BoD's Religion Thread

[Johnny Pneumatic]

I'm going to tell you my experiences with religion(Fundi Missionary Baptist). I'm only going to tell the bad; I can't think of any good. My first was when I was 5-6. The preacher was talking about hell and that someone's mother or son was in hell and they would never see them again. From this I believed my mother was going to hell for some reason. Needless to say I was horrified, I cried for... I forget how long. When I was about 12 came the OCD. What follows could fill books. Try to imagine being driven mad worrying(this word doesn't convey what its like) if I'm "saved", Ouija Boards, am I the anti-christ, pentagrams, witchcraft, Buddhas, idols, different "sins", hand washing to the point of being able to lather-up without soap(my hands looked like that dried cracked mud), germs etc. You know who Howard Hughes was don't you? I was like him. Look at me now. What a difference Luvox(tm), atheism/skepticism and a shrink makes!
A few centuries ago I'd have been given exorcisms and maybe killed.

[Virgil]

Originally posted by bewareofdogmas
I'm going to tell you my experiences with religion(Fundi Missionary Baptist). I'm only going to tell the bad; I can't think of any good. My first was when I was 5-6. The preacher was talking about hell and that someone's mother or son was in hell and they would never see them again. From this I believed my mother was going to hell for some reason. Needless to say I was horrified, I cried for... I forget how long. When I was about 12 came the OCD. What follows could fill books. Try to imagine being driven mad worrying(this word doesn't convey what its like) if I'm "saved", Ouija Boards, am I the anti-christ, pentagrams, witchcraft, Buddhas, idols, different "sins", hand washing to the point of being able to lather-up without soap(my hands looked like that dried cracked mud), germs etc. You know who Howard Hughes was don't you? I was like him. Look at me now. What a difference Luvox(tm), atheism/skepticism and a shrink makes!
A few centuries ago I'd have been given exorcisms and maybe killed.


We feel your pain, and we glad you are better!



Virgil

[Johnny Pneumatic]

Thanks. I don't really have any pain anymore. I'd rather live in an indifferent universe than one created by a being that doesn't even live up to the morality it expects us to. Its so neat...I can't stop thinking and spotting BS.:)

[MLynn]

Originally posted by bewareofdogmas
When I was about 12 came the OCD. What follows could fill books. Try to imagine being driven mad worrying(this word doesn't convey what its like) if I'm "saved", Ouija Boards, am I the anti-christ, pentagrams, witchcraft, Buddhas, idols, different "sins", hand washing to the point of being able to lather-up without soap(my hands looked like that dried cracked mud), germs etc. You know who Howard Hughes was don't you? I was like him. Look at me now. What a difference Luvox(tm), atheism/skepticism and a shrink makes!
Wow, what a journey for you! I became the misfit Xian I am in a totally different experience than you and therefore didn't have the crap flung at me like it was at you. My opinion:

* Ouija Boards - crap
* Anti-Christ - you're not!
* Pentagrams, witchcraft - crap
* Buddhas - don't know, no experience
* Hand washing - due to over-worry?

I'm glad you are better and feel free enough to share your story with others. I'm sure you're not alone here.

[Johnny Pneumatic]

Originally posted by MLynn
* Buddhas - don't know, no experience
* Hand washing - due to over-worry?

Well Buddhas are just art. The hand washing is a common OCD thing. Hughes probably had OCD. I wasn't quite to the point of wearing tissue boxes as shoes and never leaving my hotel room
but then again I'm not rich.

[Gestahl]

Originally posted by bewareofdogmas
I'm going to tell you my experiences with religion(Fundi Missionary Baptist).

Wow BoD... I am sorry you had such a bad experience... I had a similar one too. Not to steal your thunder, but for the sake of empathy rather, I was Bible Belt rural AL Southern Baptist, and all the doom and gloom and hellfire and brimstone led to clinical depression in my teens (there were other causes, but I could have dealt with them a different way had I not been in the religious mindset). In fact, I was convinced the world was so terrible I decided to go meet God head on and just commit suicide... no point in waiting and wasting time, right? Plus, my world was pretty crappy at the time. Fortunately, I was stopped by my parents with the shotgun to my chin. Rest of the story short, anti-depressants and distancing myself from church logic helped immensely (moving to Atlanta was the real turning point). It is always nice to hear that I am not alone in my thoughts (although I took mine to the extreme). We need to remind other's constantly of the bad side of religion in a personal sense, not just the globally bad historic (and recent) mass atrocities. That is the only way the truth about religion really hits home.

Note: Edited for grammar and clarity.

[Johnny Pneumatic]

Wow, you had a close call there! I was thinking of suicide but I don't think I'd have gone through with it(to scared).

[Gestahl]

Originally posted by bewareofdogmas
Wow, you had a close call there! I was thinking of suicide but I don't think I'd have gone through with it(to scared).

That's how "secure" is was in my faith, and my "prayers" led me to believe that is what I should do, when really all prayer is is self-delusional belief that God is talking to you, when you are really just working stuff out in your head.