Spent time in a mental hospital for suicidal thoughts. Diagnosed with major depression. Went long periods off of meds because I couldn't afford them. Mostly stable now unless the Oompa-Loompa-in-Chief takes that away.
Largely have religion to blame for driving me batty. Years spent watching grandma go nucking futs and speak in tongues in church to the point where once dementia hit, it was hard to actually tell except that she started shitting herself too. Having literally zero peers who felt the same way I did and being bullied for being the fat kid on top of that. Getting pelted by eggs from a drive-by was pretty bad. Feeling physically ill being in churches during services but having to stay there because 'you just have to'. Uncle being a total fucking zealot and one of the only male influences in my young life til he overstepped himself and made a huge mistake trying to tell a child that god believed even an innocent youth was wicked. Trying to wrap my mind around how people could possibly believe that kind of shit when it was so obviously false to a child, and having to keep that bottled up for a decade, well, not a great combo. Especially when you also have family and friends who experience incredibly painful losses like that of at least one child and yet they aren't incredibly pissed at the god they believe in who had to be responsible for taking that away from them. So hearing stories like that always still bothers the shit out of me, but probably not for the same reasons (or rather, for many more reasons than the average person would have) as most people.
I know, 25 years later and the world is a different place, the internet, FFRF and all, those are great things to have that can help young people in my shoes at that age today, didn't help me worth a fuck.
Largely have religion to blame for driving me batty. Years spent watching grandma go nucking futs and speak in tongues in church to the point where once dementia hit, it was hard to actually tell except that she started shitting herself too. Having literally zero peers who felt the same way I did and being bullied for being the fat kid on top of that. Getting pelted by eggs from a drive-by was pretty bad. Feeling physically ill being in churches during services but having to stay there because 'you just have to'. Uncle being a total fucking zealot and one of the only male influences in my young life til he overstepped himself and made a huge mistake trying to tell a child that god believed even an innocent youth was wicked. Trying to wrap my mind around how people could possibly believe that kind of shit when it was so obviously false to a child, and having to keep that bottled up for a decade, well, not a great combo. Especially when you also have family and friends who experience incredibly painful losses like that of at least one child and yet they aren't incredibly pissed at the god they believe in who had to be responsible for taking that away from them. So hearing stories like that always still bothers the shit out of me, but probably not for the same reasons (or rather, for many more reasons than the average person would have) as most people.
I know, 25 years later and the world is a different place, the internet, FFRF and all, those are great things to have that can help young people in my shoes at that age today, didn't help me worth a fuck.
Religions were invented to impress and dupe illiterate, superstitious stone-age peasants. So in this modern, enlightened age of information, what's your excuse? Or are you saying with all your advantages, you were still tricked as easily as those early humans?
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There is no better way to convey the least amount of information in the greatest amount of words than to try explaining your religious views.
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There is no better way to convey the least amount of information in the greatest amount of words than to try explaining your religious views.