also, I noticed you said your father is pretty fundamentalist. i don't know what the rest of your family believes, but you might want to be careful before "coming out" to them about your lack of belief. Many parents are ok with it, but some react every poorly. If you aren't sure, you may want to wait until you are living on your own, preferably with a job so you can be completely independent in a worst case scenario.

 

Haha, at least I know I'm among weirdos (: 

 

Oh yeah, I definitely know not to come out to anyone in my family. My oldest sister knows I'm questioning my beliefs and my little sister would probably say, "...Okay... and?" But, that's about it.

 

My dad does NOT like anyone arguing against his beliefs. He's actually really mean about it. Even, when I shared similar beliefs if I said anything he didn't agree with I'd get an ear full. He talks for hours, he's loud, and was on debate team. He never ends conversations :'(

 

I think he'd be really shocked. I was more religious than he is.

 

Sounds like my dad.

 

I'm right, you're wrong, I don't care if you did spend LITERALLY thousands of hours reading a voluminous and comprehensive amount of information to arrive at your conclusion, while I havent read jack shit. You're wrong buddy. Oh, and don't do anything to offend our Lord and Savior Billy Graham. (his fetish with that guy I'll never get).

[mcdaddy]

 

You bet. But the important thing to remember: DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF. Yeah you were suckered for a while, but you're not anymore. Don't dwell on it. Instead just be thankful you ultimately saw through it. Many people never do.

 

Religions evolve via natural selection just like different forms of life. The ones which are able to adapt survive, most die out quickly. Xtianity has been around for 2000 years in one form or another, and has spread to all continents. This fact alone tells you a great deal about the religion and its ability to win, and more importantly keep, converts.

 

From your couple of posts I gather you were taught xtianity by your parents. Most people are, which is not a coincidence. That's by far the easiest way for a religion to grow, so it is not an accident that xtianity by its very nature compels parents to instill the same beliefs in their children. For those who aren't born into the cult, there's a whole slew of empty promises it makes. It's not mere coincidence or good storytelling that jesus supposedly healed the sick and protected the downtrodden. Life is hard, so a religion which promises to make it easier will grow.

 

Then there's the fear aspect...and that's how they keep you. And xtianity is very good at selling fear. There's of course hell, but in addition you're told your life will fall apart if you leave the fold. They tell you god has a "special plan" just for you and you had better follow it.

 

You bought the bullshit for so long because it's not just any bullshit...this particular variety is highly evolved and very sophisticated. BUT- you're now here, because bullshit is still bullshit no matter how attractive it appears.

 

Wow, nailed it. I've never thought of religion in the context of evolution, but it does make it a bit more clear how xianity can still be such an infuential force while others have died out. Does that make xianity a more evolved form of Judiasm? Or is it more of a ripoff?

 

And you were right on me being raised into xinaity. But I can make up for lost time from now on

 

If you'd actually like to read up on this, I've read two books that talk about it in detail; "The evolution of God" and "The River of God". Both great books. Very enlightening.

[mcdaddy]

My mom threw me out by my hair when I was a teen when she found my witchcraft books. I grew up and she got over it.

 

But everyone deals with relatives in their own way. I'm just a terrible liar, so I tell the bald truth and ready my shield. My dad, at least, appreciates that whatever I am, I'm never a liar.

 

It's very sad that you feel you can't tell your parents about yourself. Parents should love their children no matter what. When my mom threw me out, I remember screaming "it's a book, not a crack pipe! IT COULD BE WORSE YOU DUMB BITCH!" Really, if there are parents out there that love their drug-addicted convict kids (and there are), parents should find it easy to accept kids with a simple difference of belief in god(s). Why do so many find that so difficult? Makes no sense. *grump*

 

Makes perfect sense Luna. You disagreeing with her religion is in essence saying, "your beliefs are effing retarded", at least in her own mind. And when you're replacing it with "witchcraft" which she probably equates with satanism, it's not unfounded for her to do so, since they "shouldn't suffer a witch to live" or whatever the fuck. I doubt she would have had the same reaction if you would have become a mormon. should she have thrown her daughter out? Hell no, unless she really had thought you were going to be slaughtering goats and small children and painting the walls with pentagrams in blood. Short of that, she's in the wrong. Even as an agnostic/atheist, I wouldn't just let everything under the cosmos fly with my daughter living in my house either.

 

But you don't do anything like that tho. You believe in no harm, do what ye will right? While I may not "feel ya" I wouldn't kick ya out on the street.

[SilverLining]

My mom threw me out by my hair when I was a teen when she found my witchcraft books. I grew up and she got over it.

 

But everyone deals with relatives in their own way. I'm just a terrible liar, so I tell the bald truth and ready my shield. My dad, at least, appreciates that whatever I am, I'm never a liar.

 

It's very sad that you feel you can't tell your parents about yourself. Parents should love their children no matter what. When my mom threw me out, I remember screaming "it's a book, not a crack pipe! IT COULD BE WORSE YOU DUMB BITCH!" Really, if there are parents out there that love their drug-addicted convict kids (and there are), parents should find it easy to accept kids with a simple difference of belief in god(s). Why do so many find that so difficult? Makes no sense. *grump*

 

I completely agree. I can't believe your mom acted that way! Granted, when I was a Christian I most likely wouldn't have been okay with it, but I'd shake it off and accept it. What she did was uncalled for :/.

 

One of my friends said she was Wiccan when I met her and I felt awkward at first, but it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought.

 

I want to be the type of parent who fully accepts their kid, no matter what.

 

And, I asked my mom how she would feel if I was atheist and she said, "Well, it's like Daddy says, 'You better hope you don't wake up on Judgement Day on the wrong side.'" lol, that's a start. And she thought atheists said, "God absolutely doesn't exist." instead of saying, "I don't know if He exists." We also talked about how I didn't trust the Bible because things can easily get lost in translation and how they adopted a lot of things from Pagans  . Even though she said, "That's why we read the King James version," she reacted pretty calmly. I think my dad is the crazy one.

[mcdaddy]

My mom threw me out by my hair when I was a teen when she found my witchcraft books. I grew up and she got over it.

 

But everyone deals with relatives in their own way. I'm just a terrible liar, so I tell the bald truth and ready my shield. My dad, at least, appreciates that whatever I am, I'm never a liar.

 

It's very sad that you feel you can't tell your parents about yourself. Parents should love their children no matter what. When my mom threw me out, I remember screaming "it's a book, not a crack pipe! IT COULD BE WORSE YOU DUMB BITCH!" Really, if there are parents out there that love their drug-addicted convict kids (and there are), parents should find it easy to accept kids with a simple difference of belief in god(s). Why do so many find that so difficult? Makes no sense. *grump*

 

I completely agree. I can't believe your mom acted that way! Granted, when I was a Christian I most likely wouldn't have been okay with it, but I'd shake it off and accept it. What she did was uncalled for :/.

 

One of my friends said she was Wiccan when I met her and I felt awkward at first, but it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought.

 

I want to be the type of parent who fully accepts their kid, no matter what.

 

And, I asked my mom how she would feel if I was atheist and she said, "Well, it's like Daddy says, 'You better hope you don't wake up on Judgement Day on the wrong side.'" lol, that's a start. And she thought atheists said, "God absolutely doesn't exist." instead of saying, "I don't know if He exists." We also talked about how I didn't trust the Bible because things can easily get lost in translation and how they adopted a lot of things from Pagans  . Even though she said, "That's why we read the King James version," she reacted pretty calmly. I think my dad is the crazy one.

 

"THATS WHY WE READ THE KING JAMES VERSION"

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!

 

sorry, I couldn't help myself.

 

Mommy needs to do a little diggin' on the origins of her beloved kjv.

[SilverLining]

"THATS WHY WE READ THE KING JAMES VERSION"

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!

 

sorry, I couldn't help myself.  

 

Mommy needs to do a little diggin' on the origins of her beloved kjv.

 

LOL, ohh lay off my Mommy. She means well<3 

 

Educate me on the origins. I never actually thought to do that. What've you heard? 

[Kaiser01]

"THATS WHY WE READ THE KING JAMES VERSION"

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!

 

sorry, I couldn't help myself.

 

Mommy needs to do a little diggin' on the origins of her beloved kjv.

 

LOL, ohh lay off my Mommy. She means well<3

 

Educate me on the origins. I never actually thought to do that. What've you heard?

 

The Bible started with the council at Nicaea, it was a catholic council since by now the roman catholic church had gained relative dominance. The documents before that had been translated several times and re writen for preservation, the men who choose basically dictated what went into the bible, no god involved. it then went through the middle ages where bibles were very rare, a single bible in that time cost about 10,000 dollars equivalent. Bibles gained alot of change in that time because the monks would need to rewrite and rewrite to maintain them and recreate them. eventually king james wanting to make a more accessible version of the bible, since most bible were Latin and hard to understand. The protestant reformation brought many changes to the bible system, with the printing press. there are now thousands of versions of the same book, each one interpreted difrent because of the different words.

 

Now days they are changing stuff in them to try and make it more credible, for example the original 10 commandments said do not kill, they have been changing it to do not murder since it sounds better when god tell the isrealies to kill some people. That and lots of stuff in Leviticus as well.

[mcdaddy]

It's.....more than I can sum up in a post. I'll try to find a link.

 

[3DollarBill]

Does that make xianity a more evolved form of Judiasm? Or is it more of a ripoff?

Both Christianity and Islam evolved from a common ancestor- Judaism. "Early Christianity" subsequently branched off into different sects, which branched again, etc etc. There are now an estimated 38,000 different sects.

 

 

I really don't plan on telling my parents. I don't plan on telling them a lot of things about me, which is actually kind of sad.

As an atheist you now have to define your own morality. I do so with one simple principle- to do the least possible harm. I doubt my dad really believes it either but he seems content to play along. My mother on the other hand is a believer. Her beliefs may not be real, but I would cause her real pain by announcing my rejection of those beliefs. Therefore, in order to do no harm, I have to keep my mouth shut. Yeah, it kind of sucks, but I'm from the south and that's just what we do for family.

 

If she ever asks me directly, I don't think I'll lie. But I will first say it would be best not to talk about it and give her one last chance to drop it.

[Kaiser01]

You bet. But the important thing to remember: DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF. Yeah you were suckered for a while, but you're not anymore. Don't dwell on it. Instead just be thankful you ultimately saw through it. Many people never do.

 

Religions evolve via natural selection just like different forms of life. The ones which are able to adapt survive, most die out quickly. Xtianity has been around for 2000 years in one form or another, and has spread to all continents. This fact alone tells you a great deal about the religion and its ability to win, and more importantly keep, converts.

 

From your couple of posts I gather you were taught xtianity by your parents. Most people are, which is not a coincidence. That's by far the easiest way for a religion to grow, so it is not an accident that xtianity by its very nature compels parents to instill the same beliefs in their children. For those who aren't born into the cult, there's a whole slew of empty promises it makes. It's not mere coincidence or good storytelling that jesus supposedly healed the sick and protected the downtrodden. Life is hard, so a religion which promises to make it easier will grow.

 

Then there's the fear aspect...and that's how they keep you. And xtianity is very good at selling fear. There's of course hell, but in addition you're told your life will fall apart if you leave the fold. They tell you god has a "special plan" just for you and you had better follow it.

 

You bought the bullshit for so long because it's not just any bullshit...this particular variety is highly evolved and very sophisticated. BUT- you're now here, because bullshit is still bullshit no matter how attractive it appears.

 

Wow, nailed it. I've never thought of religion in the context of evolution, but it does make it a bit more clear how xianity can still be such an infuential force while others have died out. Does that make xianity a more evolved form of Judiasm? Or is it more of a ripoff?

 

And you were right on me being raised into xinaity. But I can make up for lost time from now on

 

Christianity and Judaism for about 100 years were literally about the same, all the apostles, contrary to what Christians want to believe, were pretty much practicing jews after jesus, they simply added to the doctrine. it wasnt till after the time of paul that christians really started to break off and when they did the jews would go through a very long period of persecution by Christians. in fact at one point there were christian death squads in the 400's keeping jews out of Jerusalem.

[merck]

"THATS WHY WE READ THE KING JAMES VERSION"

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!

 

sorry, I couldn't help myself.

 

Mommy needs to do a little diggin' on the origins of her beloved kjv.

 

LOL, ohh lay off my Mommy. She means well<3

 

Educate me on the origins. I never actually thought to do that. What've you heard?

 

The book 'Misquoting Jesus' by Bart Ehrman (a Biblical scholar) goes into this. It is a really good book about the history of the new testament. I'll try to give a quick summary of how the KJV came about. First, we don't have any of the original books and many of our earliest copies have several differences between them. Fast forward a few centuries and the church splits between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. The Catholics don't really bother to keep a whole lot of the Greek texts around because it reminds them of those heretics the Eastern Orthodox. Besides, they have the Bible in Latin and what more could you want. Well, a few centuries later, a guy named Erasmus decides to remake the Greek new testament by compiling all the Greek texts he can. But there are two main problems.

1. Some of these text don't match up well with the older Greek texts we have found.

2. All the texts he could find did not make up the entire new testament.

 

So what does he do? He translates the Latin bible into Greek to fill in the holes. This results in a Greek version with words and phrases that never occur in any other versions of the Bible. So when King James decides to have an English translation made, it was based off a revised version of this Greek Bible. So basically, there are parts of the KJV that go from Greek to Latin back to Greek and then to English. Or, in other words, a translation of a translation of a translation.

 

Here is a lecture by him by the same title. He goes into a lot more detail and a lot more stuff in the book, but this is a pretty good start.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFs-llHmxNc&feature=related

[jaws78]

My reply to this is God allows us life. If he doesnt want our soul to have life, it wont happen. the same for a tree, if he doesn't want it to grow, it won't grow no matter how much you water it. When I say this I don't mean parents as God, I mean God the creator. My life was ruined over peoples belief in God and their little religion. When I was a child, I got into exercising. I was going to tryout for or join a branch of the service. I wound up talking with all of the recruiters, and started out wanting to be a navy seal. I went to a YMCA in Petersburg VA, and jogged and did bodyweight exercises along with lightweight dumbell exercises for legs. I also did these at home, trying to be in the best shape of my life when I was old enough to enlist. You would think God would make a way for a young man or child who wanted to join the armed forces. Not my God. He let my head get beat in by my father and other people instead. I kept having ear problems and got tubes installed in my ears. the local navy recruiter explained I could not tryout for or be a seal with tubes in my ears. The next in line was the army airborne. I wanted to tryout for the rangers, but the local army recruiter explained they were taller men and I would not meet their height requirements. I could still join the airborne and go thru the ranger course, then return to the airborne with a ranger patch or tab. This is where I was headed. God should make a way for a kid who wants to serve God and country, but not in my case. During my exercise routine, my father decided to include "neck" exercises. He was a preacher, and saw fit to have me lay on my back and press on my head to "strengthen" my neck. I slightly remember him beating the back of my head on the concrete den floor. I slightly remember not waking up after i fell asleep and having blindness for a short period of time. I believe MRI's were taken, I'm not sure as I recieved more head trauma from other volunteers. I had a treehouse about 17 feet up in a tree. a police officer my father teamed up with would come by checking on me as I would do my pushups during the summer break. i slightly remember him putting me in the tree and playing hero as he came up to get me down. I was dropped, and remember having hip cartlidge damage along with more head trauma. the officer stood there as the neighbor threw gumballs at me while i was made to climb the tree. The neighbor was a year older than me and a baseball pitcher. Local drug dealers popped up on the scene along with other people wanting to get theirs in on a young child who's father was claiming religious beliefs for. The drug dealers, or someone would leave my younger brother weed, and tell him they would help him if he didn't tell on them. When I would take a medication i was on during the afternoon, he would call them and they would show up at the house along with an officer. my father allowed them over, even if he wasn't there. He claimed head of household and religion for his family and included this in things he did and decisions he made. I don't remember what happened, but had to be taken to the MRI room after falling out of the tree. I had the MRI technician tell me what was going to happen if i remember correctly. I was told I would clench, including my jaw, then everything would go black. After this i believe they told me I would go unconcious. There were witnesses there, I think being the the recruiters I was having contact with. After this i suffered motor skill loss including speech. I had seizures if I remember correctly. A therapist worked with me at someone's home while an EMS crew was on stanby as I would lose vital functions. Does God exist? Does he actually care about us? In my opinion no. After we're born we're left in the hands of people. I made a full recovery after all of this. i suffered severe substance abuse problems and am 34 years of age now. Religion and peoples beliefs in God destroyed my life. My father preached at the gym I went to, and they ran me out of there making sure I was in daddy's hands for excercise. God exists but he could care less about us and out life.

[jaws78]

My reply to this is God allows us life. If he doesnt want our soul to have life, it wont happen. the same for a tree, if he doesn't want it to grow, it won't grow no matter how much you water it. When I say this I don't mean parents as God, I mean God the creator. My life was ruined over peoples belief in God and their little religion. When I was a child, I got into exercising. I was going to tryout for or join a branch of the service. I wound up talking with all of the recruiters, and started out wanting to be a navy seal. I went to a YMCA in Petersburg VA, and jogged and did bodyweight exercises along with lightweight dumbell exercises for legs. I also did these at home, trying to be in the best shape of my life when I was old enough to enlist. You would think God would make a way for a young man or child who wanted to join the armed forces. Not my God. He let my head get beat in by my father and other people instead. I kept having ear problems and got tubes installed in my ears. the local navy recruiter explained I could not tryout for or be a seal with tubes in my ears. The next in line was the army airborne. I wanted to tryout for the rangers, but the local army recruiter explained they were taller men and I would not meet their height requirements. I could still join the airborne and go thru the ranger course, then return to the airborne with a ranger patch or tab. This is where I was headed. God should make a way for a kid who wants to serve God and country, but not in my case. During my exercise routine, my father decided to include "neck" exercises. He was a preacher, and saw fit to have me lay on my back and press on my head to "strengthen" my neck. I slightly remember him beating the back of my head on the concrete den floor. I slightly remember not waking up after i fell asleep and having blindness for a short period of time. I believe MRI's were taken, I'm not sure as I recieved more head trauma from other volunteers. I had a treehouse about 17 feet up in a tree. a police officer my father teamed up with would come by checking on me as I would do my pushups during the summer break. i slightly remember him putting me in the tree and playing hero as he came up to get me down. I was dropped, and remember having hip cartlidge damage along with more head trauma. the officer stood there as the neighbor threw gumballs at me while i was made to climb the tree. The neighbor was a year older than me and a baseball pitcher. Local drug dealers popped up on the scene along with other people wanting to get theirs in on a young child who's father was claiming religious beliefs for. The drug dealers, or someone would leave my younger brother weed, and tell him they would help him if he didn't tell on them. When I would take a medication i was on during the afternoon, he would call them and they would show up at the house along with an officer. my father allowed them over, even if he wasn't there. He claimed head of household and religion for his family and included this in things he did and decisions he made. I don't remember what happened, but had to be taken to the MRI room after falling out of the tree. I had the MRI technician tell me what was going to happen if i remember correctly. I was told I would clench, including my jaw, then everything would go black. After this i believe they told me I would go unconcious. There were witnesses there, I think being the the recruiters I was having contact with. After this i suffered motor skill loss including speech. I had seizures if I remember correctly. A therapist worked with me at someone's home while an EMS crew was on stanby as I would lose vital functions. Does God exist? Does he actually care about us? In my opinion no. After we're born we're left in the hands of people. I made a full recovery after all of this. i suffered severe substance abuse problems and am 34 years of age now. Religion and peoples beliefs in God destroyed my life. My father preached at the gym I went to, and they ran me out of there making sure I was in daddy's hands for excercise. God exists but he could care less about us and out life.

I forgot to add to this, that several people recieved what they dished out to a young child, head and neck trauma.

[jaws78]

My reply to this is God allows us life. If he doesnt want our soul to have life, it wont happen. the same for a tree, if he doesn't want it to grow, it won't grow no matter how much you water it. When I say this I don't mean parents as God, I mean God the creator. My life was ruined over peoples belief in God and their little religion. When I was a child, I got into exercising. I was going to tryout for or join a branch of the service. I wound up talking with all of the recruiters, and started out wanting to be a navy seal. I went to a YMCA in Petersburg VA, and jogged and did bodyweight exercises along with lightweight dumbell exercises for legs. I also did these at home, trying to be in the best shape of my life when I was old enough to enlist. You would think God would make a way for a young man or child who wanted to join the armed forces. Not my God. He let my head get beat in by my father and other people instead. I kept having ear problems and got tubes installed in my ears. the local navy recruiter explained I could not tryout for or be a seal with tubes in my ears. The next in line was the army airborne. I wanted to tryout for the rangers, but the local army recruiter explained they were taller men and I would not meet their height requirements. I could still join the airborne and go thru the ranger course, then return to the airborne with a ranger patch or tab. This is where I was headed. God should make a way for a kid who wants to serve God and country, but not in my case. During my exercise routine, my father decided to include "neck" exercises. He was a preacher, and saw fit to have me lay on my back and press on my head to "strengthen" my neck. I slightly remember him beating the back of my head on the concrete den floor. I slightly remember not waking up after i fell asleep and having blindness for a short period of time. I believe MRI's were taken, I'm not sure as I recieved more head trauma from other volunteers. I had a treehouse about 17 feet up in a tree. a police officer my father teamed up with would come by checking on me as I would do my pushups during the summer break. i slightly remember him putting me in the tree and playing hero as he came up to get me down. I was dropped, and remember having hip cartlidge damage along with more head trauma. the officer stood there as the neighbor threw gumballs at me while i was made to climb the tree. The neighbor was a year older than me and a baseball pitcher. Local drug dealers popped up on the scene along with other people wanting to get theirs in on a young child who's father was claiming religious beliefs for. The drug dealers, or someone would leave my younger brother weed, and tell him they would help him if he didn't tell on them. When I would take a medication i was on during the afternoon, he would call them and they would show up at the house along with an officer. my father allowed them over, even if he wasn't there. He claimed head of household and religion for his family and included this in things he did and decisions he made. I don't remember what happened, but had to be taken to the MRI room after falling out of the tree. I had the MRI technician tell me what was going to happen if i remember correctly. I was told I would clench, including my jaw, then everything would go black. After this i believe they told me I would go unconcious. There were witnesses there, I think being the the recruiters I was having contact with. After this i suffered motor skill loss including speech. I had seizures if I remember correctly. A therapist worked with me at someone's home while an EMS crew was on stanby as I would lose vital functions. Does God exist? Does he actually care about us? In my opinion no. After we're born we're left in the hands of people. I made a full recovery after all of this. i suffered severe substance abuse problems and am 34 years of age now. Religion and peoples beliefs in God destroyed my life. My father preached at the gym I went to, and they ran me out of there making sure I was in daddy's hands for excercise. God exists but he could care less about us and out life.

I forgot to add to this, that several people recieved what they dished out to a young child, head and neck trauma.

Another addition to this post was parental forces cutting off food to supplement exercise and telling me to stop exercising and I won't stay hungry all the time. I was kept bone skinny throughout high school and told I would not gain size or weight in my while living at home, this devasted my beliefs I could accomplish what I wanted to achieve as all I wanted to do was stay in shape and gain some size, then enlist in the armed forces.

[3DollarBill]

My reply to this is God allows us life. If he doesnt want our soul to have life, it wont happen. the same for a tree, if he doesn't want it to grow, it won't grow no matter how much you water it. When I say this I don't mean parents as God, I mean God the creator. My life was ruined over peoples belief in God and their little religion. When I was a child, I got into exercising. I was going to tryout for or join a branch of the service. I wound up talking with all of the recruiters, and started out wanting to be a navy seal. I went to a YMCA in Petersburg VA, and jogged and did bodyweight exercises along with lightweight dumbell exercises for legs. I also did these at home, trying to be in the best shape of my life when I was old enough to enlist. You would think God would make a way for a young man or child who wanted to join the armed forces. Not my God. He let my head get beat in by my father and other people instead. I kept having ear problems and got tubes installed in my ears. the local navy recruiter explained I could not tryout for or be a seal with tubes in my ears. The next in line was the army airborne. I wanted to tryout for the rangers, but the local army recruiter explained they were taller men and I would not meet their height requirements. I could still join the airborne and go thru the ranger course, then return to the airborne with a ranger patch or tab. This is where I was headed. God should make a way for a kid who wants to serve God and country, but not in my case. During my exercise routine, my father decided to include "neck" exercises. He was a preacher, and saw fit to have me lay on my back and press on my head to "strengthen" my neck. I slightly remember him beating the back of my head on the concrete den floor. I slightly remember not waking up after i fell asleep and having blindness for a short period of time. I believe MRI's were taken, I'm not sure as I recieved more head trauma from other volunteers. I had a treehouse about 17 feet up in a tree. a police officer my father teamed up with would come by checking on me as I would do my pushups during the summer break. i slightly remember him putting me in the tree and playing hero as he came up to get me down. I was dropped, and remember having hip cartlidge damage along with more head trauma. the officer stood there as the neighbor threw gumballs at me while i was made to climb the tree. The neighbor was a year older than me and a baseball pitcher. Local drug dealers popped up on the scene along with other people wanting to get theirs in on a young child who's father was claiming religious beliefs for. The drug dealers, or someone would leave my younger brother weed, and tell him they would help him if he didn't tell on them. When I would take a medication i was on during the afternoon, he would call them and they would show up at the house along with an officer. my father allowed them over, even if he wasn't there. He claimed head of household and religion for his family and included this in things he did and decisions he made. I don't remember what happened, but had to be taken to the MRI room after falling out of the tree. I had the MRI technician tell me what was going to happen if i remember correctly. I was told I would clench, including my jaw, then everything would go black. After this i believe they told me I would go unconcious. There were witnesses there, I think being the the recruiters I was having contact with. After this i suffered motor skill loss including speech. I had seizures if I remember correctly. A therapist worked with me at someone's home while an EMS crew was on stanby as I would lose vital functions. Does God exist? Does he actually care about us? In my opinion no. After we're born we're left in the hands of people. I made a full recovery after all of this. i suffered severe substance abuse problems and am 34 years of age now. Religion and peoples beliefs in God destroyed my life. My father preached at the gym I went to, and they ran me out of there making sure I was in daddy's hands for excercise. God exists but he could care less about us and out life.

I forgot to add to this, that several people recieved what they dished out to a young child, head and neck trauma.

Another addition to this post was parental forces cutting off food to supplement exercise and telling me to stop exercising and I won't stay hungry all the time. I was kept bone skinny throughout high school and told I would not gain size or weight in my while living at home, this devasted my beliefs I could accomplish what I wanted to achieve as all I wanted to do was stay in shape and gain some size, then enlist in the armed forces.

 

If all this is accurate, your parents should be in prison and Virginia needs stricter licensing standards for hospital personnel.

 

I'm somewhat curious...you've disavowed belief in a personal or benevolent deity, and I don't think you've made any new discoveries about the origins of the universe, so why do you remain convinced a deity exists at all?

[Kaiser01]

My reply to this is God allows us life. If he doesnt want our soul to have life, it wont happen. the same for a tree, if he doesn't want it to grow, it won't grow no matter how much you water it. When I say this I don't mean parents as God, I mean God the creator. My life was ruined over peoples belief in God and their little religion. When I was a child, I got into exercising. I was going to tryout for or join a branch of the service. I wound up talking with all of the recruiters, and started out wanting to be a navy seal. I went to a YMCA in Petersburg VA, and jogged and did bodyweight exercises along with lightweight dumbell exercises for legs. I also did these at home, trying to be in the best shape of my life when I was old enough to enlist. You would think God would make a way for a young man or child who wanted to join the armed forces. Not my God. He let my head get beat in by my father and other people instead. I kept having ear problems and got tubes installed in my ears. the local navy recruiter explained I could not tryout for or be a seal with tubes in my ears. The next in line was the army airborne. I wanted to tryout for the rangers, but the local army recruiter explained they were taller men and I would not meet their height requirements. I could still join the airborne and go thru the ranger course, then return to the airborne with a ranger patch or tab. This is where I was headed. God should make a way for a kid who wants to serve God and country, but not in my case. During my exercise routine, my father decided to include "neck" exercises. He was a preacher, and saw fit to have me lay on my back and press on my head to "strengthen" my neck. I slightly remember him beating the back of my head on the concrete den floor. I slightly remember not waking up after i fell asleep and having blindness for a short period of time. I believe MRI's were taken, I'm not sure as I recieved more head trauma from other volunteers. I had a treehouse about 17 feet up in a tree. a police officer my father teamed up with would come by checking on me as I would do my pushups during the summer break. i slightly remember him putting me in the tree and playing hero as he came up to get me down. I was dropped, and remember having hip cartlidge damage along with more head trauma. the officer stood there as the neighbor threw gumballs at me while i was made to climb the tree. The neighbor was a year older than me and a baseball pitcher. Local drug dealers popped up on the scene along with other people wanting to get theirs in on a young child who's father was claiming religious beliefs for. The drug dealers, or someone would leave my younger brother weed, and tell him they would help him if he didn't tell on them. When I would take a medication i was on during the afternoon, he would call them and they would show up at the house along with an officer. my father allowed them over, even if he wasn't there. He claimed head of household and religion for his family and included this in things he did and decisions he made. I don't remember what happened, but had to be taken to the MRI room after falling out of the tree. I had the MRI technician tell me what was going to happen if i remember correctly. I was told I would clench, including my jaw, then everything would go black. After this i believe they told me I would go unconcious. There were witnesses there, I think being the the recruiters I was having contact with. After this i suffered motor skill loss including speech. I had seizures if I remember correctly. A therapist worked with me at someone's home while an EMS crew was on stanby as I would lose vital functions. Does God exist? Does he actually care about us? In my opinion no. After we're born we're left in the hands of people. I made a full recovery after all of this. i suffered severe substance abuse problems and am 34 years of age now. Religion and peoples beliefs in God destroyed my life. My father preached at the gym I went to, and they ran me out of there making sure I was in daddy's hands for excercise. God exists but he could care less about us and out life.

I forgot to add to this, that several people recieved what they dished out to a young child, head and neck trauma.

Another addition to this post was parental forces cutting off food to supplement exercise and telling me to stop exercising and I won't stay hungry all the time. I was kept bone skinny throughout high school and told I would not gain size or weight in my while living at home, this devasted my beliefs I could accomplish what I wanted to achieve as all I wanted to do was stay in shape and gain some size, then enlist in the armed forces.

 

If all this is accurate, your parents should be in prison and Virginia needs stricter licensing standards for hospital personnel.

 

I'm somewhat curious...you've disavowed belief in a personal or benevolent deity, and I don't think you've made any new discoveries about the origins of the universe, so why do you remain convinced a deity exists at all?

 

I share this curiosity.

[Thought2Much]

I think jaws78 needs to start his own thread somewhere, instead of threadjacking this one and quoting his own wall of text over and over again.

[Vendredie]

Admitting that you're "too chicken" to be an atheist is an important first step in becoming an atheist. It means you won't become an Annoying Agnostic. There's nothing wrong with agnosticism, just certain agnostics can be annoying.

 

Basically, your world has ended. Everything you knew and loved, is now gone. So you have to make your own way, and that's really scary. Once you let go of the fear of god, or hell, or nothing in particular, you'll be free to build your own world.