As the title of this post suggests, I’ve decided to be a little bit rebellious. Normally, I’m a bit of a goodie-two-shoes, but it’s high time that I start living a little!
Now, I’m not going to do anything dangerous; I’m thinking more along the lines of civil disobedience. Here’s what I’m thinking...
Like every other good “Christian” boy in the Deep South, I’m expected to go to church, Sunday school, and Wednesday night Christian youth group meetings. My parents want me to be, as they have said, “In a group of Christian kids my age with whom I can fellowship with in a positive, Christian environment.” Well, I’m surrounded by Christian kids my age all day long, and it hasn’t been a positive experience. I’m not being bullied or anything; I’m just bored as hell!
Then, it hit me: why do I go to these stupid meetings if I don’t have any inclination to go to them in the first place? I know I’m not going to get any sort of college recommendation from the youth director [I asked my parents about it, and I got in trouble for being “sacrilegious” because I “wasn’t going to church for the right reasons.”] I haven’t been going to this church my entire life, so it’s not like the people in my youth group nor the youth director will miss me anyway. Honestly, I’d rather have my boss write a recommendation letter for me; I’ve volunteered over 500 hours at the law office my boss runs translating for immigrants trying to become U.S. citizens. I think my volunteering is a better use of my time than talking to some mythical sky-daddy.
So, where am I going with this long rant? I’ve decided to skip out on my Sunday night youth group meetings. Unfortunately, I can’t skip out on every meeting because I still have to play the part of good-ole Christian boy. I would skip out on Wednesday nights, but my parents also have church classes and they would be driving the car [I don’t own a car...yet! ] Instead of wasting two hours of my life every week listening to the creepy youth director lecture about what a horrible person I am, I’m going to do something positive for myself!
I’m thinking about paying a weekly visit to either the bookstore or the computer store. Yes, I realize how nerdy that sounds!
I would go out with my friends, but they are dragged to a different church by their parents on the nights I would be skipping out on my youth group meetings.
Now, a question to you wiser atheists and agnostics: did you do anything like what I’m describing when you were younger? If so, do you have any ideas for fun stuff I could do on my “church breaks?” I’d love to know what’s on your mind!
Cheers!
Now, I’m not going to do anything dangerous; I’m thinking more along the lines of civil disobedience. Here’s what I’m thinking...
Like every other good “Christian” boy in the Deep South, I’m expected to go to church, Sunday school, and Wednesday night Christian youth group meetings. My parents want me to be, as they have said, “In a group of Christian kids my age with whom I can fellowship with in a positive, Christian environment.” Well, I’m surrounded by Christian kids my age all day long, and it hasn’t been a positive experience. I’m not being bullied or anything; I’m just bored as hell!
Then, it hit me: why do I go to these stupid meetings if I don’t have any inclination to go to them in the first place? I know I’m not going to get any sort of college recommendation from the youth director [I asked my parents about it, and I got in trouble for being “sacrilegious” because I “wasn’t going to church for the right reasons.”] I haven’t been going to this church my entire life, so it’s not like the people in my youth group nor the youth director will miss me anyway. Honestly, I’d rather have my boss write a recommendation letter for me; I’ve volunteered over 500 hours at the law office my boss runs translating for immigrants trying to become U.S. citizens. I think my volunteering is a better use of my time than talking to some mythical sky-daddy.
So, where am I going with this long rant? I’ve decided to skip out on my Sunday night youth group meetings. Unfortunately, I can’t skip out on every meeting because I still have to play the part of good-ole Christian boy. I would skip out on Wednesday nights, but my parents also have church classes and they would be driving the car [I don’t own a car...yet! ] Instead of wasting two hours of my life every week listening to the creepy youth director lecture about what a horrible person I am, I’m going to do something positive for myself!
I’m thinking about paying a weekly visit to either the bookstore or the computer store. Yes, I realize how nerdy that sounds!
I would go out with my friends, but they are dragged to a different church by their parents on the nights I would be skipping out on my youth group meetings. Now, a question to you wiser atheists and agnostics: did you do anything like what I’m describing when you were younger? If so, do you have any ideas for fun stuff I could do on my “church breaks?” I’d love to know what’s on your mind!
Cheers!
"If your god has to make peace with me in my final hour when he has my whole lifetime to prove his existence to me...do you think I should bother?"
"But the happiness of an atheist is neither the vacuous enjoyment of a fool, nor the short-lived pleasure of a rogue. It is rather the expression of a disposition that has ceased to torture itself with foolish fancies, or perplex itself with useless beliefs." - Chapman Cohen
"But the happiness of an atheist is neither the vacuous enjoyment of a fool, nor the short-lived pleasure of a rogue. It is rather the expression of a disposition that has ceased to torture itself with foolish fancies, or perplex itself with useless beliefs." - Chapman Cohen
