Desperation

I never believed in religion. When I was 5 years old in Catholic school They taught us about the "devil." I wet my bed and start hallucinating because I was so scared of the Devil.

I had to go to Sunday school. I would ask question about the Bible readings, like how and why, and I would never get a valid answer. So I started reading the Bible with an open mind trying to understand and believe the stories. I finally gave up.

I stupidly would ask my religious friends questions and would go to church with them. After seeing a couple different religious meetings and talking in tongues, I lost complete "hope" that I would ever believe in religion.

When I met my biological family (I was adopted) they all tried to convert me, and when I got married my mother-in-law tried to convert me as well. I have a son and everyone is upset that he isn't baptized. Ridiculous.

The other day I was flipping through the channels and I saw this Christian lady preaching about desperation. I started to listen. This woman was saying she was grateful that people converted to Christianity out of desperation. I just couldn't believe it, but she was right!

When you're desperate your mind is easily brainwashed into believing things you wouldn't. And she admitted it! I just couldn't believe it.

What do you think?

Maggie

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yes, they like those so desperate that they are as gullible as they- the drunkard, the dope addict and such. skeptic griggsy
Anonymous said…
You brought up a great point!

Ministries are the worst offenders when it comes to taking advantage of the desperate.
The old, addicted,mentally ill and people of low intelligence are
are the bread and butter of churchianity.
They even embrace this in scripture;....He's chosen the simple to confound the wise,....blessed are the poor in spirit,...blah,blah.
It makes since that the church would want to keep their members sick and dependant,..and not to become healthy free-thinking individuals,...right?
*They'd be out of buisness!
SpaceMonk said…
I remember our teaching elder saying in a sermon once that people aren't going to turn to god if they're happy, only when they're brought down to the depths...

I remember thinking that it sounds ridiculous, but I couldn't deny it made sense.
jimearl said…
My comment is to xrayman. You mentioned how it was you and you alone that saved you from alcohol. I agree 100%. When I was 17, I decided I wanted to skydive. I was put out of the plane at 3000 feet and was attached to a static line. The line pulled out the pilot chute but the main chute never opened. After a few seconds of falling and untangling lines, I decided I should open my emergency chute. Little did I know that I was only a couple seconds from death. The emergency chute opened, and in less than a minute I was on the ground. I didn't realize how close I had come to death. My Uncle told me later in life that God had saved my life that day. I responded that I had pulled the emergency chute open and had I waited on God to do it, I would have been dead. Of course, that logic was lost on him. It continues to amaze me that people can lose all they have in some tragedy and still thank God he spared their sorry ass. Then they feel they have something special to do in life. They never think about the ones that may have died needlessly in the same tragedy. I am convinced that religion causes much more harm than good. I just can't do anything about it but shake my head in disbelief when these things happen.
Anonymous said…
Y'know, there are many types of desperation, if you ask me MOST religious types are what they are out of desperation; to be exact, emotional fugue. Face it, humans are sybaritic creatures, we love sensation and extremes of it but it's all too easy in the modern world to feel a sort of emotional emptiness. Now, as everyone on this site can plainly see, religion inspires alot of intense emotion, my theory is that the reason people are so touchy about folks like us challenging their "faith" is because their getting high off their own endorphins and we're doing the equivallent of snatching away the crack pipe and slowly flushing their metaphysical stash down the toilet.

It's a good metaphor, though frankly i'd rather live next to a junkie than a baptist, at least the only one they harm is themselves.
Nvrgoingbk said…
Anonymous said: "...frankly i'd rather live next to a junkie than a baptist, at least the only one they harm is themselves."

Loved that comment!
Anonymous said…
I trust you will allow my response here in this forum.
I was once an unbeliever.
When I placed my faith in the Lord it was based on the realization that there is indeed a God.
I was not desperate in placing my faith in Him.
My life up to that point had been lived in desparation. There were many times that I had come close to death and I do believe that God knows the exact moment we will cease from living.
I do not believe He pulls all the strings, that He controls everything.
In the book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 20 through 25, we find that every person is without excuse if they do not know the Lord. He is clearly visible throughout all of creation and time.
I believe that our humanity can beome the wall to our understanding of who God is.
We tend to glorify ourselves and the creation rather than acknowledge the creator.
When people continue to seek self gratification, God allows them to continue on in that path unless they respond to Him and place their faith in Him.
Please do not misunderstand.
I defend your rights to believe the way you believe. I trust that you would defend mine as well.
What I do believe is that God sent His Son to die for all the world.
He desires that all have eternal salvation (2 Peter 3.9).
In our natural, human state, the wisdom of the Bible seems foolish to many (1 Cor. 2.14).
One thing that I know is that when most people face a crisis, they immediately cry out to God (or some higher authority) for help.
That instinct is inborn and comes from the Creator.
I trust that many of you will continue to question the validity of God. In the end you will find that He is real.
cbpastor_1@juno.com
jimearl said…
According to anonymous #????:
When people continue to seek self gratification, God allows them to continue on in that path unless they respond to Him and place their faith in Him.

Ok, then what happens? I once lived my live in your shoes but no matter how much I tried, prayed, cried, etc. etc., "God" never responded to my hurts and needs. Perhaps it was that I didn't have enough faith, you will say. I say there is no "God" to hear our prayers and needs and now I am happier than ever before. It's so easy to convince yourself that you have the one true religion. Well over a billion Muslims have convinced themselves they have just that while the Christians like yourself think otherwise.I guess here in the bible belt I just don't get it, huh. Wait a minute, could it be that the majority here don't get it and I'm one of the few that has no more questions about religion cause I figured it out on my own. For me, the religious train has left the station and I chose not to get on board again. You really need to write your letters to another audience, perhaps the Muslims need to know your "God" more than we do. After all, they are the ones killing and causing all kinds of problems. Leave us alone please! We don't need or desire your kind of non-thinking. Been there, done that but have moved to a higher place in this life. No religion needed or required to have a good life. I have no fear of anything that happens after I've met my demise. You see, I won't be alive so death doesn't bother me. Life is for the living so why don't you get one.
Anonymous said…
"What I do believe is that God sent His Son to die for all the world."

Are you referring to Mithra here? Or do you know who Mithra was? For more info go to Freefish.us and look on the History Lesson Page. There you may learn something that you haven't heard before. Don't be afraid, knowledge is good for you.
Dave Van Allen said…
He desires that all have eternal salvation (2 Peter 3.9).

Then all already have eternal salvation. I mean, if God desires something, surely no human could deny Him his desire. Right?

Then again, it could be that God's will is constantly thwarted by mortal people. If that's the case, this god is a bit weak. Poor guy, never gets his desire, because most everyone is going to hell.

Or, there just isn't any god.
Anonymous said…
Oh for the love of…Anonymous JESUS FREAK…Why, oh why, do you think we just need to “connect the dots” (as that lunatic Shirley Phelps-Roper keeps spewing), in order to have that one true encounter with god and Jebus? Have you read ANYTHING on this website? Are we begging you Xians to come here and save our poor lost souls? What makes you think your god or deity is the right one? And why must this trash be preached to everyone? Does that include all the animals and insects too? We aren’t trying to convert YOU Anonymous Jesus Freak. You words ring hollow with us. How can you miss that…unless you just aren’t paying attention? Which makes me wonder if you pay any attention when you read that bible of your? Another question, if the holy spirit is pouring out all over the world, why don’t you get in touch with it and have them do something about the Muslim fanatics, or North Korea, or Darfur? One would think this loving god/Jebus/holy spirit would have done something about all this by now. You know the answer as well as we do, there isn’t any god to turn to. It’s all in your head. IT’S MAKE BELIEVE!
Nvrgoingbk said…
And exactly which "God" is it that we are supposed to have some innate sense of, hmm anonymous?

Why is YOUR god the only god we should believe in? "God" seems to have revealed him/her/itself in many different forms and ways throughout the millenia to many different cultures. Why is Jeebus, Yuckweh, and Casper the ONLY WAY to eternal salvation?

If Romans is correct and we are without excuse and should believe in God just by observing the natural world around us, which god is it that we should pay tribute to? I mean, many of the world's religions attribute THEIR god to being the one who created the world so why is Yuckweh any more special or deserving of praise? I mean, shit, at least Buddha doesn't condemn anyone to Hell; I think I'll follow him. The Hindus have a triune god too, right? Or hey, what about Mithra as one pointed out earlier or any one of the many crucified gods throughout history that have been around longer than the Jeebus story?

I'm so confused. I want to pick the right one and all, ya know? Please enlighten us as to why YOUR god is the RIGHT ONE since it just so happens to involve the salvation of our eternal souls. Its important that if I pick your God, I have sufficient evidence to choose yours and dismiss all the others. I mean, we are EXCHRISTIANS HERE, but I guess we never really "got it", right? Please take a minute or two to reiterate the Christian creed ONE MORE TIME for all of us poor unenlightened souls who just never grasped the truth that shall "set us free".
Anonymous said…
wzchancellor: "He wants to be what they need... When they see who He really is they can't help but fall in love with him."

Um, no. People are falling in love with their own need for wish-fulfilment. The "loving father" is a construct of their own imaginations. The illusion disintegrates when they realize that their desperate prayers are not being answered. Nothing fails like prayer. Nothing succeeds like taking responsibility for one's own life.

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