Glad you're here! I think you'll find that a great many of us come from a religious background, and had some similar sort of experience.
Sadly, I was more suggestible, back in the day, and was really one of those "on fire for Jesus" people you were so horrified by... my shock into sanity came from being literate, comparing what I was learning about the Bible with what I was learning about, well, everything else in the universe. I started thinking, and asking hard questions... it has been that way ever since.
I also dislike the label atheist, but frankly, we're stuck with it. The last person who tried to change the negative term into something more apropos, Richard Dawkins, came up with a term so idiotic we're still getting mocked for it. ("Brights." Good grief!) So, as you can see from my Religious Views tagline, I'm an agnostic atheist and Secular Humanist. I tend to prefer and use the latter unless engaged with theists, so I can state my negation of their assertions.
This forum has begun to feel like home, a place to test my ideas and share knowledge with others of my ilk, and feel a sense of community. Hope you find this forum homey. So, welcome!
Sadly, I was more suggestible, back in the day, and was really one of those "on fire for Jesus" people you were so horrified by... my shock into sanity came from being literate, comparing what I was learning about the Bible with what I was learning about, well, everything else in the universe. I started thinking, and asking hard questions... it has been that way ever since.
I also dislike the label atheist, but frankly, we're stuck with it. The last person who tried to change the negative term into something more apropos, Richard Dawkins, came up with a term so idiotic we're still getting mocked for it. ("Brights." Good grief!) So, as you can see from my Religious Views tagline, I'm an agnostic atheist and Secular Humanist. I tend to prefer and use the latter unless engaged with theists, so I can state my negation of their assertions.
This forum has begun to feel like home, a place to test my ideas and share knowledge with others of my ilk, and feel a sense of community. Hope you find this forum homey. So, welcome!
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
