Video of the day -- waking up
Three ordinary American young people describe their personal journeys out of the darkness.
posted by Infidel753 at 4:05 PM
11 May 2018
Three ordinary American young people describe their personal journeys out of the darkness.
About Me
- Name: Infidel753
- Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
Individualist, pro-technology, pro-democracy, anti-religion. I speak only for myself and not for any ideology, movement, or party. It has been my great good fortune to live my whole life free of "spirituality" of any kind. I believe that evidence and reason are the keys to understanding reality; that technology rather than ideology or politics has been the great liberator of humanity; and that in the long run, human intelligence is the most powerful force in the universe.
Previous Posts
- Book review -- the case for the future
- Random observations for May 2018
- Link round-up for 6 May 2018
- The state of the union
- Video of the day -- scientists by nature
- Link round-up for 29 April 2018
- The look of the future
- Link round-up for 22 April 2018
- Improving words (4)
- On walking away
God doesn't exist
Evolution happened
Global warming is real
Homosexuality is normal
Aging is a curable disease
The election was not stolen
Everything "spiritual" is a lie
US out of UN, UN out of US
Free speech is for everybody
Humans do not have "souls"
Men can't become women
Fetuses are not persons
Words are not violence
Taiwan is a nation
Pluto is a planet
5 Comments:
When my father was alive, we never went to church. But when he did, my mother got I guess guilted by my grandmother to "do something" than being a lazy Christian. So we went to a Methodist church. I liked the first few years with sunday school because they tried to make it fun. But the actual sermons were a snoozefest. By the time I reached high school, I stopped going. It wasn't a big drama breakup, I just stop caring.
I always questioned what I heard in church when my brain was capable of processing the subject, but I slowly drifted away from Christianity.
I was fortunate growing up. Both my parents were believers yet their belief was it was their job to expose us to Christianity and then give us the opportunity to decide our beliefs for ourselves. They never forced church attendance down our throats.
Of their four siblings 3 of us decided religion was not something that made any rational sense and so we moved beyond clinging to faith in a mystical supreme being. For my other sibling religion has actually given her strength and purpose. Both strongly positive platforms for her to stand on.
At one time in my life, from around 12 to 17 I thought I wanted to be a Christian missionary because of the good I thought they did. Ultimately decided against it as I completed formal schooling and entered life in manufacturing and management. While I continued for awhile being a luke warm believer I begin reading the KJV of the bible, both the Old and New Testaments, finishing them both. Giving much thought to what I read on those pages I realized what a tremendous bill of goods had been sold to humankind. My own beliefs then begin to solidified around science, reason, and observable reality. I've been much happier and grounded ever since.
For those who continue to believe and find comfort in religious beliels I say fine. Just don't try to force your beliefs on me or others who don't think like you. And, allow us the same freedoms you demand for yourselves.
Great video Infidel, thanks for sharing.
My dad is Mormon and my mom was Baptist. My mom's grandfather was a Baptist minister so I went to both churches as a kid. We had Mormon bible study on Saturday and Baptist church on Sunday and mormon primary school after I got home from regular school every day. When I got to be a teenager I dabbled in Satanism for a few years and then practiced Wicca for 10 years. I was trying to find my own beliefs and truths and finally settled on Agnostic and have considered myself to be Agnostic for about 15 years. My dad who hasn't been to the mormon church in decades and drinks coffee and used to smoke still gives his tithing to the church each month so he doesn't go to hell, he said.
I can't point to a time where I was asleep one moment and awake the next. It was a very gradual process.
But now that I am awake, I can look back to the time I was asleep and to that zone between asleep and fully awake and see all the things I couldn't view clearly at the time.
Assorted slept-too-long Jesus goobers in my eyes, I guess.
I'm glad that I'm not asleep anymore, though.
Adam: It seems to be much easier to escape when the indoctrination doesn't begin right at the beginning in early childhood. You were fortunate that it didn't start until you were old enough to question things -- and apparently they didn't push it on you all that hard. Glad you had a relatively painless escape.
Rational: That sounds like indeed a "rational" approach. I wonder how many religious parents are enlightened enough to let their children decide for themselves. I suspect that most Christians outside the hard-core fundamentalist community haven't read the Bible all the way through, only some of the more popular passages. Reading the whole thing often proves to be an eye-opener.
Mary: You've certainly tried a wide range of options! I'd be interested in your experiences with Satanism and Wicca -- I'll see if you've written about that on your blog. I hope your father eventually realizes he's in no more danger of going to Hell than of going to Mordor, and for the same reason -- but every person has to reach their own accommodation with their religion.
Ami: It seems to be gradual for many people -- eventually they realize that they haven't really believed for quite some time. The real world can sometimes be a harsh place, but it's best top be able to see it as it really is.
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