A letter from ex-ex Christian
Hello All,
I understand that many of you, if not all of you have had bad experiences in Church or with Church people. Its nothing earth shattering, even devout Christians will tell you that often times they have been fed up with both. The thing that you all need to understand is that churches have had problems since the beginning, (READ THE BIBLE) why wouldn't they.. they are filled with regular people with problems, issues and complications just as yourselves.. An being ex-christians as you call yourselves you too know that accepting Jesus doesn't bring on some immediate drastic change in your behaviour and personality. Being a Christian means to engage in the process of losing your "old" self and gaining a new identity in Christ.. which for some can be as difficult as it sounds. However, we Christians keep the faith and commit to the process because we've had an encouter with God that solidifies our faith and encourages us to keep pressing towards the mark of perfection in Chirst (as Christ). God must be EXPERIENCED, not just read about. if you have the read the bible you will see that experiences and encouters produce faith. If you've only sat in church pews and mimicked other people, then what do you expect???
Don't fall into the trap of dismissing Jesus because you don't like what the pastor drives or what happened in the last Church you went to. Jesus is as real as you are... and if you stop watching people and instead try to find out who Jesus is for yourself, by humbly coming to Him and asking Him to reveal himself to you through His word, you will find out exactly what all this Christian stuff is really about and why we strive daily in the Faith.
I trust that instead of rolling your eyes and convincing yourself that what i'm saying doesn't make sense or doesn't apply to you. You would raise your hands to God, humbly admit that you're confused and lost your way and ask Him to Reveal His existence to you.
If you don't do this, then you're just not interested in finding out if God is true or not.. and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about.
These letters were published between January 2001 and February 2010. To view recent posts, go to The Main Blog at ExChristian.Net
38 comments:
You would raise your hands to God, humbly admit that you're confused and lost your way and ask Him to Reveal His existence to you. If you don't do this, then you're just not interested in finding out if God is true or not.. and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about.
PLEASE don't insult us. We did exactly what you have suggested, when we became Christians in the first place. We raised our arms to this God and we implored him to reveal himself to us, and we discovered that in fact God does not exist at all. It is all fictional, and the gospel is cock.
This is why I think Chrisitans are Nihilists...
Gramps
We need an encounter?
Isn't that another way of saying we need Evidence?
Yes, we'd all like to see some evidence.
Is this guy for real? Honestly, does this person even remotely think that this babbling makes any sense? Let's consider. The writer wrote: ".... instead of rolling your eyes and convincing yourself that what I'm saying doesn't make sense or doesn't apply to you." This is like listening to your two-year old kid trying to convince you, yes YOU, that Santa Clause is real and does exist, naturally you'll roll your eyes.
"You would raise your hands to God, humbly admit that you're confused and lost your way .." Hmmmf, confused? I'd say the writer is reaching out for help here. It is the writer who is confused. The writer is lost in a world that he claims to be God's world but has no evidence to prove it. The writer is lost, since obviously he's not preaching to the choir by posting on this site. I think all ex-Christians on this site has ACTUALLY found their way. They're out of that mental molasses that kept their minds from exploring the world as it should be explored. Open-minded without the supernatural phantom god.
"..and ask Him to Reveal His existence to you." Yeah, like that is / was ever going to happen. Let's ask the real Santa or Satan (if your move the letters around) to show himself. Not happening. Why? Because (drum roll, please), these characters are fictitious. Let's try Alice in wonderland, shall we?
"If you don't do this, then you're just not interested in finding out if God is true or not.. and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about." What a joke this writer is. The writer is in effect telling us that he's / she’s not interested in pursuing the possibility that his/ her god does not exist. Instead the writer continues his / her babbling.
Somehow, I feel that I had to comment and put in check the comments of a five year old kid. I certainly wish the writer would grow up and think like a normal adult.
I used to claim to have the holy spirit. I would swear to people I felt God. Now I know it was all in my head. I did not have a bad experience. I just read the history of the church, the other books of the bible that the early church left out, and about evolution. It was pretty clear at that point. I have asked God to show himself to me hundreds of times. I am still waiting.
I would suggest you learn about evolution.
Jesus was a liberal jew, if he ever existed he would not have even had church. The gospels are fiction, at least the ones that you are reading. do some research. Satan did not create the fact that people where dying on crosses many years before the fictionalized roman version came along.
If being a Christian is a good experience for you than go to church and stop trying to convert people. Use your personal jesus for yourself.
I can live with people being christians, that is not a problem. If you are going to tell me to pray to jesus, why don't you be a good christian and read some of the arguments about chritianty on the web-site. I bet you won't, because you have faith.
Don't tell us how to live and we will let you read your bible and cry to jesus.
Bad Religion - American Jesus
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0otxExBhjic
I dont need to be a global citizen
Because Im blessed by nationality
Im member of a growing populace
We enforce our popularity
There are things that
Seem to pull us under
And there are things
That drag us down
But theres a power
And a vital presence
Thats lurking all around
Weve got the american jesus
See him on the interstate
Weve got the american jesus
He helped build the
Presidents estate
I feel sorry
For the earths population
cuz so few
Live in the u.s.a.
At least the foreigners
Can copy our morality
They can visit but they cannot stay
Only precious few
Can garner the prosperity
It makes us walk
With renewed confidence
Weve got a place to go when we die
And the architect resides right here
Weve got the american jesus
Overwhelming millions every day
(exercising his authority)
Hes the farmers barren fields
The force the army wields
The expession in the faces
Of the starving children
The power of the man
Hes the fuel that drives the clan
Hes the motive and conscience
Of the murderer
Hes the preacher on t.v.
The false sincerity
The form letter thats written
By the big computers
Hes the nuclear bombs
And the kids with no moms
And Im fearful that
Hes inside me
Since all the commentors have just about covered everything I wanted to say, I am just left to say that this poster is a jackass.
I'm done.
and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about
Pot, meet kettle.
"I understand that many of you, if not all of you have had bad experiences in Church or with Church people."
And if we did, does that disprove the concept that we also had problems with Christianity itself?
". they are filled with regular people with problems, issues and complications just as yourselves.. "
even if they do claim to be saved, on the way to becoming like Christ and even if we are commanded to fellowship with our brethren and promised that if we give up the world and our families that we will have 70 times the reward for what we lost by fellowship . . .
"If you've only sat in church pews and mimicked other people, then what do you expect???"
It must be comforting to you to believe that is all that we did and that we were not sincere. It must be comforting to you to believe that we never really experienced anything. That way you can dismiss our testimony and our questions out of hand.
Anonymous poster, you refer to yourself as an ex-ex-christian. Have you ever renounced jesus? Have you ever honestly looked at the bible as a work of fiction? Have you seen christianity as a man made institution whose goal is to enslave all of mankind?
I doubt it. I believe that, if you had indeed been an ex-christian at one time you would have addresses this issue in your post.
You are a liar spreading filth.
As far as having an encounter with god goes, god knows where to find me. If I wind up damned because he never bothered to have an encounter with me then he is the one who is at fault.
You really ought to think your arguments through more thouroughly before you waste our time.
Anonymous,
You are right in that christians are human and deal with the same difficulties in life as everyone else. But that's why we're not christians! Yes, we're human, but just leave it at that and drop the ideal stuff. At some point I realized that I'm experiencing the same life that others are experiencing. But according to the Bible, christians are supposed to be more than just human; they are supposed to have the holy spirit and insight into the "supernatural". In reality, that's not the case. So in the end, we're all human, no matter what other label we want to give ourselves.
"Jesus is as real as you are"
You sure about that? Can you give me some proof that Jesus was real? Outside of the bible there is very little evidence that there was even a person by the name of Jesus christ. Most references to Christ are to his followers and most sources that name Christ mispell his name. Odder yet, while christ may recieve minor footnotes by some questionable historians, none of the amazing and miraculous things that supposedly happened in his life are documented anywhere ... unless you accept the bible as your source. Isn't that odd? People were inclined to document amazing things like floods, lost cities, ancient leaders, earthquakes, comets, tyrants, plagues, and novas, yet no one felt it worthy enough to document the miracles of Jesus? The only place you find any real reference is in the bible. Is that were you place all your faith?
Again, are you sure you want to do that? If you ballance your entire acceptance of Jesus Christ on the bible then you must accept that if the bible is wrong then the very foundation of what you believe is suspect. If the source of your religion cannot be trusted because of contradiction, mistranslation, conscious alteration, or fabricated scriptures then you really need to sit down and think about what it is that you are putting your faith in, because what you are pandering about certainly isn't as rock solid as you claim to be. Your claims of god and jesus are no more acceptable than any other deity worshiped by primitive people.
The bible itself falls under question because its current form has undergone many changes, including the addition of new scriptures and the removal of entire books. Mistranslation also lends suspicion to the entire "virgin birth" claims and older versions of the bible do not even contain the popular "let he without sin cast the first stone" story.
You claim that faith is needed to believe in god or jesus, and of this I heartily agree! There simply is no other way that one could maintain a belief in god or jesus! - certianly not by evidence, certainlyl not by proof, certainly not even by logic. As an unbeliever I am often accused of having faith in science over god. Ironically these accusers make that statement with venomous accusation as if to show how stupid it is to have such "blind faith" in something (Pot meet kettle!)!
But my faith is not blind. Yes, I can have faith in the principals of gravity or evolution and I can have faith that my lights work by a mysterious force called "electricity" but the kicker here is that if I ever question my "faith", I can actually research the information and come to an understanding of how it works. I can perform the actual science behind those things that I believe are true and observe the predicted results of what the sciences will teach me. And if I move into areas that very few, if any, people understand, then I can work to further mankinds knowledge in that area for all to see and understand. I may even fail to fully understand what I seek - but all my work will serve to help the next person to understand. And if I get it wrong eventually someone will correct it and everyone will be the stronger for it.
Tell me, what was the last thing that religion has brought to mankind with all its "understandings" of the universe? What machine? What discovery? What technology that benifited mankind? Other than fear, death, murder, intollerance, indoctrination, supression of human rights, suppression of science, suppression of understanding and knowledge, terrorization, fanaticism, and close minded beliefs, what has religion really brought mankind?
Sure, some people claim to find peace and happiness in religion - but if there core beliefs are based upon a questionable source (the bible) then doesn't it stand to reason that those same people are just using religion as a filler in their lives because they were indoctrinated their whole lives to do so? Who's to say they wouldn't be just as happy, or happier, without the scare tactics and all the mind games that come from religion.
You claim that we, the exchristians, need an "encounter with god" ... even if there is some creator, something beyond our understanding and explanation, then that is exactly what it would be - beyond our understanding and explanation. The bible certainly does not describe this creature. It describes only a god encumbered with the characteristics of human beings. Kinda like the type of god you'd expect a bronze age man to create to answers their questions about the world that they simply don't comprehend.
I challenge you this question, Kevin - What would make you disbelieve in god? If your answer is "nothing" then recognize your closemindedness and understand that you are admitting that if your understanding of real truth is wrong, then you will never EVER enlighten yourself. Me? I leave my mind open to possibilities and when what I believe is shown to be wrong then I am always open to a better understanding.
Aplogies. The name "Kevin" was in my mind as the writer of the original submission. It appears I misremembered that. Obviously my reply was to the original sender.
Ok anon poster...
What if I approached you with herion and said, "If you just accept it, you will feel the love of God flowing through you." What if we all said yes and tried it, and what if, many of us never felt the effects. Wouldn't you stop if you were not feeling the desired effects? Ok...now go back up and substitute Christianity for herion is.
"If you don't do this, then you're just not interested in finding out if God is true or not.. and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about."
You babble about us, but obviously, you know nothing about us. Please research more before you post.
Dear XX (the original nameless poster),
I totally agree, there is a huge amount of misunderstanding, misinformation, and (dare I say it?) even blatant stupidity in various assertions & expectations regarding Jesus, Yahweh, the Church, and the local pastor. Since nearly all of the regulars here have studied these issues, thought them through, agonized over them, and discussed them ad nausium with countless visitors such as yourself, perhaps you will understand when I state the nearly all of the difficulties I alluded to above are exhibited by the naive Christians who visit this site; NOT by the regulars here. Nobody here is naive enough to suggest that Jesus should be abandoned because some pastor drives a big car, or because some Christian behaves badly, or because belief in Jesus did not effect a sudden and dramatic change in somebody. The ONLY place we see such comments is from the visiting Christians; they are the ONLY ones who seem to think that those are the arguments we advance. Since they are tangential issues at best, suggesting otherwise is to erect an army of straw men. Can we agree that erecting and attacking straw men will not help us to understand one another in the least?
As for your direct "experience" of god, you are welcome to attribute anything you wish to any god or goddess you choose to worship. However, your claims carry no weight whatsoever unless we have some means of verifying them. I'm sure you will agree that there are countless individuals who claim to speak to or receive instructions from gods, goddesses, ghosts, spirits, aliens, etc.; if we were to simply take them at their word, we would be obliged to believe in an entire pantheon of gods and other beings. So, unless you can somehow differentiate your experiences from all the others, we'll politely decline to believe you. Fair enough?
ex-ex wrote:
You would raise your hands to God, humbly admit that you're confused and lost your way and ask Him to Reveal His existence to you.
Been there, did that, didn't even get a lousy tee shirt. Do you have any other suggestions?
hey everyone at ex.c
this is nick
hey anon did you recognize how non christian you are being?
It's really encouraging to have poeple like you come on here, because it only reinforces the reasons for people to leave that cult you call "a way to freedom" when in reality, i had more torment as a christian than i do now. I was watching these exorsism "experts", and i laughed in awe of how ridiculous i sounded as do you now. Why aren't the "miracles" still happening?
You and the church, as well as the believing populous are an even worst plague than HITLER, only you poeple are more subtle!
We pay taxes as non-believers, and the list goes on and on.
As non belivers, we must sit back and watch you poeple use a FUCKING FAIRY TALE AS A MENTAL MIND FUCK
YOU MAKE ME SICK
ALL HAIL MY MIGHTY INVISIBLE FRIEND DROP-DEAD-FRED: THE ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, ALWAYS PRESENT! DROP AND WORSHIP HIM!
You don't want to anon?
Well your going to the drop dead toture chamber for all time, cause you will not believe??????????????
Pretty fucked up isn't it?
do your research anon. We already have, so to try and convert us will give you arthritis in your hands from typing or lead to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
P.S. don't quit your day job
nick a.k.a. wake up
I want to know what his experience with God was. I doubt he will share though, knowing there are a variety of different explanations for it. He wants it to be God so it IS God. Of course, he could just be mimicking the people he is currently involved with and saying what he thinks he needs to say to be accepted. But, NAH...nobody would do that. Right?
Can you imagine what people's reaction would be if I came on a Christian website asked people to accept Bullwinkle the moose into their hearts. They would say how do you know Bullwinkle is real? I would have to say until you've ex-perienced the true love of Bullwinkle you are lost and besides Bullwinle is real because a cartoon says he is real, and I have unadulterated faith that he is real so therefore Bullwinle is real.
So now by my testimony Bullwinkle is real and unless you have a personal relationship with Mr. Bullwinkle you are destined for hell, because Bullwinkle must be EXPERIENCED, not just read about. if you have seen the cartoon you will see that experiences and encouters produce faith. If you've only sat in church pews and mimicked other people, then what do you expect???
Don't fall into the trap of dismissing Bullwinkle because you don't like what Rocky drives or what happened in the last cartoon you wsaw. Mr. Bullwinkle is as real as you are... and if you stop watching Jesus and instead try to find out who Bullwinkle is for yourself, by humbly coming to Bullwinkle and asking Him to reveal himself to you through His cartoons, you will find out exactly what all this ignorant Christian stuff is really about and why we strive daily in the Faith of Mr. Bullwinkle.
Every knee shall bend to Bullwinkle! Praise Bullwinkle!
I can feel the power...
I asked god to reveal himself to me when I was eight yers old. I needed him to help me deal with being sexually abused by my ten year old brother and a cousin that was in his teens. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of praying reading the bible and begging him to PLEASE LORD GOD GIVE MY SOUL YOUR LOVE AND PEACE!!!
no response...ever.not a still small voice. no burning bush. no talking ass...nothing.
So, I will not waste one more second of my life worshipping a deity that does not care about me the least little bit. The bible says god loves us all. SO that means that THE BIBLE IS LYING OR UNTRUE!! Either way... I've had enough crap for one life. I'm done with christ, the bible, xstians, and god.
so suck on that you babbling buffoon!
I'd be more likely to embrace pastafarianism, myself. The Flying Spaghetti Monster has a great sense of humor.
I like that in a deity.
"Jesus is as real as you are..."
Oh yeah?
Does he pay taxes? Is he rolling his eyes at your childish arguments? Does he have sex? Is he shivering because it's cold? Does he drive a car? Did he vote in the last election? Is he married? Is he a Catholic, Protestant, Jew Mormon or has he decided to join some other cult? Has he ever masturbated? Does he look at hypocrites like Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, and the Pope with disgust? Does he think that everyone that supports those hypocrites are morons.
Just how real is your imaginary friend?
don't these people have anything else to do??
Hey, honest to goodness, Bullwinkle has been one of my favorite archetypes for a while now. I've even set up alters to him and done a few rituals.
Let me tell you, He's a hell of a lot more reliable than prayer ever was. :)
Hey anon poster...
Accept the Flying Spaghetti Monster as your lord and savior. Only he can fill you up with satisfaction and joy. Believe in him...
Pray to a brick and pray to your barbaric tribal god and the results are the same. Nothing but what you convince yourself of in your head.
Wasn't this a little disengenuous when the letter was supposed to be written by an "ex christian"? He says that if we just read the bible etc etc etc. we would come to an understanding. Does he realize that most of us here have done just that?Your own faith answers the questions you put forth when it gives the definition of what faith is. "Faith is the evidence of things not seen!" I don't think the creator of the universe(if there is one) rewards gullibility as you imply. Where I come from believing without evidence is called gullibity.
Stronger Now,
One of the religionists most bullshit cliche's comes after someone like yourself explains that you have been asking God to come into your life or reveal himself to you for many years after much great torment, but to no avail. They will say that God was with you, but you failed to notice, or that God was working through people close to you. What a load of shit. I too got down on my knees so many times asking for God/Jesus to come into my heart, but so far they've never shown up. I've never even gotten a tingle in one of my legs. Maybe God is napping everytime we call for him.
Henry,
That Damned Bullwinkle has his followers jammed up in meetings to prevent the sell of liquor/beer/wine on Sundays in the state of Georgia! Those damned Bullwinkle followers!
Personally, I prefer He-Man!
I believe in the word of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and all the wondrous truths that FSM holds. May his noodley appendage bless you all. RAMEN!
Does he look at hypocrites like Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, and the Pope with disgust?
You forgot a church minister in Kenya called Bishop Magaret Wanjiru! You should read her story... sorry, scandal!
As a Pagan, I know that this is where the GODS want me to be, yeah you can say oh but your Gods are false, well what if youre wrong? then you have Isis, Diana, Osiris, Tyr and a whole slew of other Gods and Goddesses to answer to, Ha, you only have three, Satan, Jesus and Jehovah. I Know Ill be fine, it is you taking the risk, if all your Gods turn out to be false, then I acknowledge (not worship mind you) over 5 billion. SO much for Jesus saving you, bye sheep, see you at the slaughterhouse,
Brianna.
BTW if any of what you said was even remotely true, which none of it is anyways, maybe just maybe you would post us your name, and not be a fucking coward hiding behind anonymous. My names Bria Lapoint, and I dont like christians, i think theyre the most evil ignorant people on the planet, Oh and your sermon reeks of the holier than thou attitude you accuse other christians of having, wake up, youre just as hateful and ignorant as any other christian, your kind are a dime a dozen, and your sermons are best left in the trash.
Vixontrox said,
"Pray to a brick and pray to your barbaric tribal god and the results are the same. Nothing but what you convince yourself of in your head."
Hey, are you into crystalmancy too? It really ROCKS, don't it?
You know, I think that what a lot of people have a problem with is exactly what you're doing here...trying to convince them that such-and-such a belief is correct and that they should believe that way.
Granted, you're not as rabid as most of the christians that come here and either condemn everyone to hell, or try to convert them, but a spade is a spade, no matter how you use it.
Now, I don't mind seriously debating religion, but I also don't take it personally. I don't think there is anyone here who doesn't believe in ANYTHING at all. However, I think everyone here specifically has a problem with christianity, whether due to the fact that they had a bad experience or due to the fact that they thought deeply about it and decided it was bullshit.
Christianity is one of the newest religions out there, time-wise, and yet christians believe that THEY alone are right, that THEY alone know The Way, that they alone possess The Truth. And they do their damndest to shove it down everyone else's throats, all the while denouncing as devil-worship any belief that does not match their own.
Now, considering the fact that Christianity is actually a mishmash of other religions, I find it kind of humorous when they condemn those other religions. The tenets come from Zoroastrianism (all good god, all evil god, armageddon in which good prevails, all men are brothers); Easter is actually a pagan celebration of the Germanic goddess of fertility, Eostre, whose symbols were hares and eggs; Christmas (25 Dec) is actually Mithra's birthday, not Christ's (Christ was born in the spring, during the census), among other things. Many gods and goddesses were transformed into saints, and the Indian Rig Veda tells of a man, the son of god, born of a virgin, who preached his beliefs, was executed for them, and rose three days later...thousands of years before the birth of Jesus.
My point being that Christianity isn't even an original belief system. It borrowed from other religions, and now has the audacity to condemn non-christians.
How much sense does that make? And every time we turn around, someone is here trying to show us the way, the truth, and the life. We've been there, done that, and it doesn't work for us for whatever reason.
I understand that you had your epiphany, and that it does it for you. I'm glad. But even if you succeed in converting ONE person, it doesn't make your beliefs any more valid. It just means that someone joined the club. Contrary to the subconscious christian belief, more members does not mean you're more right. It just means that your new member is taking the easy way (ie, lazily refusing to question and being content to be led and told what to do and think).
Try reading a book called, "Why God Won't Go Away;" it's a scientific accounting of the structures in the human brain that contribute to the belief in a divine power. Through stimulation of these structures, researchers have been able to induce OBE's and religious experiences.
Kinda makes you think, hm?
Or maybe not...
hi all, first post on the forums but have been visiting regularly for the last year. Hope to post my experience soon. In response to ex-ex-christian
Quote:
“If you don't do this, then you're just not interested in finding out if God is true or not.. and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about.”
14-15 years of hardcore christianity does make me a very well qualified person indeed to talk on this topic. Please take the decency to read some of the most heart-breaking, liberating and courageous testimonies on the face of this earth and how children and people had to deal with this and are still recovering from.
The amount abuse, rape, bitterness, violence committed under the banner of christanity ought to make you stay a wake at night and worry about, not the lack of god when people need him, but about the poor victims themselves.
I think you may find it hard dealing with the devastation of EXPRERIENCE that many people have gone though at the hands of the church – directly.
Quote:
“God must be EXPERIENCED, not just read about. if you have the read the bible you will see that experiences and encouters produce faith. If you've only sat in church pews and mimicked other people, then what do you expect???”
Please tell me what is the Experience exactly?????
Quote :
“The thing that you all need to understand is that churches have had problems since the beginning, (READ THE BIBLE) why wouldn't they.. they are filled with regular people with problems, issues and complications just as yourselves.. An being ex-christians as you call yourselves you too know that accepting Jesus doesn't bring on some immediate drastic change in your behaviour and personality. Being a Christian means to engage in the process of losing your "old" self and gaining a new identity in Christ.. which for some can be as difficult as it sounds.”
So you want me to just to sit in the pews and mindless accept all this rubbish! -no, not your transformation but the havoc caused on people.
Quote “If you've only sat in church pews and mimicked other people, then what do you expect???”
No I have not just sat in church pews and mimicked others, I have done the whole beach mission experience (short term mission that’s what it is called in australia) ie preaching and ministering to drunks and holiday makers during my precious school holidays. (still being in high school).
I have done most of the smaller church tasks from leading sunday schools, camps, prayer groups, street ministry, breaking up fights in drop –in centers all before I turned 21 anyway you get the picture, the whole box and dice, yup all on volunteer time.
While half the older people in church would not have the guts to say hello to a homeless person, we had to shoulder the burden of evangelism, and we were 10-20 years these peoples junior.-Pathetic!!!.
Being poor (actually v poor - my poor mum) the money we were able to muster went to the church and its various activities spending my time and resources. So a whole bag of experience coming right up if u need it.
Sorry about the length of the post, v v new to this blogging.
To the anonymous poster who said "Don't fall into the trap of dismissing Jesus because you don't like what the pastor drives..."
May I offer you a bit of assistance? First, I highly recommend that you spend some time reading the testimonies of former Christians that are posted here. Once you do that, you will be less inclined to make such statements; or so I would hope. Nobody here is naive enough to toss out an entire belief system because of the car somebody drives. In fact, making such an implication is an excellent example of a straw man argument, which you will probably wish to avoid in your future posts should you return. Either that, or you'll draw a tremendous amount of fire from the regulars here (and deservedly so).
I'd also like to ask you a simple direct question, and I'd appreciate a simple direct answer. Do you deem it possible for an intelligent, educated, and honest person to earnestly pursue Christianity and ultimately reach a different conclusion that you did? That is, do you admit the possibility that such a person could honestly conclude that Christianity is NOT the one true religion?
If you can answer "yes" to the above question, then you have the opportunity to discuss this position with a number of people who fit this description. We are here, and we are willing to answer questions (if you do the same). If not, then I fear you have no legitimate business here as you are unlikely to actually listen to anything we have to say. Does that make sense to you?
Have a nice day.
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