(July 10, 2016 at 12:20 pm)Lek Wrote:(July 9, 2016 at 3:16 pm)Lucifer Wrote: When I left christianity, I expected to enter this big "secular world", which should mean a lot of freedom, rationality, humanism and so forth........ Religion really limited in what I could be, it held me down, but now that I am free and able to think and act sensibly I have the opportunity to build an awesome, exciting and meaningful life with everything I could dream of.
There is no loss of freedom in christianity. We're free to accept or reject it and to leave it any time. You exercised your freedom when you left the faith. I accept Christ freely and I'm also freed from daily fears that so many people live with.
Good to hear that you are christianity makes you happy, that is what counts. It did not make me happy.
I do think that christianity helps with freeing you from some daily fears, like the fear of death (the idea that life continues after death for you and your loved ones can be very comforting), fear of being alone (God always being with you can feel good) and fear of judgement (the idea that God forgives you even though you make mistakes can also be nice), etc.
However, without evidence, I think this is just wishful thinking. To illustrate, let's say one who is afraid to become poor believes that he will win 10 million dollars in the lottery. This could help this person to feel more relaxed, but it is very improbable. This person would be better off for accepting that poverty could happen to anyone, and that he himself has the power to reduce the chances of this happening by spending his money well, developing his career, etc.
When I left christianity, I did have to deal with a lot of these fears, but I can tell you now from my experience that it is possible. It was tough to accept the sometimes harsh reality, and sometimes it still is, but it also feels good to face these issues head-on, grounded in reality. When someone dies I have to mourn them to deal with the pain (but I can also celebrate their life, and appreciate the time that I have had with them), when I am alone I can connect to the people around me and when I fear judgement, I can also accept that I screw up sometimes, ask for forgiveness if needed and accept the responsibility for my own life.
