By xxkindofboredxx ~ T he story of Christianity in a nutshell: The Old Testament God is in existence, and there is nothing else. There is only the void, there is no time. There is no space. There is nothing. God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present being in existence. God decides to create something. That something happens to be our world, our reality, and everything humanity will ever know and become. These things are all set in motion by God in the beginning. How does he do this, you ask? Well, he speaks the whole planet, the stars, and everything else into existence, in six literal days. Yes. Six days. And then he rests on the seventh. Not be cause he has to, mind you (he is all-powerful, remember?), but because he wants to. God has created a single male human. His name is Adam. Adam dwells naked in the Garden of Eden: a sinless, perfect place. God presents all the animals to Adam for him to name. So he names all of them. But something wasn’t right...

By Carl S ~ B ack when I attended church services with my wife, there was a young man who would come and sit next to me. Apparently, he sensed that I was a non-believer, because he would open the Bible provided in front of us, and point out the stupid and insane passages in its texts. When he stopped coming, I called him and asked why he dropped out. He said that he had attended Episcopal services growing up, and that the Assembly ones were too noisy. Much later he married a Catholic girl, and, even though he’s out-of-state, I'm tempted to ask him how, or if, someone like him might “suddenly believe” Catholic doctrinal nonsense which is just as stupid and insane as those texts he formerly pointed out to me. My wife and I, and my siblings and relatives, were all raised as Catholics. She and the other relatives have been non- Catholic Christians for decades now, though the Catholic church still lists them as Catholic. Every one of us now living changed our minds about Catholic...

By GoodGirl ~ I ’m an Ex-Christian woman who was a virgin for 35 years. And to some extent, I still am. I kept myself clean for “God” for 25 years. I believed that nothing was more important than being close to Him. When I fell in love with a boy I prayed to “God” that this love would not put the relationship I had with Him in the shadow. And no boy ever returned any feelings I might have had. Why should they? I was an uptight nerd who didn’t know how to behave around boys. When I felt lust I prayed that I would not sin. It always felt more important and appropriate to keep my focus on “God” and on the spiritual realm over the physical one. Though I longed for something more, deep inside. I then broke up with “God”. The last years I have tried to break free from the emotional and mental restraints I had built up when it came to sex and intimacy. I started to get to know my body. Learning how to take care of it and make myself more attractive. Reading informative books that I ...

By Gkneaux Beauxdee ~ W hat an inspiring site. I just wish i could find the place that has to be around here somewhere, where a person can become a member and talk all the time. Hence, i submit this story and hope it gets me in the door. Maybe even some "intel" on how to do it - I'm a bit 'technologically challenged.' (As well aa a grammar rebel.) So, here's my story - When i busted free from the clutches and chains of the Church, it was a freedom like no other - it not only freed my Soul and my mind, but my life as well. Course, then i was out of step with the world i'd been living in. And i have trouble keeping my mouth shut around the ones still licking-up their chains. And those who have lied and blinded them. So, all in all, it sure didn't make life easier one bit - not one bit at all. But if i could give only one gift to another, it would be to set them free from religion of any sort. Unless finding out who you are and why you're ...

By Anthony C ~ JUNE 4TH 2011 W here do I start my discussion on my approach to the truth of Evangelical Christianity ? There are many places I could start. So I have decided to discuss it from the approach of my experience of and with God. Firstly, after 31 years, I have decided that I am no longer an "Evangelical Christian". When I examine the last 31 years of my spiritual pilgrimage, I was looking for an experience to encounter God. This was according to what the Bible says or pastors and teachers say the spiritual experiences of God should be. (we all want this). I had been a sincere, dedicated Christian, seriously trying to live a Christian life and understand Christian doctrine , basically having the correct beliefs. "And as a result of doing just what I had been told to do -study and learn Christianity - I had discovered a spiderweb of cracks in the very foundation! In short, my faith was starting to slip away. I had no intention of walking away. Inde...

By Valerie Tarico ~ An interview with former fundamentalist, Ed Suominen. E d Suominen was raised in a small sect of Lutheran Christianity called Laestadianism . Of the 32,000 denominations into which Christianity has fractured, his is one of the more conservative. Members believe in the literal truth of the Bible, including the creation story. They eschew sins like drinking, dancing, watching television, wearing earrings, and playing school sports. They marry only within their own sect and believe God alone should decide how many children they have. Suominen followed the rules; he met and married the right kind of girl; and together they have 11 children. But Suominen is also an engineer, trained at the University of Washington. He has been a patent agent and inventor , and eventually his work with electrical and digital systems led him to notice something his church hadn’t taught him about—the power of natural selection. He was trying to optimize a design, when he came across ...

By True ~ A s I've been reviewing the bible, to make sure that my mind is sharp in regards to it, I've come to realize that Moses killing the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew slave was not at all an accident, and that he had even buried the man in the sand to hide what he had done. He soon realized that his deed had been known to the Hebrews when attempting to calm down a fight between two Hebrew men. The Pharaoh of Egypt did not pardon Moses (As described in the gitty happy go lucky video ' The prince of Egypt ') but sent men to kill Moses, as to which Moses fled in fear. This can be found in Exodus chapter 2. I've also noticed that almost every man and woman chosen by God in the bible has lied in one way or another for reasons as far as sparing their own life, or just because they could. When Israel's sons traveled to Egypt in order to pay for grain and food, Joseph (The son of Israel who was sold as a servant, and whom had gained a powerful p...

By Positivist ~ W ell, I loathe admitting it, but they are right: I lost my faith because I didn’t “do” Christianity right. I didn’t go to the right church. Now, I realize that my upbringing in the Presbyterian and Christian Reformed churches was way off base, which is why upon receiving my driver’s license I began attending a Pentecostal church —you know, where God “shows up” each week, and where the promises of God were apples on a tree and I merely had to pick them! I was a charismatic believer into middle age, increasingly overcoming the niggling doubts that plagued me. I realize now that this charismatic belief system was wrong. I probably should have instead attended a Vineyard church , a house church, no church, or a Presbyterian church…and if so, I’d still be a believer. But alas, I didn’t do these things. I thought I was following God’s leading in my life as to where I fellowshipped and worshipped, but I was wrong. I did it wrong. I didn’t go to Just The Right Church....

By BeforeIWasBorn ~ I t's the first day in heaven and after five hours of praising and glorifying god, you decide to go fishing . You snap your fingers and have a brand new high dollar rod and reel , a fully stocked tackle box, and a solid gold can full of live multicolored worms. You head off (no shoes, no stickers) to an immaculately groomed small pond surrounded by the most gorgeous flowering trees. The temperature is 72 and it is sunny with a light breeze from the west. (this is heaven so you get to decide which way is west). Just as you settle in a friend notices you and orders 2 cups of King Oscar coffee (only kind allowed in heaven however it can taste however you wish it to taste) and comes to sit by you. He tells you he has been to the bowling alley (solid gold lanes and platinum bowling balls ) and left after 178 strikes in a row. He says that he would never have approached that kind of record on earth. And so begins your beautiful memories in heaven onl...

By Eban ~ B eing a black male in the United States and living in Oklahoma I’ve become used to hearing about the wonderful joys of Jesus and God. Being part of a family raised in church, I’ve become used to going to church and hearing about the wonderful joys of god and Jesus. But over the years, I have also seen what God, Jesus and even Allah have also become to those trapped in a cycle of drugs, violence and even death. I always look over the last 4-5 decades and wonder, what happened? To what you may ask? What happened to the sense of pride, the sense of duty to family, work, health, and self? What happened to idea of looking at yourself and asking what have I become? What is the purpose of what I am doing? Is what I’m doing benefiting me and or my family in the long run? What must I do to improve myself, or get out of the squalor that I am in? A state squalor doesn't have to necessarily mean living in a housing project or neighborhood overrun with poverty, crime, and bein...

By Matt ~ I have always known I was gay. From very early on, I knew I was different, and when I hit puberty I learned that difference was homosexuality. When my guy friends started to be attracted to the girls in my class, I was finding myself attracted to them. Around puberty is when I became subjected to Christian teachings. I wasn't very popular in school and my closest friends were all devout, evangelical Christians , and their kindness (without me telling them of my sexuality) is what drew me to Christianity. I felt like I kind of belonged. I spent year denying my sexuality and facing the depression that came of it. I hated myself because all I heard about same sex attraction was how evil it was. I spent my entire critical thinking life in church. I didn't care about school because I was going to be a youth pastor. I went to church 4 sometimes 5 times a week, didn't care about homework or studying, and eventually decided not to go to college. I attended a y...