Paul67 Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 Hi everyone I’m a 50 year old man from Glasgow , Scotland. I was brought up RC and then following a pretty troubled adolescence and early adulthood had the ‘born again’ experience attending a an evangelical Presbyterian church locally. I won’t go into the grisly details just now but it was a very unpleasant and damaging experience psychologically and emotionally and although I only practiced over a 3 year period the effect on me was profound. I left believing I had committed the unforgivable sin and was damned without hope. Not sure if anyone has experienced this but it’s a really bad place to be. reI’m still not sure how I got through it . It took some 20 years to slowly disentangle myself from this mess with the help of my endlessly patient and loving partner and friends and family. Anyway, around 5/6 years ago I started to read people like Bart Ehrman, Dan Barker, Richard Carrier etc and same to realise that I had wasted half my life believing a load of utter madness and fantasy. Life is good now, really good and I’m now free to explore all the wonderful variety of life that I had previously blocked myself from. Back in the day, there was nothing like this. I was completely alone. My family and friends had no idea what I was talking about and I’d never met anyone who had experienced what I had. Now I’ve discovered a whole world of people who have been there. It’s great and I look forward to exchanging experiences and engaging in discussion with you all 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
older Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Welcome to Ex-C! Glad to have you here. Glasgow! Scotland is number one on my list of places to go back to. Didn't get any time in Glasgow but loved Skye, Oban, Edinburgh and all the rest of it. Beautiful scenery and people who have such an exuberant love of life and a fabulous, whacky, irreverent sense of humor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul67 Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 Thanks Older. Yes it is certainly all that and more . I’m about to embark on my first trip to the US of A (NYC) and looking forward to it immensely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TABA Posted April 30, 2018 Moderator Share Posted April 30, 2018 Hi Paul, and welcome to our community! I also was raised Catholic (in Ireland, though now I live in the States) and joined a conservative fundamentalist church in my late twenties. Although it was another twenty years before I deconverted, in some ways I was never truly all-in, so my exit was smoother and less traumatic than it has been for many others. Interestingly, I now attend Mass with my wife and find that I rather like it as an unbeliever... Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. I hope you really enjoy your visit to New York and that it will be the first of many to my adopted country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LogicalFallacy Posted April 30, 2018 Moderator Share Posted April 30, 2018 Welcome Paul I am sorry to hear of your terrible experiences at the hands of religion, but glad you have found your way free! Welcome to Ex-C and like minded people. LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
older Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 While in New York try to get to a good Jewish delicatessen. A bagel with cream cheese and a Dr. Brown's Celery Soda would be good, as well as a pastrami sandwich on rye. I don't know of one to recommend but you can certainly find one easily enough. And it's worth it to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Welcome aboard Paul. The Internet has proven to be a game changer for Christianity. They can no longer hide the truth about the Bible & the Christian Faith. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 On 4/28/2018 at 6:40 AM, Paul67 said: Hi everyone I’m a 50 year old man from Glasgow , Scotland. I was brought up RC and then following a pretty troubled adolescence and early adulthood had the ‘born again’ experience attending a an evangelical Presbyterian church locally. I won’t go into the grisly details just now but it was a very unpleasant and damaging experience psychologically and emotionally and although I only practiced over a 3 year period the effect on me was profound. I left believing I had committed the unforgivable sin and was damned without hope. Not sure if anyone has experienced this but it’s a really bad place to be. reI’m still not sure how I got through it . It took some 20 years to slowly disentangle myself from this mess with the help of my endlessly patient and loving partner and friends and family. Anyway, around 5/6 years ago I started to read people like Bart Ehrman, Dan Barker, Richard Carrier etc and same to realise that I had wasted half my life believing a load of utter madness and fantasy. Life is good now, really good and I’m now free to explore all the wonderful variety of life that I had previously blocked myself from. Back in the day, there was nothing like this. I was completely alone. My family and friends had no idea what I was talking about and I’d never met anyone who had experienced what I had. Now I’ve discovered a whole world of people who have been there. It’s great and I look forward to exchanging experiences and engaging in discussion with you all Welcome! I hope you enjoy your time here, I know I have, it makes such a difference to know there are other people out there who have had much the same experiences. All of the people who truly understand where I'm coming from are internet friends and most are part of this community. We also have a chat room on discord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbit Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Welcome! Join us in chat! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkFlash Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 There are many, many who've fallen prey and still lack the ability to escape but amongst those who either forever cannot, or have but it's taken a much bigger role in doing so, can you say that the difference made was not only within you but now are you also able to see life for what it truly is: Life. Welcome to Ex Christian. You're one of us now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Joshpantera Posted May 24, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 24, 2018 On 4/28/2018 at 6:40 AM, Paul67 said: Life is good now, really good and I’m now free to explore all the wonderful variety of life that I had previously blocked myself from. Back in the day, there was nothing like this. I was completely alone. My family and friends had no idea what I was talking about and I’d never met anyone who had experienced what I had. Now I’ve discovered a whole world of people who have been there. It’s great and I look forward to exchanging experiences and engaging in discussion with you all Welcome Paul, this is a great community. It's a necessary outlet for many of us who are not around many non-believers in real time. Thanks for joining in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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