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Goodbye Jesus

Is there anyone there? Oh! Hello!


CosmicRainbowUnicorn

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Hello, everyone.

 

I'm new here... although, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?

 

My name is Marie. I'm going to 26th tomorrow. I've spent my entire life suffocated by Christianity. I have suffered through social anxiety and am currently undergoing therapy for anxiety and depression. About three years ago, I finally began to break away from the Christian life that I was raised in; now, I consider myself to be pagan. It's been difficult for me, because I am still surrounded by my mother, therapist, and others who are devoutly Christian and are unhappy with me. I have never had a chance to talk to anyone in a similar situation, so I'm hoping I can change that on here.

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Welcome.  This is a good forum with many helpful folks.

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16 minutes ago, sdelsolray said:

Welcome.  This is a good forum with many helpful folks.

Thank you. I've already taken a peak through the ex-Christian Life part of the forum, and I already feel like I belong. Everyone here seems so nice so far.

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Hi Cosmicrainbowunicorn

 

Welcome to Ex-C.

 

When surrounded by religious folk (as many of us are) this forum is a great way to connect with those who are similar to us.

 

We also have a chat group if you are interested. It's run off Discord.

 

LF

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Welcome, glad you found this site. You will find likeminded folk here that can relate to your situation.

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1 hour ago, CosmicRainbowUnicorn said:

Hello, everyone.

 

I'm new here... although, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?

 

My name is Marie. I'm going to 26th tomorrow. I've spent my entire life suffocated by Christianity. I have suffered through social anxiety and am currently undergoing therapy for anxiety and depression. About three years ago, I finally began to break away from the Christian life that I was raised in; now, I consider myself to be pagan. It's been difficult for me, because I am still surrounded by my mother, therapist, and others who are devoutly Christian and are unhappy with me. I have never had a chance to talk to anyone in a similar situation, so I'm hoping I can change that on here.

 

You can do that, for sure. Glad you're here!

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1 hour ago, CosmicRainbowUnicorn said:

Hello, everyone.

 

I'm new here... although, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?

 

My name is Marie. I'm going to 26th tomorrow. I've spent my entire life suffocated by Christianity. I have suffered through social anxiety and am currently undergoing therapy for anxiety and depression. About three years ago, I finally began to break away from the Christian life that I was raised in; now, I consider myself to be pagan. It's been difficult for me, because I am still surrounded by my mother, therapist, and others who are devoutly Christian and are unhappy with me. I have never had a chance to talk to anyone in a similar situation, so I'm hoping I can change that on here.

Hang in there. It takes time but you can and will develop a support/friend group that won't judge you based on whether you are a Christian. Glad you're here.

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Hey, @CosmicRainbowUnicorn

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Like minded former fundy/xtians surrounded by jesus freaks?

 

Nope. haven't seen any!   :P

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1 hour ago, CosmicRainbowUnicorn said:

Hello, everyone.

 

I'm new here... although, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?

 

My name is Marie. I'm going to 26th tomorrow. I've spent my entire life suffocated by Christianity. I have suffered through social anxiety and am currently undergoing therapy for anxiety and depression. About three years ago, I finally began to break away from the Christian life that I was raised in; now, I consider myself to be pagan. It's been difficult for me, because I am still surrounded by my mother, therapist, and others who are devoutly Christian and are unhappy with me. I have never had a chance to talk to anyone in a similar situation, so I'm hoping I can change that on here.

Yep, Christianity will do that to you. I think religion is born out of man's fear of the unknown, and is a band aid for our ignorance.

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Welcome. There is a lot of good information, and good people here.  What Christian denomination are you (or were you) IN?  Do you have a support group or supportive individuals you can talk to face to face?

 

I have a concern.  You said your therapist is Christian.  Is he/she licensed or certified by a state agency as a therapist?  Is he/she being objective and encouraging you to think for yourself?  If not, find another therapist.   It is possible, but not very probable that a Christian therapist could be completely unbiased. 

 

Hang in there!! 

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30 minutes ago, Weezer said:

 

 

I have a concern.  You said your therapist is Christian.  Is he/she licensed or certified by a state agency as a therapist?  Is he/she being objective and encouraging you to think for yourself?  If not, find another therapist.   It is possible, but not very probable that a Christian therapist could be completely unbiased.

Welcome! And I was going to voice this same concern. In my experience the best therapist in this kind of situation is a secular one. I have had secular therapists and one religious one, and I feel that although it was helpful, I gained much more from therapy with completely secular therapists, they are willing to examine issues in ways that religious ones just wont. You will find yourself in good company here, and as mentioned, we also have a chat room, so welcome to venture there.

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54 minutes ago, Weezer said:

Welcome. There is a lot of good information, and good people here.  What Christian denomination are you (or were you) IN?  Do you have a support group or supportive individuals you can talk to face to face?

 

I have a concern.  You said your therapist is Christian.  Is he/she licensed or certified by a state agency as a therapist?  Is he/she being objective and encouraging you to think for yourself?  If not, find another therapist.   It is possible, but not very probable that a Christian therapist could be completely unbiased. 

 

Hang in there!! 

 

Good point.  If the OP knows the therapist is a Christian that likely means the therapist told her that, or confirmed it.  Bad sign.

 

@CosmicRainbowUnicorn:  Is the therapist a Christian?  How did you learn that?  If the therapist is a Christian, you might want to consider changing to a secular therapist.  You get to choose.  You're the patient.

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Welcome!  Yeah, if your therapist is unhappy with your religious views that is a red flag on your therapist.  I hope you find one who is on your side.

 

 

 

(Edited for clarity)

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Greetings.

As others have mentioned, your therapist should be professional and neutral.  Your religious affiliations should not determine how they feel towards you.  I can imagine finding secular options to be difficult if you're immersed in a Christian environment.  I suppose it's a step by step process, gradually incorporating more secular people (among other things) into your life.  

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OMG, Cosmic, I love your YouTubes! You seem so totally together it's really hard to think of struggling with depression. We have lots of people here who have successfully escaped the toxic effects of their christian clan and are actually free with no looking back. Christianity isn't compelling in any way and here you can let that stuff out and get the honest feedback that you deserve. You've really done the best thing that you could possibly do for your long term mental health, by telling yourself that your thoughts and feelings are more important to you than tribe. Part of what's so hard is that beyond the thought control techniques and brain washing christianity damaged you with it has also done an amazing job of creating the kind of community that appeals to our innate desire for community and unfortunately for you your family and therefore likely entire support network has drunk the kool aid. Irregardless of how clearly you think you have to work your way our of a very complex difficult situation that you have had nothing to do with creating. What we can hopefully do for you is show you example after example of people who have gotten all the way out and in spite of the costs that are related (to a surprising extent) to taking on the full weight of being your own person including taking full responsibility for everything you do and all the challenges you take on now single handedly and of course failing sometimes when you so really really wanted to succeed. So it's a new world with possibly ecstasy you never could have felt and the challenges of trying to protect yourself from the weight of responsibility especially when christian parents don't know how to help and are afraid that if they really accept and support you they are as good as writing you a ticket to hell. Hopefully you can learn to be your own parent and notice all the great things you do and be understanding when you try but nevertheless fail and give yourself many stars for taking on so much responsibility and being a great human with the courage to express your own DNA. I'm so glad your here and I know you have so much to add. This is a great place to say what your thinking and what certain things trouble you and having a really good chance of being heard and responded to. Anything you share here can be a great help to others which can be therapeutic in it's own right. I look forward to hearing more from you and welcome to our family.

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Happy Birthday!

If you are comfortable talking about your situation with people in person, check out Freethought Dayton on meetup.com... There is a Recovery from Religion group that recently started. If you are not ready for that, completely understand. Its a process.

All the best!

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Welcome to ExC!

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On 2/24/2018 at 12:13 AM, DanForsman said:

OMG, Cosmic, I love your YouTubes! You seem so totally together it's really hard to think of struggling with depression. We have lots of people here who have successfully escaped the toxic effects of their christian clan and are actually free with no looking back. Christianity isn't compelling in any way and here you can let that stuff out and get the honest feedback that you deserve. You've really done the best thing that you could possibly do for your long term mental health, by telling yourself that your thoughts and feelings are more important to you than tribe. Part of what's so hard is that beyond the thought control techniques and brain washing christianity damaged you with it has also done an amazing job of creating the kind of community that appeals to our innate desire for community and unfortunately for you your family and therefore likely entire support network has drunk the kool aid. Irregardless of how clearly you think you have to work your way our of a very complex difficult situation that you have had nothing to do with creating. What we can hopefully do for you is show you example after example of people who have gotten all the way out and in spite of the costs that are related (to a surprising extent) to taking on the full weight of being your own person including taking full responsibility for everything you do and all the challenges you take on now single handedly and of course failing sometimes when you so really really wanted to succeed. So it's a new world with possibly ecstasy you never could have felt and the challenges of trying to protect yourself from the weight of responsibility especially when christian parents don't know how to help and are afraid that if they really accept and support you they are as good as writing you a ticket to hell. Hopefully you can learn to be your own parent and notice all the great things you do and be understanding when you try but nevertheless fail and give yourself many stars for taking on so much responsibility and being a great human with the courage to express your own DNA. I'm so glad your here and I know you have so much to add. This is a great place to say what your thinking and what certain things trouble you and having a really good chance of being heard and responded to. Anything you share here can be a great help to others which can be therapeutic in it's own right. I look forward to hearing more from you and welcome to our family.

Hi. Um, sorry, but I don't have a YouTube channel. I'm guessing someone on there has the same username I chose on here?

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5 minutes ago, CosmicRainbowUnicorn said:

Hi. Um, sorry, but I don't have a YouTube channel. I'm guessing someone on there has the same username I chose on here?

Whoops! 

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On ‎24‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 6:13 PM, DanForsman said:

OMG, Cosmic, I love your YouTubes!

Different Cosmic?

 

Are you thinking of Cosmic Sceptic?

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On 2/22/2018 at 9:33 PM, Weezer said:

Welcome. There is a lot of good information, and good people here.  What Christian denomination are you (or were you) IN?  Do you have a support group or supportive individuals you can talk to face to face?

 

I have a concern.  You said your therapist is Christian.  Is he/she licensed or certified by a state agency as a therapist?  Is he/she being objective and encouraging you to think for yourself?  If not, find another therapist.   It is possible, but not very probable that a Christian therapist could be completely unbiased. 

 

Hang in there!! 

My mother was nondenominational and the church i went to was Pentecostal. The only people I have to talk about this stuff with is my mom, who is impossible to have this conversation with, and my therapist. She is licensed, and I know she has a masters in psychology. Her counseling group is Christian oriented, and I was just starting to officially leave Christianity after I started talking to her. I can't really find another therapist right now because my insurance is extremely limiting. She was the only one around that would take it. She's pretty professional, but I can't really talk about religion with her. She supports me in finding my own way, but only because she thinks it's going to bring me back into Christianity. The good thing is that she doesn't bring it up unless I initiate talking about religion. I don't think she realizes that I can see the disapproval in her eyes when I bring up feeling more confident in a pagan perspective of the Divine.

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20 hours ago, MYRTBOS said:

Happy Birthday!

If you are comfortable talking about your situation with people in person, check out Freethought Dayton on meetup.com... There is a Recovery from Religion group that recently started. If you are not ready for that, completely understand. Its a process.

All the best!

Thank you! And I'll look into it. =)

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I believe Recovery from Religion has a referral service to help you find therapist.

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I'm very sorry Marie. It was your picture that caused the problem for me not the name. I have trouble with facial recognition and I should have realized that there was at the minimum a possibility that you were not the person I was thinking of who does have a youtubes channel and goes by the nane of Lee Lemon. I love listening to the things she says and I've actually listened to quite few of her videos. My wife told me she doesn't see that much of a resemblance so clearly I should have tried harder to verify. I hope you'll accept my apology (I do apologize) and know that the welcome and hope that you'll join in still stand and congratulations for seeing through all the christian song and dance in spite of having been immersed in it to the extent were and still are. I'm glad you're working on resolving your depression and hope that you will find some comfort here. 

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Welcome and happy (belated?) birthday!!!! There's a few other pagans including myself floating around here and there's a pretty good section for talking about that stuff too! 

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