You were never a "real" Christian
It's the phrase I hear unendingly from complete strangers still mind sucked deep in their cult of lies. I'd like to set the record straight...
I grew up Anglican, blah. Even I don't consider that true Christianity. Anglicans were what we referred to as "Luke warm Christians" when of my own free, teenage will I joined the Living Word ministries at the age of 14. Outsiders referred to us as "happy clappy"; a label we didn't mind at all. We would sing and dance, do cartwheels and summersaults, wave banners in praise and worship for hours before the sermon every Sunday.
Our Friday night youth group was called Frontline; a reference to where we were willing to stand as Jesus' army in the final battle. Then there was home cell every Tuesday. Our church was our home and the congregation our family. To this day, I will admit, that I have not experienced happiness as profoundly as I did then. I knew where I belonged, and I knew where I was going.
I had the Holy Spirit inside me, Jesus surrounding me, and my God the Father above me; all guiding me; all loving me; all hearing every thought I had. I never felt alone, even through the darkest moments of my life, I believed I was carried. I walked behind the cross every step of my journey, and I feared no temptation, no evil, no potential circumstance because every detail of my life was foreseen by my creator and all I needed to do was trust him.
I fucking loved my Jesus.
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Is there more? I'm waiting for the punchline.
Yeah Brenda you kind of left us wondering what happened next. Please do share by all means. It's always interesting to hear what makes people wake up and realize the lies.
LOL I think everyone feels like they only heard half the story.
I read the line to this thread and immediately connected with it! It made me think of all the times I explained to a Christian why I lost interest in the Lord and why I wasn't fond of going to Christian gatherings and would quickly receive the response, "You were part of religion, not God." I get that line all the time from typical Christians.
Is there such a thing as a real christian that obeys all commandments and rules of his church? I think not.
i dont think so either. Most religious people follow gods rules as long as they dont apply to them.
A lie is a lie no matter how much bliss it might bring you. It is the sign of a weak mind to seek blissful ignorance when the truth is so apparent.
Honestly till this day I don get why people need other people approval or undertanding of their choices is actually pointless. Specially when it comes to faith or the lack of it.
...and? Why is this on an atheist forum
This is perfectly relevant to atheists.
This is one of the more irritating habits of the faithful, making declarations about what it means to be Christian or atheist. Pure judgmental intolerance, often leavened with ignorance because they often don't know atheism -- or even Christian doctrine -- as well as they think they do. And they forget that most atheists originally came from some religious community, and have spent a lot more time thinking about what they believe, than people who simply got their faith at their mother's knee.
I'm a little confused honestly, I feel like this is a cliffhanger, hopefully she comments with something... :)
"I fucking loved my Jesus", that's in the past tense. Sounds like a catchy kick for a new-age industrial jazz song.
Yep, Sounds like an admission of what no longer is.
"You were never a "real" Christian"
Yea but the truth of the matter is, that a true LIVING Christian does not exist.
Ask them to name a single true LIVING Christian in existence?
I see no christian giving EVERYTHING he has to the poor and still live and not die of hunger.
I see no christian loving his enemy like himself and invite a Taliban to rape his wife and live in his home.
I see no christian celebrating with joy after seeing the death of a loved one. They finally are gonna meet god.
Whoever says that he is a true Christian he is a hypocrite and doesn't really understand what being a christian is.
There is only shame to call yourself a christian especially when you realize that the only reason that the christian religion survived is because it killed anybody that dared to criticize it in its early stages. (credit goes to the Fascist Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church)
I would rather have never been a real Christian. I would be far less embarrassed by that than I am the truth.
Hi Brenda, thanks for sharing your story and I'm sorry about the negative people here who are being critical. Clearly you are looking to regain that sense of joy and community you felt when with your church.
I think you need to dissect what it was that you enjoyed about being a Christian, and find a way to bring that into your secular life. I would recommend you look into groups that practice similar activities, perhaps you could join a choir or get involved with your local sport team.
I would also recommend you look into a movement called "Unitarian Universalism", it is a kind of rationalist religious movement that is open to atheists and maintains some of the Church-like activities.
Finally, take time to enjoy your imagination, atheism should not kill a persons imagination of hells and heavens and other spiritual folklore that exists within you, like a good movie, you should be able to suspend your disbelief when you need to, and snap back into reality when it is time.
Atheism is not the end of your spiritual journey, it is the beginning, and the foundation for critical investigation of what it means to be alive.
I have heard comments similar to this about people who left the church. They must not have really believed or they would not have left god. The comment removes the accountability of the church causing the person leave. Why would anyone want to leave, we all love each other (I hope you hear the sarcasm).
It also avoid a sticky theology problems for some. This gets into the eternal security of the believer that some have. If god saved them, how could they leave him unless god couldn’t hold on.
It is just the "no true Scotsman" taken to the next level.
I sure can relate. I was born in Brazil within a traditional Italian famiglia, and we were all Catholics, obviously. It all made perfect sense to me until I reached adolescence, then... I started asking questions that had no logical answer. After much thought and reading, and putting 1 and 1 together, I realized it was all lies.
When I discuss the subject with someone theses days and describe how I got out of it, they say I was never a real christian. But hey, are they? Actually, I never met a real christian in my whole life. It's merely a title you carry and it doesn't translate into your practical life.
Hypocrisy is the name of it.
I'm confused. So are you a christian turned atheist or still a christian? What is your point exactly?