Excerpt from:
“Things I Never Learned in Sunday School”
PREFACE
[…]
I can’t pinpoint the exact moment when I started to feel different about my Christian experience; it was a very gradual process. One of the first things I recall is asking myself how following the strict rules and regulations of the church would help me draw closer to God. I also began to wonder why there was so much emphasis on sin and guilt instead of God’s love.
Then I began noticing the judgmental attitude exhibited by some of the more “respected” members of the congregation. This probably disturbed me more than anything. Didn’t Jesus say not to judge? And didn’t the Bible say that God looks on the heart?
As time passed, I began to reflect upon other things: Is Jesus truly the only way to God? How can we be sure the Bible is “God’s Word”? Is there really a “hell”? Where did the idea of Satan come from? If God is omnipresent, why are we taught that He lives somewhere “up there”? And why is God always referred to as a male?
Occasionally, I would turn to church leaders for answers, but invariably, all they would do is quote scripture or tell me to “pray about it.” In other words, as Celsus [2nd Century Greek Philosopher/Writer] wrote, “Do not ask questions; just believe.”
This wasn’t enough. I wanted to know the whys and wherefores behind the beliefs I had faithfully lived by for so many years.
[…]
Tagged: bible, Christianity, church leaders, God, satan
Things I Never Learned in Sunday School 
I stand and applaud you Nan. Welcome. Welcome to the growing numbers of recovering Xians, Humanists, Agnostics, and Athiests! 🙂
One thing I do like to mention to those who are like-minded and waking out of the mythical dream… is to not become spiteful or dehumanizing to those who are still afraid to step-out, step-away. Myself, like you, was once one of those people emotionally attached to the false sense of security by sheer nearby numbers. Those ‘group feelings’ can be quite reassuring, but in the end… one can find that human need Universally.
All the “miraculous” events (i.e. paranormal or metaphysical) Xianity claims for themselves after Salvation or conversion, is in reality a very common feeling world-wide by every possible group or person imaginable! In one simple swoop, John 14:6 is one of the BIGGEST pile of invented cow-dumpings 2nd century CE men in the Levant ever wrote and taught! 😉
Interconnection is simply achieved by being one with this incredible, fragile, daunting Earth, along with all of its inhabitants, especially other humans. Period. ❤
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