For those who used to be Christians...?

Question

What intolerance and ignorance did Christianity create in you?
For me, I used to think:
1. Witchcraft was all evil and ment to harm you.
2. Homosexuality was evil and needed to be banned.
3. Muslims were all killers and enemies of Christians.
4. Did not matter how good you were or what religion you were in, if you were not a Christian you would go to hell.
5. Atheists were ignorant.
6. Wiccans and Pagans were of the Devil.
7. Satanists actually worshiped Satan (not true at all)
8. If I ever thought any different I might lose my faith and go to hell.
9. Christianity was having its right taken away. (e.i No prayer in PUBLIC school, in God we trust and all that crap)
10. Evil this. Evil that. Evil evil evil!!!

I got sick of it & started questioning everything. I became a somewhat tolerant Christian but still believed the Bible & its hatred toward certin things & people. It was not until I found Paganism(actually it found me. long story)that I began to see how wrong this was.

Answer 1

First, welcome and well met. Christianity creates intolerance, ignorance, hostility and fear in each and every one of it's members. They fear life almost as much as they fear death...therefore to numb this fear they must point any and all fingers that they can at everyone else to make themselves feel better about their choice. Indoctrination into xtianity not only keeps ppl on the "straight and narrow"(in line), but it also is a big machine that is very effective at churning out compliant worker drones. People that are afraid are easy to control. If you are taught to see evil in everything around, that is exactly what you will get. Thoughts are things! Even the bible states: "As a man thinks...so is he". Xtianity scars everything it touches. The craziest part is that xtianity is nothing more than an ancient pagan religion.....re-written and taken literally instead of as "myth" or "archtype". (If you want to see my research that backs that up...drop me a note.)

I was taught all of the same things as you were...I eventually found my way out of the mind-tripping maze too. I realized that not only were things not evil...but that they were beautiful.

Answer 2

Fortunately I was done with Christianity very early, too early to be taught those intolerances. When I was 5, my baby sister was born in a remarkable set of circumstances and she not only lived but was perfect. I was so happy and then when she was less than a week old, my parents planned her baptism. I asked the preacher why she had to be baptised and he told me that it was because she was born in sin and had to be cleansed. I loved my baby sister so much and thought that she was nothing short of a miracle and Christianity and I were done. I started listening and couldn't stomach what I heard. It was just plain stupid, I was nearly twenty before I learned that there were actual pagans in the world besides me. I had just studied and practiced by myself and assumed I was all alone. I faced a lot of intolerance and was treated horribly. I was a small child and had no one who could give me guidance or even understanding. If a religion can't find a way to show understanding to a small child, there is nothing redeeming about it.

Answer 3

I grew up with a deep belief in God. I had read the entire Bible by age ten. I considered myself a Christian only because if you believed in God, it seemed that Christianity was the only option. I didn't even know there were other religions until I was a teen, and it wasn't until college that I began to explore them.

In college I decided to choose a religion once and for all, by first determining my personal beliefs. Christianity was the first religion I rejected, for all of the reasons you list above. Even the nicest, most pleasant Xtian denominations still believe in some of what you wrote, and even if they say they don't, their holy book says otherwise.

Worst of all is that the whole religion (and all book-based faiths) are based on fear. No matter how much they talk about love, it's a fear-based faith as long as the threat of punishment hangs over your head. It's great if you feel the love of Jesus, but no matter how much love he send you the fact remains that if you screw up you're going to burn.

I felt betrayed, and then incredulous, when I learned how many errors and inconsistencies there are in the Bible. Logic tells us that the only way to get rid of these is to "interpret" them differently. And the only way to interpret is through personal gnosis. And every gnosis is different. And I realized then that the only true spiritual path IS personal gnosis, whether it be Christian or Muslim or Pagan. The religion gives you the framework, but the gnosis gives you the faith. Give yourself the right framework, the one that fits you best, and everything else falls into place.

So I did, and now I'm Wiccan. So blessed be.

Answer 4

None of those things really. But one day I got to thinking and I asked myself, "Well, there are hundreds of different religions in this world. Who am I to say that mine's the right one? I'm sure the other guys are just as convinced as I am that theirs is the right one. So which one is right?" Then my mind expanded outside of Christianity and I came to realize there was no such thing as a "right" religion, so I became an Agnostic, still believing in a higher power, but not belonging to a specific path.

Then I found Paganism, and I've never been happier.

Blessed Be.

Answer 5

I'm sorry that this has been your experience with Christianity. During the past 10 years I have been a Christian I certainly experienced some of the things you mentioned and totally understand where you're coming from although you need to forgive those and move on as you sound bitter.

I am still a Christian in that I still believe in God but have quit attending church and am searching out some unanswered questions I have. I respect all beliefs and although Christianity is right for me I never push it on anybody else or condemn them for their beliefs. I think we're all just trying our best to get through life and need each other. Don't judge Christianity for what a few have done to you. Peace :-)

Answer 6

Even as a child I was very confused by prejudice and intolerance, I remember thinking "That's stupid" or " That doesn't make sense" When people said things like other religions would send people to hell or any kind of racist remarks. .

I didn't reject Christianity as a religion until I was in my 30's, but those seeds of disbelief were planted early.

Answer 7

Just because His followers are crazy and use Him to justify their prejudice and anti-Christian behavior, doesn't mean you should abandon Jesus...

I kind of had a similar experience, I became a christian as a teenager, though, so I didn't have time to be indoctrinated the way some people would have liked... but they tried... it was really hard for me to reconcile this feeling of being sure there was a God and being sure that these people were effectivly, bigots.

But, now, I'm older and I've adopted a more lenient and liberal view of my faith. I consider myself a Christian because I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and all that good stuff, but I value other religions and believe that there is a different approach to spirituallity for everyone...

Answer 8

Actually all of those. It took me a long time to realize it though... over 20 years. Christianity has some nice core concepts, such as the Golden Rule. But IMHO... if the Abrahamic God was too busy to stop the huge tsunami and Katrina, then does he really have time to worry about the personal lives of adults? Don't think so!

Answer 9

you had a verryyy distorted view of what your Christian walk was.
the only thing that should be on that list, considering it is the whole basis of Christianity, is that Jesus died for our sins, and that he was your personal savior.

all of the things listed are very political, and mainly out of context.

many of the things I dont believe myself- Muslims were killers of Christians? I dont believe that. That is solely a political comment, not all Muslims are killers of Christians, actually a very very small few of them are. being a christian doesn't have anything to do with going to hell. A christian is defined as one who is a follower of Christ, and has accepted him as their savior. I could say I was a christian all i want, but that doesn't mean i was transformed. Actually it says in the bible that if your a true Christian, you will never lose your faith. Christianity doesn't have rights.
but i could go on and on

Answer 10

Yes, all of the above.
My turning away began with religious scandals. Opening my eyes to the lies they live & the $$$ factor.
I found myself at home one day in the middle of a bunch of people who were so nice, real and sincere that it almost made me sick! From the moment I stepped foot on Pagan ground they said "Welcome home dear!" ; )