Mourneview Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 Hello all and thank you for adding me. I am 56 years old divorced and now in a same sex relationship. The main reasons I am at this stage with christianity is the hatred of gay people by christians / the church and the abortion protests held by christians outside my local hospital. The government has brought in laws so the police can stop the protests and the protesters are saying it is an attack on the gospel and their liberty that they arent allowed to preach but this is totally disingenuous because it is the placards with quite disturbing photos and banners saying babies are being murdered here being the reason they have to move on if they had only been having a religious service I do not believe the courts would have been involved. I am looking forward to reading other members stories. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casualfanboy16 Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 17 minutes ago, Mourneview said: Hello all and thank you for adding me. I am 56 years old divorced and now in a same sex relationship. The main reasons I am at this stage with christianity is the hatred of gay people by christians / the church and the abortion protests held by christians outside my local hospital. The government has brought in laws so the police can stop the protests and the protesters are saying it is an attack on the gospel and their liberty that they arent allowed to preach but this is totally disingenuous because it is the placards with quite disturbing photos and banners saying babies are being murdered here being the reason they have to move on if they had only been having a religious service I do not believe the courts would have been involved. I am looking forward to reading other members stories. Heyyy, @Mourneview! I'm 20 years old and gay as well. I won't go too in depth with my situation here (read my testimony: God, Gay and Existential Dread for that whole thing. And my other posts, if you're interested). Religion hasn't done much good for me. I'm working on it though, day by day. Deprogramming all that shit is gonna take a while, so I'm glad there's yet another gay guy here on the forums. Hope you enjoy it here at Ex-C and look forward to seeing your posts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ DarkBishop ☆ Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 6 minutes ago, Mourneview said: Hello all and thank you for adding me. I am 56 years old divorced and now in a same sex relationship. The main reasons I am at this stage with christianity is the hatred of gay people by christians / the church and the abortion protests held by christians outside my local hospital. The government has brought in laws so the police can stop the protests and the protesters are saying it is an attack on the gospel and their liberty that they arent allowed to preach but this is totally disingenuous because it is the placards with quite disturbing photos and banners saying babies are being murdered here being the reason they have to move on if they had only been having a religious service I do not believe the courts would have been involved. I am looking forward to reading other members stories. Welcome to ExC!! Two of my Children came to similar conclusions based on the prejudice of the Bible against the LGBT community. The other just never believed. He was always very logical and rational in his thoughts. I'm proud of them all for seeing through the lies much sooner than myself. I would encourage you to delve deeper in the various ways the bible fails however. For a full deconversion it is good to realize that there is no authority in the bible. It is all just a myth that a great number of the world's population still believes. There were many many edits, redactions, lies, forgeries, and historical fiction stories put into the bible through the mellinia. In short, the bible falls apart with a little scrutiny. Best Regards, DB 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted September 4, 2023 Super Moderator Share Posted September 4, 2023 Does the castle at Carrickfergus still stand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mourneview Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 Yes the castle is still there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted September 4, 2023 Super Moderator Share Posted September 4, 2023 1 minute ago, Mourneview said: Yes the castle is still there That is most welcome news. I was once a missionary in Carrickfergus, so hearing from an Ulsterman is always met with a touch of nostalgia from me. I look forward to hearing more about your journey and will gladly help in what ways I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
older Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 4 hours ago, DarkBishop said: In short, the bible falls apart with a little scrutiny. The number of contradictions therein is astounding. I don't understand how any rational person could read it and not realize that it makes no sense. But then, silly me, folks who believe it aren't rational anyway. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mourneview Posted September 5, 2023 Author Share Posted September 5, 2023 3 hours ago, older said: The number of contradictions therein is astounding. I don't understand how any rational person could read it and not realize that it makes no sense. But then, silly me, folks who believe it aren't rational anyway. Yes I know a talking snake and a big fish that swallowed Jonah for 3 days along with the rest of it is very difficult to believe and I no longer feel guilty about sin the way I used to I still find it hard to completely abandon it. I no longer believe in an afterlife but it still gives me doubts at times. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ Weezer ◊ Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 9 hours ago, Mourneview said: Yes I know a talking snake and a big fish that swallowed Jonah for 3 days along with the rest of it is very difficult to believe and I no longer feel guilty about sin the way I used to I still find it hard to completely abandon it. I no longer believe in an afterlife but it still gives me doubts at times. WELCOME! And when you study the history of all religions, It turns out the bible is mostly a conglomeration of even older myths/religions. And the idea of an afterlife was tacked onto the doctrine later on. The abortion and gay issues are also BIG problems here in the USA. Christianity throws logical thinking out the window. My wife and I did a tour of Ireland last October and fell in love with the rural areas. We were only in northern Ireland 2 out of 10 days. it is beautiful, and the people were great. The northern coast was wonderful. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 Welcome! I used to be one of those protesters. Christianity has moved from being personal beliefs of needing self transformation to "we have to establish the Kingdom of God through political action and running for political office, only this way can we defeat the devil". It isn't a concept found in the teachings of Jesus or the apostles, more of the old testament idea of armies slaughtering or enslaving anyone who was polluting the promised land with their presence. This is also how the evangelicals became so entrenched in politics. Any disagreement or not going along with their agenda is considered persecution by forces of Satan. It's nearly an insane view of reality where adult people are utterly convinced of the reality of invisible monsters and invisible protectors locked in battle behind the scenes of our daily life. Accompany that with emotional fervor and we get the willingness to do awful things that Jesus and the apostles never did or preached that believers should do. But for modern believers, since God clearly isn't doing a damn thing, SOMEBODY needs to so that his kingdom can come and they won't be swept away by God's judgment for cooperating with the devil's influence on society. Look at how Christianity has behaved through the centuries, entrenched in government, brutally torturing and killing those who were "of the devil", whatever that meant in that time period. They really seem driven to do this again, redefining love thy neighbor as thyself as exposing evil and stomping it, and if thy neighbor doesn't cooperate then hurl vile insults and incessantly scream and show up where they work or live and make life hell until they repent. In short, it is a pernicious cult. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TABA Posted September 15, 2023 Moderator Share Posted September 15, 2023 Welcome to the ex-christian community @Mourneview! As a fellow-Irishman (from the far south, now in the USA) I should have been one of the first to welcome you to the group, so I apologize for the delay. Having an unapproved sexual orientation is as good a reason as any other to leave Christianity, but you will no doubt arrive at many others in due course. This place is chock-full of good arguments against the religion and its god, so I hope you will read around and become an active member. Deconversion is a process that can take years in some cases. In any event, you will find lots of support and encouragement from the people here. No doubt the process has had its share of trauma and heartache for you, but I want to sincerely congratulate you on having your eyes opened to the nature of Christianity and on finally accepting and embracing who you are. Welcome to your post-Christian life! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TABA Posted September 15, 2023 Moderator Share Posted September 15, 2023 On 9/4/2023 at 6:39 PM, TheRedneckProfessor said: Does the castle at Carrickfergus still stand? On 9/4/2023 at 6:44 PM, Mourneview said: Yes the castle is still there This native of Munster can’t tell whether this is some kind of Ulster code, or what… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TABA Posted September 15, 2023 Moderator Share Posted September 15, 2023 On 9/4/2023 at 6:48 PM, TheRedneckProfessor said: I was once a missionary in Carrickfergus, so hearing from an Ulsterman is always met with a touch of nostalgia from me. Happily, you don’t have to read very far to know that the Prof has since devoted himself to making amends for his mis-spent youth… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ Krowb ◊ Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 Forget Carrickfergus, has any more of Dunluce fallen into the sea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TABA Posted September 15, 2023 Moderator Share Posted September 15, 2023 22 minutes ago, Krowb said: Forget Carrickfergus, has any more of Dunluce fallen into the sea? I took this picture in June: looks like it’s still hanging on… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator TheRedneckProfessor Posted September 15, 2023 Super Moderator Share Posted September 15, 2023 2 hours ago, TABA said: This native of Munster can’t tell whether this is some kind of Ulster code, or what… Ulster code generally consists of a sentence prefix, a presentation of relevant information, followed by an internal agreement of informational integrity, and ending with a sentence suffix or appendix. Whereas an American would say, "I'm going to Belfast." our Ulster counterparts will frame it as, "Ach aye, I'm away te Belfast, so I am, right 'nuff like." The real question concerns which foot an Ulsterman digs with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantheory Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 On 9/15/2023 at 9:49 AM, TheRedneckProfessor said: Ulster code generally consists of a sentence prefix, a presentation of relevant information, followed by an internal agreement of informational integrity, and ending with a sentence suffix or appendix. Whereas an American would say, "I'm going to Belfast." our Ulster counterparts will frame it as, "Ach aye, I'm away te Belfast, so I am, right 'nuff like." The real question concerns which foot an Ulsterman digs with. Interesting comments. A little research, Aye, aontaim -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBluegrassSkeptic Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 On 9/5/2023 at 12:26 AM, Mourneview said: Yes I know a talking snake and a big fish that swallowed Jonah for 3 days along with the rest of it is very difficult to believe and I no longer feel guilty about sin the way I used to I still find it hard to completely abandon it. I no longer believe in an afterlife but it still gives me doubts at times. Welcome! And yes, don't let sin beat you up too much. Sure, striving to be a good human is important... but especially when you don't hurt other humans in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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