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Comment From A Teenage Atheist.
Hello there, my name is Haley and I am a teenage Atheist from the southern US.
I was raised in a Methodist household, but I never truly believed in the validity and unquestionable nature of the Christian scripture. My whole life I had questioned (and rather resented) the foundations of the Christian faith - the Old Testament. Many of the stories in it I firmly believed (and still do) to be cruel and unjust. I didn't want to have to believe in a God cruel enough to drown, smite, and damn his 'perfect creation'. Of course, as much of today's indoctrinated youth has been subconsciously trained to do, I blew off the Old Testament and solely focused on the New Testament. In every VBS or church retreat my mother packed me off to we only studied the stories of Jesus and his disciples.
About two years ago (when I was a freshman in high school) I was signed up for confirmation class, as is the Methodist tradition. To kick off the confirmation course we had a very fun confirmation retreat. At the very end of that retreat, we passed around a jar of bible verses typed out on slips of paper, each of us pulled out one at random and kept it - to be a guiding verse bestowed onto each of us. Mine struck me very deeply, the words printed on that slip of paper really turned my life around.
Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind - Romans 12:2a
Is it ironic that a bible verse was the beginning of the end of my faith? I took those words to heart and decided from that moment on I would invest myself in opening my eyes and my heart to the world around me. I decided to first off, took within myself and find what I truly believed. What I realized scared me. I knew I had never truly believed in the stories of the Old Testament, but the realization that I considered the very foundation of my lifelong faith to be, well, complete nonsense. And not only nonsense, but pretty terrifying nonsense. How could this god I so believed to be merciful and a great god have done such awful things to his own 'perfect' creation? The god of the Old Testament was nothing more than a monster. I would not want to worship and bow down to such an evil being, I would resent it. God apparently made us perfect, but lacking the truly human element - free thought. Looking at the story of Adam and Eve through newly opened eyes, I find myself almost thanking the Snake. Maybe through my own doubt, and my determination to find the truth I took a bite of the forbidden fruit, and I regret nothing.
I was able to shake off the guilt and fear of religion, and in doing so I felt a great weight lifted off of my shoulders. I decided that if the original sin was having an open mind, an open heart, and open eyes - I did not want to be forgiven. I don't want to be the body of Christ, I want to be myself. For the first time in my life, I feel truly content and happy with myself and the world around me... well, not entirely with the world around me...
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But I did not make an account for your forum to simply share my story. I made this account and am posting this 'Comment From A Teenage Atheist' because I was disgusted with what I saw on this forum.
http://www.landoverbaptist.net/showthread.php?t=86604 - how can this not even phase you people?
If I did not make it clear before - the primary reason I left Christianity was because underneath that message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness was hate, prejudice, and ignorance. I felt lied to. Honestly, I am furious that people like that I had once called my Christian brothers.
What I have read on this forum has made my jaw drop and my heart plummet. How can you people be so cruel as to lift up domestic violence and abuse as the law of god? People are hurting, and you cannot see it through your self-blinded eyes. I am sickened, yet proud of myself for making the right decision in leaving this religion of false hope and real hate. People like this truly made me make up my mind about leaving Christianity once and for all.
If I believe anything at all, I believe we should treat our fellow human beings with dignity and respect. And if there is anything I see Christianity lacking in, it is this. I do not want to be an angry atheist or a militant atheist, I strive to be rational, considerate, and kind. But this flat-out abuse? of human beings? no. I cannot keep my outrage to myself any longer.
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Thank you for reading my spiel and my rant. I hope you take into consideration what I have said and at the very least consider opening your hearts and your eyes to the pain your religion is causing to the ones you claim to love.
If you have any comments for me, please do not hesitate in posting below, or privately messaging them to me at my email - [soliciting personal email addresses are not acceptable on God's Favorite Forum] Thank you again for your time, your love, your thoughts, and your hate. Pray for this teenage Atheist if you like, I'll be more than happy to think for you.
I was raised in a Methodist household, but I never truly believed in the validity and unquestionable nature of the Christian scripture. My whole life I had questioned (and rather resented) the foundations of the Christian faith - the Old Testament. Many of the stories in it I firmly believed (and still do) to be cruel and unjust. I didn't want to have to believe in a God cruel enough to drown, smite, and damn his 'perfect creation'. Of course, as much of today's indoctrinated youth has been subconsciously trained to do, I blew off the Old Testament and solely focused on the New Testament. In every VBS or church retreat my mother packed me off to we only studied the stories of Jesus and his disciples.
About two years ago (when I was a freshman in high school) I was signed up for confirmation class, as is the Methodist tradition. To kick off the confirmation course we had a very fun confirmation retreat. At the very end of that retreat, we passed around a jar of bible verses typed out on slips of paper, each of us pulled out one at random and kept it - to be a guiding verse bestowed onto each of us. Mine struck me very deeply, the words printed on that slip of paper really turned my life around.
Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind - Romans 12:2a
Is it ironic that a bible verse was the beginning of the end of my faith? I took those words to heart and decided from that moment on I would invest myself in opening my eyes and my heart to the world around me. I decided to first off, took within myself and find what I truly believed. What I realized scared me. I knew I had never truly believed in the stories of the Old Testament, but the realization that I considered the very foundation of my lifelong faith to be, well, complete nonsense. And not only nonsense, but pretty terrifying nonsense. How could this god I so believed to be merciful and a great god have done such awful things to his own 'perfect' creation? The god of the Old Testament was nothing more than a monster. I would not want to worship and bow down to such an evil being, I would resent it. God apparently made us perfect, but lacking the truly human element - free thought. Looking at the story of Adam and Eve through newly opened eyes, I find myself almost thanking the Snake. Maybe through my own doubt, and my determination to find the truth I took a bite of the forbidden fruit, and I regret nothing.
I was able to shake off the guilt and fear of religion, and in doing so I felt a great weight lifted off of my shoulders. I decided that if the original sin was having an open mind, an open heart, and open eyes - I did not want to be forgiven. I don't want to be the body of Christ, I want to be myself. For the first time in my life, I feel truly content and happy with myself and the world around me... well, not entirely with the world around me...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But I did not make an account for your forum to simply share my story. I made this account and am posting this 'Comment From A Teenage Atheist' because I was disgusted with what I saw on this forum.
http://www.landoverbaptist.net/showthread.php?t=86604 - how can this not even phase you people?
If I did not make it clear before - the primary reason I left Christianity was because underneath that message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness was hate, prejudice, and ignorance. I felt lied to. Honestly, I am furious that people like that I had once called my Christian brothers.
What I have read on this forum has made my jaw drop and my heart plummet. How can you people be so cruel as to lift up domestic violence and abuse as the law of god? People are hurting, and you cannot see it through your self-blinded eyes. I am sickened, yet proud of myself for making the right decision in leaving this religion of false hope and real hate. People like this truly made me make up my mind about leaving Christianity once and for all.
If I believe anything at all, I believe we should treat our fellow human beings with dignity and respect. And if there is anything I see Christianity lacking in, it is this. I do not want to be an angry atheist or a militant atheist, I strive to be rational, considerate, and kind. But this flat-out abuse? of human beings? no. I cannot keep my outrage to myself any longer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for reading my spiel and my rant. I hope you take into consideration what I have said and at the very least consider opening your hearts and your eyes to the pain your religion is causing to the ones you claim to love.
If you have any comments for me, please do not hesitate in posting below, or privately messaging them to me at my email - [soliciting personal email addresses are not acceptable on God's Favorite Forum] Thank you again for your time, your love, your thoughts, and your hate. Pray for this teenage Atheist if you like, I'll be more than happy to think for you.
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