Posts: 5598
Threads: 112
Joined: July 16, 2012
Reputation:
74
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 7, 2013 at 2:37 pm
(August 6, 2013 at 10:08 pm)catfish Wrote: Never been "there"... Did you guys really believe all that crap?
I believed a lot of it. When you accept something as amazingly ridiculous as the Christian God willing everything into existence, it's kind of silly to deny the less remarkable absurdities that god is said to have produced. I've come to realize that, if you don't take in all of it, there's no reason to take in a single bit of it, because the premise behind all of it is the most monumental farce of them all and requires the most profound suspension of disbelief.
Posts: 2203
Threads: 44
Joined: July 28, 2012
Reputation:
38
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 7, 2013 at 5:46 pm
I went back to a 12 step program (non-addiction related) after taking a break for a few months. I was astounded by how religious the whole thing was. When I started, I was in a bad place, and it helped to be around others dealing with the same issues. I felt better, took a break, and on the encouragement from a friend I went back... It was like a slap in the face.
Posts: 110
Threads: 1
Joined: May 27, 2013
Reputation:
3
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 7, 2013 at 10:13 pm
I haven't left. I'm still a member of two synagogues. Nobody gives a rats ass if I believe in a deity or not.
Posts: 23918
Threads: 300
Joined: June 25, 2011
Reputation:
151
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 8, 2013 at 1:17 am
(August 7, 2013 at 10:13 pm)Dena Wrote: I haven't left. I'm still a member of two synagogues. Nobody gives a rats ass if I believe in a deity or not.
That's pretty damned cool. Jews are great.
Posts: 2171
Threads: 4
Joined: July 24, 2013
Reputation:
33
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 8, 2013 at 1:24 am
(This post was last modified: August 8, 2013 at 1:33 am by Captain Colostomy.)
(August 8, 2013 at 1:17 am)whateverist Wrote: (August 7, 2013 at 10:13 pm)Dena Wrote: I haven't left. I'm still a member of two synagogues. Nobody gives a rats ass if I believe in a deity or not.
That's pretty damned cool. Jews are great.
I especially like the reconstructionists..many take their skepticism seriously.
(August 7, 2013 at 2:37 pm)Ryantology Wrote: (August 6, 2013 at 10:08 pm)catfish Wrote: Never been "there"... Did you guys really believe all that crap?
I believed a lot of it. When you accept something as amazingly ridiculous as the Christian God willing everything into existence, it's kind of silly to deny the less remarkable absurdities that god is said to have produced. I've come to realize that, if you don't take in all of it, there's no reason to take in a single bit of it, because the premise behind all of it is the most monumental farce of them all and requires the most profound suspension of disbelief.
Man, I hate seeing your posts. Like, I know you wrote something meaningful above, but I didn't read it. Your damned avatar keeps me enthralled, wondering...'Is Jesus always watching?'
And sadly...so far...the answer has been 'yes'.
It's cruel. 
Posts: 3405
Threads: 33
Joined: July 17, 2013
Reputation:
43
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 8, 2013 at 2:44 am
(This post was last modified: August 8, 2013 at 2:47 am by Lucanus.)
2 and a half years ago I was still a devout Catholic, even though I did not agree with everything the church said (namely, birth control, homosex etc.). I used to attend mass every sunday morning, I used to sing in the church choir and I also got to act in religious plays especially during easter (I played Jesus and got crucified over and over).
Yet as time passed I began feeling disgusted of the rites of the RCC and I stopped attending masses and stuff because of this. Flash-forward to easter 2012 I'm a full-blown agnostic and I get a call from one of my friends from the parish.
"Hey Leo, we are organizing once again "Il Pianto della Madonna" ["the cry of the virgin", medieval play in umbrian dialect] and we need again someone to play Jesus... are you with us?"
She also told me they were very desperate so after one hour and a half on the phone I reluctantly accepted.
I got crucified another 12 times...
"Every luxury has a deep price. Every indulgence, a cosmic cost. Each fiber of pleasure you experience causes equivalent pain somewhere else. This is the first law of emodynamics [sic]. Joy can be neither created nor destroyed. The balance of happiness is constant.
Fact: Every time you eat a bite of cake, someone gets horsewhipped.
Facter: Every time two people kiss, an orphanage collapses.
Factest: Every time a baby is born, an innocent animal is severely mocked for its physical appearance. Don't be a pleasure hog. Your every smile is a dagger. Happiness is murder.
Vote "yes" on Proposition 1321. Think of some kids. Some kids."
Posts: 2168
Threads: 9
Joined: June 21, 2013
Reputation:
27
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 8, 2013 at 12:54 pm
@oukoida, lol, playing jesus 12 times? You're too nice.
I've never been back. I left church before my deconversion although I was devout, it was mainly because I moved very far away and life got insanely busy. I contemplated going back many times when I was losing my faith. Glad I did not. Now I don't want to go back if church is in session, but I like old church buildings, very cool looking, I go when no one's around.
Posts: 2962
Threads: 44
Joined: March 22, 2013
Reputation:
39
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 8, 2013 at 1:18 pm
(August 8, 2013 at 2:44 am)oukoida Wrote: I got crucified another 12 times...
Once is enough for most I would think!
As for me, I was never much of a believer. In my teens and 20s, somewhat of a deist/don't care-ist and then gradually morphing into the atheist bastard pig dog I am today.
During my morphing, I was married to a semi-fundy Christian and our marriage was crumbling. During the trying to save it phase, I went with her to her well-to-do mega-Church; an attempt at placating. Plenty of BMWs, Mercedes and $50K SUVs in the parking lot. You know the type. A lot of godly doctors, engineers, managers I would suppose.
The preacher was one of those young earther, evolution deniers, and prattled on about how, due to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, evolution was impossible, ergo JEEBUS, and the sheep in the audience didn't raise an eyebrow. Truly sad for a mostly educated audience, eating up the pablum without comment.
Meanwhile, I guess I couldn't keep the expression of disdain and disgust from my face as my soon to be ex was obviously unhappy with my reaction and demeanor. She suggested I go "talk" to this preacher afterwards, but I said there is nothing I can say to someone who thinks the world is 6,000 years old and doesn't know the first thing about thermodynamics and yet has the gall to piously intone on the topic in front of thousands of people as though he were an expert.
I've not been to a service since.
Posts: 3405
Threads: 33
Joined: July 17, 2013
Reputation:
43
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 8, 2013 at 1:45 pm
(August 8, 2013 at 12:54 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: @oukoida, lol, playing jesus 12 times? You're too nice.
Nah, I thought it would be fun to look at it in first person (it wasn't).
(August 8, 2013 at 12:54 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: I like old church buildings, very cool looking, I go when no one's around.
Agree. Some churches are truly beautiful.
JesusHChrist Wrote:Once is enough for most I would think!
Not for me buddy!
JesusHChrist Wrote:The preacher was one of those young earther, evolution deniers, and prattled on about how, due to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, evolution was impossible, ergo JEEBUS, and the sheep in the audience didn't raise an eyebrow. Truly sad for a mostly educated audience, eating up the pablum without comment.
I actually feel quite happy that the RCC endorses evolutionism. It means they've learnt something after Galileo.
"Every luxury has a deep price. Every indulgence, a cosmic cost. Each fiber of pleasure you experience causes equivalent pain somewhere else. This is the first law of emodynamics [sic]. Joy can be neither created nor destroyed. The balance of happiness is constant.
Fact: Every time you eat a bite of cake, someone gets horsewhipped.
Facter: Every time two people kiss, an orphanage collapses.
Factest: Every time a baby is born, an innocent animal is severely mocked for its physical appearance. Don't be a pleasure hog. Your every smile is a dagger. Happiness is murder.
Vote "yes" on Proposition 1321. Think of some kids. Some kids."
Posts: 18
Threads: 2
Joined: August 8, 2013
Reputation:
1
RE: Have you ever gone back?
August 8, 2013 at 5:07 pm
I'm still in the closet to my family, so I attend church with them regularly (ugh), and it makes me increasingly sure of my atheism. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as I come out to my family, I'm going to avoid churches like the plague. Never want to sit through another service again.
|
