By Eric ~
I was young. That's the only explanation I can come up with as to why I became a believer. I believed that the world could be changed for the better through enthusiasm and prayer. I accepted Jesus as my savior hook line and sinker the first night I walked into a church. And what a church it turned out to be. It didn't take long for the petty criticisms to emerge.
And on it went. A Joke would become an admission of guilt, and an action would be condemned whether it be right or wrong. I reasoned with them that I meant no insult or injury but they did not want reason, and the people who I went to Pizza Hut with every Sunday night for after church life were actually reporting my every word back to the church heads. As it turned out this church was run by the far right and they considered me a threat because I had opinions.
Still there were times when a guest pastor would get up and tell it like it is. One gem i will never forget is "The Christian army is the only one that shoots their own wounded"
That would bring out the beast in them and as I recall the church went through many pastors, eventually operating with no pastor at all.
I quit that place after six years with eroded belief and poor self image but they did not quit me by any means. For seven years after they destroyed my Christianity by telling congregations I was a crim or something similar. They threatened and harassed me with phone calls and drive-byes, (the kind where they scream abuse from a passing car)In short they HATED me. This is what they did best. This is their fruit.
25 years on I look for the influence of the neo conservatives in every bit of news and day to day life and wonder if anybody can undo their evil.
Why am I a new pagan? because it fits me like a glove. I live by the nine principles in the Odinist creed and have added a few of my own. The foremost of which is; Never allow others to cloud your own judgement.
'Oh, you ride a motorbike, your a radical!'
'Oh, you have a record collection, you have to burn it otherwise the devil will be in your life.'
'Oh, you used to smoke dope, your a drug addict,'
And on it went. A Joke would become an admission of guilt, and an action would be condemned whether it be right or wrong. I reasoned with them that I meant no insult or injury but they did not want reason, and the people who I went to Pizza Hut with every Sunday night for after church life were actually reporting my every word back to the church heads. As it turned out this church was run by the far right and they considered me a threat because I had opinions.
Still there were times when a guest pastor would get up and tell it like it is. One gem i will never forget is "The Christian army is the only one that shoots their own wounded"
That would bring out the beast in them and as I recall the church went through many pastors, eventually operating with no pastor at all.
I quit that place after six years with eroded belief and poor self image but they did not quit me by any means. For seven years after they destroyed my Christianity by telling congregations I was a crim or something similar. They threatened and harassed me with phone calls and drive-byes, (the kind where they scream abuse from a passing car)In short they HATED me. This is what they did best. This is their fruit.
25 years on I look for the influence of the neo conservatives in every bit of news and day to day life and wonder if anybody can undo their evil.
Why am I a new pagan? because it fits me like a glove. I live by the nine principles in the Odinist creed and have added a few of my own. The foremost of which is; Never allow others to cloud your own judgement.
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