I was brought up by my mother to go to church, and when to a Christian primary school, however I began questioning my faith as early as nine. At that time we learning about other religions and so I began wondering if my religion was the 'true' religion. I gave up questioning and on Christianity until I was 12 years old. At 12 I went to a Christian youth event. It was the first time I had enjoyed anything Christian based, and was amazed at how young people could be so passionate about God. This convicted me that it was true, and I felt overwhelmed with emotion (which at that time I concluded was the presence of God). I gave my heart to God that night.

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Dave:

You have to read this article. You may want to link it to the website.

http://thecoaststar.com/weekly/2004/07.29.04/invalidate.html

Excerpt:
The First Holy Communion made by 8-year-old Haley Waldman in April
is considered invalid in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church since the
Holy Eucharist she received did not contain any wheat.

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© 2004 by Tim Simmons

“All right, Mommy, just be patient.”

Outside the run-down shack that Lottie Moore calls home, the mid-summer air begins to cool slightly as the remaining rays of sunlight recede into the Mississippi night, draining the warm pastel orange from each cloud. Shadowy mountains emerge from the distance, as if summoned by some unseen signal. A distant blue-white flash on the horizon briefly illuminates a wooden cross affixed to the top of the roof.

“It won’t be long now, Mommy.”
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"...and be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds," - Apostle Paul.

One argument to which Christians are prone to resort revolves around the concept that without a Christian worldview, moral chaos is the result.

To a degree they are correct - what we mold our minds with will certainly influence our behavior.

Let me explain by relating something I heard on the radio today. The sister-in-law of Osama Ben Laden gave an insightful interview into the mind of an Islamic Fundamentalist on public radio. She has been separated from her husband for 16 years and has adopted a western life-style in part because of the Islamic marginalizing of women. For instance, she talked of how her brother-in-law Osama would not look at her or speak to her because for a man to look upon or speak to his brother's wife is a sin. Since Osama believed speaking to or looking on his brother's wife was a sin, he refused to acknowledge her at all.


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Although I am encouraged that there is a website such as this that has so much potential to support those of us departing a certain religion, I am equally discouraged that there is a high level of disrespectful, discourteous and even ignorant content and comment in this website.

Atheists, agnostics, etc all live by faith - a foundational belief that what they hold to is right and true. You may want to pretend this is not the case, but that doesn't change this fact. To ridicule, marginalize or in any other way castigate another person for their faith is wrong.


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(i.e, me resorting to dumbing down my attempts to educate the masses my including crude little drawings, to delight and stimulate their little minds.)
by A. Uiet Bhor



My attempts to explain the inherent problems with religion and the urgency of embracing a secular ethical system usually results in a prolonged rant that is dismissed by theists as the ramblings of a disgruntled atheist. In an attempt to demonstrate my thinking on such matters I will keep this brief and include visual demonstrations of why I consider all religion irredeemable, and what actually makes a decent ethical philosophy.


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"For we were little Christian children and early learned the value of forbidden fruit."
- Mark Twain

For some reason, the above quote really resonates with me. Growing up in a strict homeschooling Christian household with church as my main -- woefully inadequate -- social outlet, I always liked the forbidden things more than those that were officially endorsed. So clearly, I differ with American Christianity as to what is really important in life. Why does God want us bowing to, praying to, and worshipping him all the time? Wouldn't he rather have us enjoy the world he created for us, and enjoy our fellow human beings? To be hyper-religious is to miss the point of life. I believe religion should make our lives better; to spend a life in service of religion makes no sense to me, and could never make me happy.

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sent in by Lynne Fisher

Hi,

I am so glad to have found this site. I enjoy reading the postings. In my mind, I have dropped Christianity completely, and for good. The problem is I think it is ingrained in my personality. (Just for the record, I do see a shrink). My boss referred to me as "her holiness," and I am frequently told I am "too good" or "too Catholic."

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By Eric Merrill Budd (sent in by Jeff Reid)

What happens to individuals who have been psychologically
abused and morally betrayed by fundamentalist cultic religious
groups? how can they recover from the damage done? Physically
leaving such a group is relatively easy, but the emotional and
psychological departure can take months or even years. This is
why many people do not understand how any person can stay
within a situation of religious abuse - much the same way that
people fail to see how battered women stay with their abusers.

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sent in by Lavonne

My husband made me aware of this site almost a year ago. It was a "testimony" he showed me today that convinced me it was time for me to share.

I was always aware of heaven and hell/angels and demons - the conflict for my soul that I would need to heed lest I suffer torment for all eternity.

My earliest memory is of a tornado threatening just before my 5th birthday. Mom assured me that, if a tornado did strike, I would be in heaven for my birthday. I wanted a cake and presents.

I responded to my first altar call when I was 7 years old.

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Gene Cook, a Christian fundamentalist who runs the website UnchainedRadio.Com solicited one of our regular members and contributors, Zachary Moore, to two debates on his live webcast.

Zach agreed and recordings of both debates are posted here on ExChristian.Net for any interested in listening:

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by A. Uiet Bhor

I am often confronted by those who ask me whether I think about death, especially as I regard it as the final curtain. Some theists find the idea quite terrifying, I personally think about it very little if at all, I fully intend to die when I am old enough, but until then I see no reason to dwell on the subject.

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Or, my salute to fundamentalists
A. Uiet Bhor

Part one

Religions starts out as a series of theological and moral, and occasionally historical, "truths" that eventually become the faith's core doctrine. It is a haphazard process, with various ideologies competing either intellectually or physically, the end result is an amalgamation of sometimes contradictory ideas that are rationalised into one supreme voice of authority.


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by A. Uiet Bhor

In the old days there were atheists aplenty, but they always seem to lose out against the theists, because they had nothing to offer, no hope, no immortality, no nice gods to worship. The problem was that, although these critical thinkers had through reason, philosophical analysis and just plain intelligence realised that the truth was not in religion, they didn't know where the truth was Many didn't know whether to trust the thoughts of the meta-physicians or the empirical thinkers, or simply practical observation, they had yet to formulate a formal scientific discipline, and many were bamboozled by the likes of Aristotle.

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sent in by Willem Kortekaas

My Testimony to Ex-testimony (the encapsulated version)

To begin, I wasn’t always a Christian. I do not come from a Christian family. The only contact I had with any religion or interpretation of life to begin with was what our state school called “Religious Education”. It was far more like Christian Education.

Anyhow, So I got through primary school relatively sound. Yet for a higher education my parents decided to send me to a Private School, and where I lived only had religious private schools. Turns out I had to go to a school called Nambour Christian Collage (NCC).

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