If i was mad at god @OP i would be outside during a storm screaming and yelling profanity at the clouds.

Quote:I was raised in a home where you don't question your parent's authority

In all seriousness, dear, you don't have to do it all at once. There does not have to be a knock-down, drag-out fight. You are an adult now. Life takes precedence over this happy horseshit that your parents are spewing.
Once you know that religion is a crock of shit there is no going back and you will find that it diminishes in importance to you.

That nonsense only matters to those who can't shake it off.

Best of luck.

Trust me when i say this i was not really happy when i was a believer as a child. I wasn't really happy at all when my suspicions were finally a little more clear and found out it was all a lie
man i was happy.

I feel kind of stupid in a way. For all other religions I can simply laugh and walk away. Islam's hell? I don't believe a word of it. Mormonism? Laughable. And yet, I find Christianity so hard to shake. And I know it's because I was raised in it. If I were raised in Islam I would probably feel this way about Islam's hell.

You all are very right, and I hope someday I will be as comfortable in my agnostic (or atheist...I'm just not there yet) life as you. I'm glad I found this forum though. It's a relief to finally voice some of these thoughts.

I suspect the more you hang around like-minded individuals, the more you'll feel comfortable. I went through the same phase when I finally admitted I was atheist. I felt like for years I had been patching up a figurine on a shelf with tape and glue, and it was getting shabbier and uglier, until finally one day someone told me it was okay to throw it out. One day I met some atheists who were "out" and all of a sudden it was okay to say I didn't believe in Judaism.

(January 3, 2015 at 12:54 am)TaosFlower Wrote: I feel kind of stupid in a way. For all other religions I can simply laugh and walk away. Islam's hell? I don't believe a word of it. Mormonism? Laughable. And yet, I find Christianity so hard to shake. And I know it's because I was raised in it. If I were raised in Islam I would probably feel this way about Islam's hell.

You all are very right, and I hope someday I will be as comfortable in my agnostic (or atheist...I'm just not there yet) life as you. I'm glad I found this forum though. It's a relief to finally voice some of these thoughts.

Islam is not a religion of peace nor any abrahamic religion.
Meaning Islam, Christianity (all sects), catholicism, etc.

(January 3, 2015 at 1:02 am)thesummerqueen Wrote: I suspect the more you hang around like-minded individuals, the more you'll feel comfortable. I went through the same phase when I finally admitted I was atheist. I felt like for years I had been patching up a figurine on a shelf with tape and glue, and it was getting shabbier and uglier, until finally one day someone told me it was okay to throw it out. One day I met some atheists who were "out" and all of a sudden it was okay to say I didn't believe in Judaism.

Very true. I don't have any atheist friends. Almost everyone I know is either christian or muslim. I definitely need to find some like minded people to hang out with. I'm sure it will get easier when I do.

Thank you for the site you posted on the previous page. I've been looking through it the past 30 minutes and have found some helpful information.

(January 2, 2015 at 9:33 pm)TaosFlower Wrote: Hello. I'm a 23 year old woman who was raised her whole life in a devoutly christian home. My father reads the bible everyday and talks about Jesus Christ all the time. Several of my siblings are christian, while a couple are not.
I have been struggling with religion my whole life.

Then seperate your 'religion' from your understanding of God.

Quote:The logical side of me knows it doesn't make any sense. But my heart keeps telling me my parents can't be wrong.

What specifically about your religion is wrong verses what are you so sure of about your parents beliefs?

Quote:I feel so trapped, because Christianity goes against everything I believe in. For instance, I have a gay brother whom I care for very much and I can't fathom him going to hell for just loving another man.

then rest assured that it is not our love for one another in of itself that sends us to Hell. It is our unrepentant spirit and pride that sends us there.

Quote:I've studied the bible and I see so much hate and archaic reasoning.

like where?

Quote:I've tried to force myself to believe in it, but I just can't. I'm honestly comfortable not being religious,

I'm not comfortable being or being around the very religious either.

Quote:but that fear of hell is still there.

well the good news is if you hang out long enough with people who typically visit atheist sites like this one they will give you comfort you need to bury that fear down deep. Deep enough to where when your reminded of it that fear will turn to anger, which leads to hate, and ultimately suffering...

Quote: It's always in the back of my mind.

I'm not sure why I'm writing this, but I have no one else to talk to about this fear. How do I overcome this? How can I stop being so scared about hell, when I know it can't possibly be real?

The fear of hell is not what biblical Christianity is about. Hell is a concern for the unsaved, but when one seeks and accepts attonement hell ceases to be a motivation for anything. Love becomes the currency in which we are motivated for what we do.

Quote:I'm so angry that my parents raised me in this religion. I wish so much that I was born in a agnostic or atheist home so that I wouldn't be crippled with this fear of hell.

Being born outside of a religious house doesn't keep you from the knoweledge or fear/respect of hell.[/quote]

@Dirch op is clearly having issues believing in god separating it from religion still wont fix that issue.

To make matters worse, he's trying to sound like the Obi Wan Kenobi of Christianity.