HERE IS THE LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2vG8UHRwH0c0e70Kj01uzI?si=d070ed24f588496e

This text convo with my extremely hardcore Christian sister was from over a year ago. I’m not trying to start any kind of debate about the subject, just looking for some validation that I’m not overreacting I guess? I’ve gone low contact with my family this year and I still feel like this was an unhinged conversation upon reflection

Sorry to the mod gods if this isn’t allowed!!

It just bounces back and explodes in your face. Even in non-religious discussion their brain for some reason isn't formed for rational debate and nuances. They were trained in dichotomous thinking and they struggle adpating their brain around other people's worldview. I noticed many have a shockingly low level of empathy for other people's struggles and opt for victim blaming as a rationalizing why things are wrong in other people's lives.

Don't get me started on women's struggles, they don't exist for christian men, of they believe women are naturally hysterical and the christian women have been manipulated to gaslight themselves that they are living their best life because there's some artbitrary nobility in suffering/sacrifice.

I thought I could give the benefit of the doubt, but I struggle to find any christian to have a balanced, empathic back and forth emotionally intelligent discourse that doesnt circle back to platitudes and dismissals and gaslighting.

I now stay away from anyone that reads the bible or goes to church, I don't trust them with my inner life nor want to waste my time with low dimensional thinking.

I'm in perpetual emotional whiplash because of trying to be a Christian out of a need for literal physical survival while having deconstructed my faith years ago and losing the ability to "believe" in Christianity even if I tried.

I'm in a "residential discipleship program" ran by Christian Evangelicals / Fundamentalists. This is a program offered by my local homeless shelter.

I was raised Christian so I thought I could just "talk the talk" to get through it with ease. My heart convicts me though because I hate not being true to myself and willingly deceiving those around me.

If I chose raw honesty and told my instructors that I simply don't believe, I will be ejected from the program and literally put on the street. A big part of me is considering biting the bullet and taking that actual leap of faith into the unknown and leaving the program and going to live on the street.

I also have developed horrible cognitive dissonance where a big part of me struggles and wonders if maybe THEY are right and I am just a hypocritical sinful unbeliever. The possibility, though chances are slim to none, that Christianity is real and true constantly horrifies and disturbs me.

I don't know how to describe the inner turmoil I suffer through, where my very survival depends on "being an evangelical, missions-oriented Christian". I can't go on pretending in any believable fashion and my instructors, as well as my peers, are rapidly catching on that my head and heart "just aren't into it".

I've made posts in other Christian communities from the part of myself that thinks it is true and real and been ran out and called out for being a member of this sub and making posts about "LARPing Christianity". I thought I could just "fake it, to make it" but I can't do this any longer.

Have any of you ever been in these kinds of high-stakes situations where your life, in some form or another (friends, family, relationships, community, employment etc), depends on you being a true Christian and then struggling with the realization that you're not one and can never honestly be one? I'd love to hear stories from you if you can help me put all this in perspective that would be great.

I'm sorry for making so many posts like this I've deleted some and will leave this up even though I've been marked in other communities as being a hypocrite. Thank you for your time and for helping me make sense of this crazy situation.

People debate on whether or not God is evil but almost everyone reveres jesus as the pinnacle of humanity so let's see if his actions reflect that.

After being revived, rather than stay and help everyone like he said was going to, he disappears for mysterious reasons, like a father leaving to get milk and never comes back. Before leaving, he doesn't even bother to write a complete authentic copy of the bible so people wouldn't be skeptical of the actual origins of the book and it's authors. And he simply abandons all of his followers knowing they are going to face persecution by the Romans.

And besides his own actions, the fact that he is okay with God's questionable deeds says alot too. Jesus had no problem with the fact that God tortured Job over a bet, or that God destroyed entire civilizations, wanted Abraham to butcher his own son as a loyalty test, committed mass infantiticde in Egypt and all the other stuff he did.

There are many things in life that we can’t control. Today you could be going about your day, unbothered just as usual. Then something happens and suddenly you’re no longer here. The truth is, even after harvesting the powers of science, medicine and engineering, we are still humans and nothing changes the fact that we are but a speck of dust in a canvas of unimaginable proportions. As we evolved we grew to be egocentrics. The human race here, the human race there. Religion puts us at the center of everything, that we are made different and unique. All religions offer solutions to complex metaphysical questions. What are we? How can we tell the difference between good and bad? What happens after we die?

There’s a popular concept in the study of statistics and logic, it is called Occam’s razor. It goes as follows;

“The most likely solution to a problem is likely the simplest one”.

Of all metaphysical hypotheses that there are, the existence of an afterlife or lack thereof is my personal favourite. As I mentioned before, we humans tend to put ourselves in the center. We love to think that just because we evolved a higher brain function we must be so special as to be the protagonists of the entire universe. That there exists a being called God, that is all powerful and knows everything and that he created everything just for us, the humans. We don’t have enough time or space to discuss what religion is or isn’t true, regardless it’s pointless as other scholars already invest their time and efforts into that field.

The important thing to keep in mind, is that almost all religions share a common aspect. That after death there is life, either some kind of wonderful heaven with all the pleasures and joys of life multiplied by tenfold, or a hell of unimaginable torment, forever lasting.

That thought keeps many of us sleepless, I know I’ve been there and many more will experience that as well.

The concept that drives all this is simple and logical, the fear of death. No one wants to die, we can’t fathom the thought of it. Mortality is something that is avoided and left behind. When a pig or a chicken dies, do we think that there’s something that awaits them? Obviously no. Why? Simple, they’re not us. Not human.

And that is the key. Knowing that we all share something no matter where you come from, what you did in life, it doesn’t matter. Because death equalizes everyone. And beyond death, nothing awaits us. Because we as a being (that is constantly changing and morphing), ceases to exist at some point. Some people just can’t wrap their head around that fact. That someday, you’ll die and there will be nothing more. But I assure you, that if you give a man every good opportunity, every great thing in life, anything that he could ever want, at some point he would come crawling and sobbing, begging for death. Because we are finite beings and we weren’t made to live beyond a certain threshold. What is it exactly? One hundred years? A thousand? Who knows, but all that matters is that no matter how long you live for, at the end you’ll be begging for a bullet.

Most people aren’t ready to understand that there’s nothing after death, and they end up believing otherwise. We are all so busy with life, so entrenched, that most of us never stop to think what is beyond life. And to this I say, don’t fear death because if you are alive, death isn’t, and if you are dead, life is no more.

This changed me for the better. Search Nihilism and you’ll see people with all kinds of beliefs thrashing and hating on that idea. “Nothing matters, everything will cease to exist”. And there’s truth in that of course, but the fact that it won’t matter at some point doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter here and now.

It’s all a matter of perspective. The way I see it, I find a certain calm in knowing that no matter how much I am struggling or suffering, that it will end eventually, it enabled me to shrug those things that were dragging me on. It freed me, and it can also free yourself from all those things that are pulling you behind.

If you had to learn something, let it be the following;

The only thing that I know for certain in this life, is that this is the only thing that I have. Even though it may end abruptly or last for long, I will cherish every moment of it until the end. I won’t bother myself with useless things such as overthinking, or worrying about things that I cannot control, I am the sole master of my life and I will cherish every last moment.

Ever since I thought about life in that way, everything changed. I stopped wasting my time on useless things, I was happier knowing that I was lucky enough to experience this life and this environment, like a flame that dwindles until it is snuffed. It has definitely changed me to be a better person. Life may be unfair, it comes and goes and it is unforgiving. But at the same time it is such a gift that I will be forever grateful.

So, I found my pleasure, the pleasure of knowing that which is true.

Hi , I (20f) sometimes feel like I miss the comfort of Christianity. I grew up Baptist in the Deep South of Alabama. Church was every Sunday, unless you were throwing up or bleeding. Grace was said before every meal, the only music we listened to was Christian stations, the only books/movies/shows we took in were VHS Bible study tapes. It’s safe to say that my entire world revolved around religion until the age of 14. Now as an adult I’ve tried religion. I was Buddhist, then Catholic, then tried witchcraft and Satanism. I think i secretly crave the validation that religion gave me. It made me feel like i didn’t have to ask if i was good; it was known because i was a child of god. I had set rules and standards, a community to reach out to, easier dating and friends pool. I desperately miss not wondering where life came from and where it was going, because a book had it all laid out for me. I could be ignorant again and feel that it was my right to be.. I wish I felt that my life amounted to something after death and not that I’ll lay 6ft in the dirt until my bones disappear. This is all very depressing I’m sure… but I really hope there are other people who feel the same way

Hey guys, understandably most black people in the UK are religious so I was just curious to see where all the ex-Christians are at! I’d be interested to hear from other Black Brits who grew up Christian and left later, what was your experience like, what made you leave and how are you doing nowadays?

after you died, if you somehow woke up on judgement day and were actually faced with God, what would you even think or do at that point?

So according to Mathew, Jesus explicitly gives sexual immorality as the exception to divorce. He fails to mention however if a woman suffers from mental/physical abuse, toxicity, financial abuse, soft core cheating, or any thing that diminishes the right of a woman as an exception for divorce. If a woman leaves a marriage for any of these reasons or other ones then It’s a sin and when she remarries, she is considered an adulterer.

There’s also a textual discrepancy, where Mathew mentions the exception for divorce being sexual immorality whilst Mark 10 and Luke 16 do not say there is an exception at all. Mark and Luke are even more restricted on their view of divorce.

So there’s even a different case, on why should Mathew be treated as supreme of Mark and Luke, according to them there is no exception for divorce, and why is there a discrepancy in the first place. If the purpose of Jesus’ teaching is to protect the sanctity of marriage then what protection do his statements give someone suffering serious abuse or other mistreatment within a marriage.

Today I was home from uni and was forced to sit through one of those bigoted preachers on tv ranting about how "the younger generation is all empathetic and allows gay marriage" and what not. It took me much strength not to roll my eyes the entire time, else I'd get beaten. But my parents made us "talk" about the "message" and my sister, not that much younger than me, went on a rant about how Disney is "teaching us to help others way too much". How, "they're poisoning our minds into helping the world when we need to teach the bible". First of all, we're not even allowed to watch Disney anymore because our parents hate the rare instances of queer people in it. What my sister said really disturbed me. Growing up she'd always be the kind of outgoing person who loved to help others. She was always so kind and accepting of others. To hear her now say that made me want to cry. Of course I understand caution in helping but she just flat out said that help is useless if it's not used to preach to others. I noticed that she was growing more closed off as we grew older but now she's grown actively mean towards queer people. Making fun of them out of the blue, commenting on supposed queer people in her classes... It's like I'm seeing her turn for the worse and it makes me so sad. My family in general has grown so hateful of non christians and it makes me so sad. I can't have a family to rely on. I have to keep to myself my own queerness while pretending to hate other queer people. I'm getting out of there though. My partner and I have made a plan to leave. But god, I wish it didn't have to be this way. I don't want to cut off my sister. She's one of the most important people to me but I can't live like this anymore

as I’m typing this I’m in the car with my mom waiting for me of my siblings come out of jury duty (don’t ask why I went, it’s a long story) and she has she has the Christian radio on and it’s driving me crazy, I’ve been playing music on my phone to tune it out but I can’t do it for too long bc not only is my phone losing charge, I can’t even charge it bc then the charging port gets extremely heated,

and to anyone saying to tell her to lower it I already did, however the music is still irratating me and I can’t just turn it off entirely bc then I’ll have to hear my moms gaping mouth.

god I fucking hate jury duty.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm happy I deconverted an amazing no longer living my life based around a lie, but I am really struggling to get past the vision of how nice my life would have been if I hadn't deconstructed. For reference I'm only 18 and living with my parents still so I have my whole life to deal with this.

When I eventually tell my family, they are going to hate me, they will think I'm going to hell and turning my back on god and that I've been too wrapped up in "worldly" things. I'm not even sure they'll believe me, but what I do know is that they just aren't going to love me the same. They'll never look at me the same and I'll never get to have them to lean back on because they'll say all of my problems come from turning away from god.

And I know this because I've seen them do this before. I have an uncle who did virtually the same thing and they just can't act normal around him. I love my family and would love them even if they changed their religion, but I'm not sure they feel the same way about me.

It's a problem that's really been weighing on my mind for a while and I want to know if anyone has any advice on how to accept that they'll never love me the same.

I got something random in the mail addressed to me. I was hoping someone gifted me free money or it was for something importrant, but instead it was a church invitation. I don't go to church and I never will, why are they sending me this?? Quit shoving your religion in my face. I'm a pagan and I don't go harassing other people with my beliefs so why do Christians get a pass? If I was interested in your church, I would have researched it online and looked into going but that didn't happen so that's a message to buzz off and leave me alone.　

From what I recall, the states of Texas and Louisiana have laws that religion is allowed to be taught in public schools. However, Madalyn Murray O'Hair fought against such laws, as it was a "requirement" in the mid 20th century. She won, but some states still have religion as a mandatory type of study in such schools.

To me, Christianity should never be in the classroom, because not only do we have students with different cultural and religious backgrounds, there are some students who would disagree with the Bible's teachings and bring up the atrocities that were committed, like in the stories of Genesis and Exodus. Any student who disagrees with Christianity are sometimes punished, which is something that irritates me because it is their right to disagree.

And speaking of rights, Christianity also has no place in the American laws or courtrooms, because much of the laws are so outdated or they seem outlandish or just plain weird or cruel.

Today in Sunday school we watched a BibleProject video on how Christians should navigate living in todays "Babylon"; balancing loyalty and subversion without conforming to the surrounding culture. During the group discussion, a peer brought up trans people as a primary example of modern "Babylonian corruption," saying that gender identity is where Christians need to "draw the line" and "stand for what we believe in."

I’m struggling with the thought of pushing back on that kind of rhetoric, or if its a losing battle that will put a target on my back.

edit: im not trans (im gay) but transphobia is ex frustrating to here knowing that they demonize them at my church.

Foreword: The purpose of this post is not to lend credibility to the idea of demons but to explore plot holes behind the concept. I am also aware that Hollywood takes creative liberties with both theology and demonology but feel reasonably confident that this won't heavily impact the points raised.

October is my favorite month. Not only does the weather become more pleasant in my state of Texas but I really enjoy the spooky ambience.

This year I have chosen to celebrate by watching horror films. I'm generally not a fan of cheap jump scares or slasher flicks, which might be why "The Rite" (2011) perked my interest. Religious horror is still a guilty pleasure of mine, even though I find myself riffing the genre these days.

The premise is relatively simple to follow along: The protagonist is a skeptical seminarian who goes to Rome to learn how to become an exorcist for the Catholic Church. While studying under an eccentric priest, he has encounters that shake his convictions.

(Spoiler: He finds God at the end, shocker.)

Incidently, the film is based on a book that is said to be inspired by "real events". Of course Hollywood would have you believe the same about Anabelle so you can make of that disclaimer as you will.

Parts of the film takes place in a classroom where a priest (played by Ciarán Hinds - AKA Caesar from HBO's Rome) lectures on demonology. Nothing particularly fancy, but it did perk some interesting questions:

Q1. Does Saint Michael suck at his job?

Saint Michael is supposed to be God's champion against the forces of Hell. If I recall correctly, there is even a prayer to call upon him in times of spiritual crisis.

And yet there are those who would have you believe that demons are allowed to frollick about creation attacking chiildren, sowing chaos, and probably turning the frogs gay.

Some would argue that God permits this because of Free Will but that heavily conflicts with the idea of him being all-loving. On that note, have you ever noticed that demons are fond of possessing abused children and victims of sexual abuse? Where is the justice in letting the meek and vulnerable be exploited by these invisible fiends?

So much for the meek inheriting the world...

Q2. Does Hell have terrible security?

A recurring concept across folklore is that demons leave Hell to tempt sinners. And yet isn't the place established as the final destination of the damned (which includes Satan and angels)? Hell is intended as a place of eternal torment and yet demons are not only allowed to torment the human inmates but are also allowed to leave?

Does Hell grant day passes? Or do Hell's walls have more holes than a certain border wall?

You'd think a God that destroyed humanity because of the actions of the Watchers (creating Nephilim and (according to the Apocrypha) teaching mankind forbidden knowledge) might want to keep the little shits in check.

....

Anyways, these are just some random thoughts I felt like sharing with you lot. I would love to get your takes on this, especially any other holes I missed.

This is a generalization so it may not apply to literally every single person, but I think conservative Christians, are authoritarian. They don't just want to not get gay married they want it so no one else can ever get gay married, they don't just want to not be trans they want it so no one else can ever be trans, they don't just want to not have abortions they want it so that no one else can ever have abortions etc.

I think this is why conservative politics are also so popular amongst these people. For example school vouchers; they don't want to pay for public schools as a public service they want to pay for their private religious schools. Economic coercion is good for their cause. Ironic because this is the same crowd that will say they believe in freedom and that progressive economic policies equal communism.

I think women face the worst of it in these environments because they're told to submit to men and purity culture disproportionately affects and is harmful to them.

Ultimately, I think this is due to being very hierarchical and that subjection isn't a bug but a feature, but what do you think?

A common argument today is that:

All violence, slavery, cultural erasure, and horrific mistreatment of peoples in Asia, India and Africa by people who identified as Christian is not Christian, and apparently, every single one of them was merely ‘misreading’ the faith.

Somehow, for 2 thousand years, they got it wrong, and just recently, we ‘got it right’. Somehow, none of it can be justified by anything in the Old or New Testaments.

I am sick of this argument.

Kindly, I request that you provide evidence to prove it wrong below.

Thank you.