What was YOUR ATTITUDE towards religion as a child? Did your attitude change as

1. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 23 months ago

   What was YOUR ATTITUDE towards religion as a child?  Did your attitude change as
   
   you became a teenager & an adult?  Or did you progress in your same attitude?
   
   

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2. 87

   dashingscorpioposted 23 months ago

   
   
   We had no "choice". We were forced to go to church.
   It was boring to me as a child and I hated that it took up one of "free days" off from school. Also the church we went to the overall service lasted beyond 2 1/2 hours when you included the choir songs, announcements, offerings, sermon, and the close seeking new members. I got some of best sleep while sitting in church.
   There were also instances when some (women) in particular suddenly exploded "in tongues", jumping up and down, screaming, or passing out.
   All of which can frighten a child or at the very least dread seeing it again. When I went away to college and on into adulthood I got to see what it was like to have a free weekend to do whatever I pleased and it was great being able to relax watch TV shows or sports, participate in recreational outings, check out a matinee movie, Sunday champagne brunches, weekend getaways ...etc
   I just didn't see the need to get up and go somewhere just to hear a guy read from a book I already have at home and pay him for it too!
   I realized if you believe in God you don't need a "middleman".
   Later on in life I begin to see the politics of religion, study how the bible was canonized and what was going on historically at the time.
   A group of (men) determined which books/scriptures to include in the bible and which ones to include. Clearly there was some biases.
   Discrimination and sexism are mainstays in most religious doctrine.
   I learned Christmas was moved to December to be attached to the popular Winter solstice festival time period.
   And then I began to look at some of the actual stories in the bible and they made no sense. (God wrestled with Jacob and lost!, Adam lived to be 930 years old, Samson killed a 1000 men with the jawbone of a donkey, foreign languages was invented due to the Tower of Babel that was being built from earth to reach heaven...etc) Ultimately I reached the following conclusion:
   God made man and man made religion.
   Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. Live and let live!

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3. 79

   Say Yes To Lifeposted 23 months ago

   I was fascinated by religion as a child.  As a Seventh Day Adventist, I owned a 10 volume set called"The Bible Story", lovingly researched and written by Arthur Maxwell, and filled with beautiful paintings on each page.  I have read the set countless times, and to this day, HIGHLY recommend them to anyone who wants to read and understand the Christian Bible.
   Seventh Day Adventist Christianity, to me, was Saturday afternoons spent with pleasant company, and summer camp in the glorious Lake Tahoe region where many of my best memories were made.  This was in sharp contrast to my extremely dysfunctional home life, and the ugly situations I had to endure attending Oakland public schools.
   I attended an SDA school from 8th grade until graduation.  During that time, I read the Bible through.  My church youth group would go witnessing at the UC Berkeley campus.  The hippie presence was still strong In those days, so that made for some interesting experiences.
   When I was 16, I started developing anxieties about my ability to take care of myself as an adult.  This led me to have issues with the SDA church 's excessive rules.  This was exacerbated by the fact that while the church provided temporary reprieve from Oakland, it  did not remove me from it.  As a result, I rebelled after graduation.  I didn't realize that I was the one who had to remove myself from Oakland, and religion was merely a tool towards that end.
   After numerous personal disasters, I returned to the church.  Unfortunately, I still had an unrealistic view of its power and purpose; that's what led me to join a cult, putting my life in danger in the process.
   Between flashbacks and research, I have since become an agnostic.  Currently, I am looking into Buddhism and Baha'i faith.  I have come to the conclusion that all religions are true, and all are cults.  The difference is how they are practiced.

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