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Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Astreja — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:42:16 -0000

Jesus Freak: "i dont have much to say except that God wants a relationship with you..."

Rather hard to have a relationship with an intangible, invisible being whose "voice" is indistinguishable from that of one's own imagination.

And I second the comments of Buffetphan -- Learn how to write coherently and it will serve you well in all areas of your life. If you aren't sure about the spelling of a word, take the time to look it up in a dictionary. If you don't know the proper way to structure and punctuate a sentence, borrow The Elements of Style from the library.

And read, read, read.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

PhilipKreyche — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:40:03 -0000

I'm surprised that most of the posts from these people aren't jokes.

Maybe it really is an elaborate conspiracy.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

buffettphan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:36:57 -0000

Jesus Freak,

Just wondering......Is English your second language? If it is, I don't want to be critical. But if English is your primary language, all I can say is "Here we go again..."

Education is a wonderful thing. Try it. Please learn how to form sentences and paragraphs. Punctuation and good spelling are our friends. Nobody expects perfection (especially on a blog), but a semblance of these skills helps us tremendously in communicating with one another.

buffettphan - who has decided that from now on, when a fundie posts an incoherent rambling such as this one from Jesus Freak, the first comment she will make will be this gentle reminder that education is a wonderful thing.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Jesus Freak — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:08:00 -0000

well brothers i hope and pray you dont fall into this forever. good points i dont have much to say except that God wants a relationship with you not anything else and remember that no matter what you believe didnt say you were bad or not a good person you just need the love og God in your life and the truth of his words. And i pray that you will stay a good and honest person but also i pray that you come to find
God again or learn to love him thats what he trully wants not three backflips and a handstand. also God answer prayers with three simple words yes, no, wait thats it not a flip and walla. theres plenty more i can say but God will prove his point. I love all of you and ill be prayin for you I AM A GANGSTA FOR CHRIST

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

charles — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:27:00 -0000

The “free will” defense as the answer to the problem of evil, but let’s look at “free will” for a second. The Christian God loves me so much that he gives me the opportunity to live blissfully forever in His presence, or be horribly tortured for all eternity in Hell. What kind of “free will” choice is that?

Amazing testimony and the above true also
'free will' is an armenist lie and heresy, you have no choice in the matter you are commanded to believe and repent, you are quite right to see that its untrue and does not make any sense

why believe that the earth is young just because the Bible says so - how about googling for young earth evidence see what you think.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

AtheistToothFairy — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:45:00 -0000

sheesha wrote:
My prayers are always answered, without fail
-----
sheesha,

Your style of praying sounds pretty darn 'reliable' to me, so it's no wonder you get answers.

Yes indeed, my prayers also get answered, every time; as long as I'm very careful what I pray for that is.

Here are some examples of prayers god always answers from me.

1. Please lord, make the sun in the sky come back to me tomorrow "morning" ;or thereabouts.

2. Please dear jesus, let the loud annoying buzzing of my morning alarm clock, wake me up for work; sometime before lunch preferably.

3. Please all-powerful god, show the world your glorious power by making thunder and lightning; somewhere on the planet earth tomorrow.

4. Please avenger god of the world, don't let all the oceans evaporate into an icy firmament; again.

And lastly.....

5.God, I'm begging really hard this time. Please stop all the knowledgeable fundies from knowing how to make those 'perfect' inarguable cases in favor of your divine existence; here on our EX-Xtian website.

Hey, 4 out of 5 ain't bad, right [grin]

ATF (Who is thinking of writing a book, on which prayers god is adept at answering, It's sure to be a best seller)

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

1 Sweet Rock — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:18:00 -0000

Chris,

This was a wonderful read, one of the best that I have seen here. You covered all the required bases, and then some.

This conversation is unique, in a sociological sense anyways; it offers up a wide array of dialogue to learn from, as in this parent denying his own child acceptance and grace on an exchristian blog with the atheist folks to play witness to.

Here it is in black and white.

I came here over 4 years ago seeking conversation and friendship with like minded folks, and what a difference these years have made for me.

I have always been a curious person by nature, and my parents told me I asked too many questions. I was fascinated with the Egyptian culture at age
10, but I was forced into the Christian cult by age 14, just to fit in with family and society.

My mom was anti-church and my dad hated preachers, but they both loved the Bible. So, naturally my grandparents had to step in to assure that my soul was properly saved.

Well, before I could ask why, I was shuffled into their mega palace of praise, placed in a blue wet suit, then guided into a big glass front tank of cold tap water, while everyone was singing and clapping for what appeared to be my drowning.

I kept asking myself why these people thought that I was so bad that I needed to be drowned, as original sin was such a foreign thing to me. Other than being born a girl and lying about my late homework, or my candy stash, I simply did not understand what I had done to warrant such a strange ritual! * LMAO at this now!

I have always loved to study history, and college helped to refine my personal views and broaden my thinking. That’s why the religious right hates all those e-vile secular universities. We are the living proof and positive result of open education and critical thinking, which of course is the antithesis of their blind faith.

I think people should be more aware of whom they are as individuals living as a part of the whole of humanity, but instead most people seem to be most interested in WHAT they are.

That said- it is always a good thing to be able to sit amongst friends who really know just how hard this journey has been, and to see that we have all managed to escape the mind trap of the Christian cult.

We know there is a better way to experience life. One that promotes self-awareness, responsibility, discovery, human dignity, and all of these will pay it forward by contributing to the common good.

We will do what gods can not.

That is what we honest folks do. We don't play pretend to please others, and we refuse to live our lives according to a cult book of confusion, that encourages everything from war and genocide, to slavery and sexism, and ends with a cosmic sized supremacy cult dictating the greatest act of torture ever conceived.

Chris said: "when the stakes are at their highest, the matter is urgent, and most importantly the consequences are something you can actually see, is your faith in man greater than your faith in God? Mine is." and "I have faith in mankind, because I trust my experiences"

My sentiments exactly!

Thanks for your eloquent words and your support here amongst those of us who have decided to rise up out of the ashes of hell fire cults and mindless obedience to an ever rotten core of theistic delusions.

No warrior gods to fear, and no more guilt for being born into a fanatical world. We have inherited the problems of religious tribal warfare for long enough. It is time for the citizens of this planet to look beyond their silly old superstitions and bizarre beliefs.

We grow and change to survive, as we've always done instinctually. Life flows on...

Welcome aboard Chris. You are now free to move about the universe.

Good night!

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Dave8 — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:55:00 -0000

Sheesha: "My prayers are always answered, without fail. The exact answer may not be what I want but I only get what I need before I realize that what I wanted wasn't that compelling to begin with."

Sheesha: "Quite blaming God for the way we screw up our own lives."

Sheesha, from your reasoning, the exact answer to your prayers, that you may not have wanted could look something like 911, and your screwed up life – that is, unless you prayed for 911 and your screwed up life. In either case, it seems you believe your prayers were answered by a God, and suffering and despair were the result.

Your God seems to be all over the suffering and despair thing; who’s running Hell these days?

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Dave8 — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:47:00 -0000

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Astreja — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:01:00 -0000

Sheesha: "My prayers are always answered, without fail. The exact answer may not be what I want but I only get what I need before I realize that what I wanted wasn't that compelling to begin with."

In other words, the "answers" that you received were "Yes/No/Wait", indistinguishable from chance.

"I asked for ridiculous things..."

If you know something is ridiculous, your unconscious mind will tend to go 'Yeah, right' and not play along with your plans.

Reasonable goals (within, or close to, one's current ability) do in fact tend to be fulfilled.

Putting aside the religious aspect, however, that was an interesting rant on North American consumer society.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Black Swede — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:15:00 -0000

Sheesha Said:

"Quite blaming God for the way we screw up our own lives."

Considering that there is no God I would agree with you. We are responsible for our own actions.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Enjjpt — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:48:00 -0000

Sheesha said:
"Unreasonable, silly, selfish and economically stupid.

If I am going to be stupid, I'd rather be economical about it than extravagant like some...Iw ould respond to your post, but it was too long and I couldn't be bothered to read it all.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

sheesha — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:16:00 -0000

ykmynYour post is a bit long and I'm not going to read it all the way down. I cant imaging going through a spiritual walk built on sand. My prayers are always answered, without fail. The exact answer may not be what I want but I only get what I need before I realize that what I wanted wasn't that compelling to begin with. I asked for ridiculous things and then wait for God to ride in on his rocket ship with da goods.

Isn't never gonna happen. Thank God. I don't want all that stuff. Me Me Me Me Me Me, All about me. Face it, whether you're atheist or believer' you can get caught up in me me me. But if you're disgusted with God, God takes the blame. 911 - all God's fault. He could have stopped it. Then you know what would have happened? the same people responsible would be attacking some other innocent group of human beings while us Americans sit back and continue to numb our questionable intellects by sitting in front of Idol or some other eqaully depraved, soulless dribble - while mothers continue to ignore and neglect their children, while fathers go out at night to be with their drainkin' buddies, and on and on. Yeah, God! Gimme what I ask for! But don't expect me to call out your name or even thank you for loving me! Isn't God's fault we've chosen to bleed our greedy souls out, not God's fault that we #need# to have so much oil and gold? Screw that. Take it down a notch or 50. Quit blaming God for you own problems, then maybe when you (we) realized we fuck up daily God can actually do something. Why should God do anything? he's not in control - you are. Yeah, God, heal my illness 'cause there's a really cool guy who won't look twice at me now that I'm in this wheelchair. God knows that dude won't marry me, and knows that dude is a lying scammer, so rather than bless my little toes off and give me the crackfather of my dreams, he whispers to me "hey, come this way, I have something better for you".

Quite blaming God for the way we screw up our own lives. Since when is God the hired help cleaning up our ugly vomit so we can sleep in clean sheets tonight and then go out tomorrow and soil them tomorrow night - we'd all need our 24/7 god following us around cleaning up our messes, are fuck ups, our sad little lives. Daddy help me! bail me out again so I can go serve myself. Sheesh. Now talk about illogical. Unreasonable, silly, selfish and economically stupid

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Dave8 — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:41:00 -0000

Chris, great post, it was an enjoyable read, thanks for that. Dave8

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Phant — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 16:25:00 -0000

Taylor's Post:
"The answers are an unequivocal no, but God knows my wretched weakness and would not put me through more than I can bear"

Yep, you are just like any other typical arrogant American Christian.

Taylor believes that "Nobody can touch "ME" because I am an "American Christian" and America is a nation under God." You hide behind our country's military and government Taylor. You are a coward.

Tell the same thing to these people who are christians who get tortured and beaten to death in these other countries. Who in the hell do you think you are Taylor? What makes you think that you would be immune to the same type of persecution that christians in other countries face? What makes you think you are so special?

As far as this statement from you: "God knows my wretched weakness and would not put me through more than I can bear"

If you actually believe that then all I can say is that you are going to have a very hard time in this world. I at one time believed exactly the same thing that you believed at one time. I believed that God would not put no more on me than I could bear, and he broke me mentally to the point of almost ruining my life, no thanks to my beliefs in God and idiot christians like you who continue to spread lies.

That is why I no longer subscribe to your faith and why I find no credibility with idiots like you.

I hope the day does come when arrogant christians like yourself are faced with horrible persecution and I hope you get brought down on your knees like I did, and you find out in reality there is "NO GOD". I hope you lose everything like I did because christians like you need to be brought down on your knees. You are the one who is arrogant.

You are pathetic Taylor. I now see people like yourself for the weak minded fools that you are.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

.:webmaster:. — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:59:00 -0000

For those who have been subjected to the multiple, spamming comments posted by our insane, resident Roman Catholic troll Marc, my apologies. I've enabled comment moderation to spare you the annoyance.

Isn't "True Christianity™" wonderful?

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Valerie Tarico — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:24:00 -0000

Hey Chris -

I'm in Seattle and would be glad to connect for coffee or simply by email if you're interested.

Valerie
vt at valerietarico dot com

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

.:webmaster:. — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:16:00 -0000

Marc, you're in desperate need of counseling. Please get some.

When you do, you're posts will be tolerated. Until then, you're just a troll here. G'bye again.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

leotracks — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:01:00 -0000

For a long time I have asserted that one of xianities appeals it that it absolves one from responsibility. Dickweed has demonstrated another; absolution from any sense of compassion or empathy. If a child dies tragically, it's not big deal, they are now in fantasy land. If these heartless bible-thumpers actually believe this shit, why don't they all stand in front of approaching trains to prove their devotion to little jeesie and get there faster?

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

AtheistToothFairy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 14:14:00 -0000

Enjjpt said...
Watching 'god's' grace and blessing as she slowly died was a sight to behold. Praise "god" she got to live to see her 5th birthday then die.
----
Enjjpt,

I'm so so sorry for your loss of such an innocent child in your family.
It is truly beyond my comprehension how ANY god worth it's salt could allow an innocent child to suffer so painfully for an entire year, only to cut it's life so terribly short in the end.

I've asked this question to our xtian readers before and I never get a logical answer, that question being what purpose does it serve for god to create a human life, only to allow it to live a few short years and possibly die a painful/horrid death.
What great knowledge/experience would such a child have gained by spending so few years on this earth, that would benefit her (or others) once she floats up to god's heaven?

Now to Taylor,

While your latest comments about this child have been erased by the WM, I did see them regardless.

I would like to tell you that your are one sick twisted individual to make the remarks you did about this child's needless suffering and subsequent death.

I won't give you the satisfaction of repeating what you said here, but if your god was real he would never put any innocent child through a pain and suffering that greatly EXCEEDED anything your precious jebus ever experienced in his own fictitious death march.

You sir, need some very serious mental therapy!!!
Alas, you can't comprehend this need for therapy yourself, because you think you are the normal one in human society....NOT

Do you surround yourself with many other mentally ill people?
Perhaps that is why you have no normal people in your real life to compare yourself to, in order to see how screwed up your evil mind truly is.

ATF (Who is convinced the devil is real (today), but his flock is made up of mind-twisted mentally ill xtians, like Taylor here)

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

.:webmaster:. — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:40:00 -0000

BTW Marc, Unblinded, Passerby, Taylor and all the other silly pseudonyms you've posted under: CATHOLICS ARE NOT CHRISTIANS!!!

You need to get SAVED, boy! You need to be filled with Gawd, instead of that demonic Mary-worshiping cult! Repent and obey the true gospel! You're on your way to hell, kiddo!

HALLELUJAH!

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

.:webmaster:. — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:34:00 -0000

Taylor is our resident Roman Catholic troll named Marc. I have requested that he cease preaching here more than 50 times. He refuses to respect that request, because, quite frankly, he's without honor.

Goodbye Taylor. Your posts as Taylor will no longer appear.

What a loon.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Enjjpt — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:05:00 -0000

Taylor said,

ATF,
We are all immersed in God's graces. When you were thirsty, did you enjoy that glass of water. His gift to you. When you were hungry and savored that meal you made, did you thank Him? Why, because in having food you are a recipient of His graces. Your every breath is a gift from God.

When my wife's 4 year old cousin was suffering painfully from non-hodgkin's lymphoma, was she drinking in "god's graces" Watching an innocent 4 year old girl suffer in pain like that is proof that your "God" does not answer prayers. There were thousands of people praying for her, there are 4 ministers in our family and the prayer chains were miles long. Watching 'god's' grace and blessing as she slowly died was a sight to behold. Praise "god" she got to live to see her 5th birthday then die.

Taylor, are you thankful to 'god' that she died a miseradle death? Christ suffered for a day. She suffered for a year in incredible pain.

If Christ died to take away her sins so that she would not perish, but have everlasting life, why did she die? If sin causes death, but faith in Christ makes one sinless before "God", why do Christins still die?

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

Belconar — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:47:00 -0000

Taylor said:

We are all immersed in God's graces. When you were thirsty, did you enjoy that glass of water. His gift to you. When you were hungry and savored that meal you made, did you thank Him? Why, because in having food you are a recipient of His graces. Your every breath is a gift from God.

Logically, this would mean that the minute we turned our backs on God, we have taken our last breath/our last drink. This did not happen - you can take my word for it.

Logically, this would also mean that no Christian has ever died of thirst or asphyxation - no, sorry, also not true.

Perhaps then God shares his graces with everyone, regardless of their belief in him? Unlikely - I assume you read your Bible on a regular basis, so I do not need to throw scripture at you to demonstrate this point.

You seem to find God in everything around you. While I recognise that this quality is praised in some Christian sects, ex-believers would rather look at the 'gift' (like air, water and life) itself and try and find out where it really came from, rather than say "Goddidit".

You are not willing to do this - you are not willing to look further than the Goddidit explanation. This makes you extremely presumptuous, trying to peddle your version of ultimate truth on this site of all sites.

But, I guess that is what makes you an evangelical Christian.

Re: If I could still believe, I would - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

.:webmaster:. — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:06:00 -0000

Oh, and Taylor. Mary, if she ever existed, is dead. And, she's never magically appeared to anyone for any reason.

Roman Catholicism is a twisted perversion of Christianity, and Christianity is nothing but myth and legend.

GOOD DAY!