I often think how bizarre a life I led as a Christian, having given my life to Christ at 14 years old looking back recognizing the closing of the mind to the world around me. I see technology advancing our capacity to explore bits of information and lives from the past to the present, I am dumbfounded that isolationist thinking is practiced defiantly in Christianity

I cannot worship any god that knowingly slaughters children for any reason whatsoever, even if those children mocked and ridiculed the priests or prophets of that deity. Children are learning what it means to be human. They are learning how people conduct themselves. If any god does not know or understand the importance of learning or how learning works, that deity is not worthy of veneration because this suggests a profound ignorance of the human experience. And this is rather bizarre considering the gods are supposedly of infinite intelligence.

If any deity does not appreciate children ridiculing its priests and prophets, that deity (assuming it is truly omniscient) should use the opportunity to teach those children about tolerance, about respecting all humans. If mere mortals can figure this out, then surely an allegedly all-knowing supernatural entity understood this before eternity began. And if artificial intelligence can study human knowledge and then parrot this back to inquisitive souls, then surely an omniscient deity knew this before humans could imagine nonhuman intellects.

Moreover, if the gods are truly intelligent, they would understand that children are learning how to behave primarily by imitating their elders. This includes not only the behaviour of their parents and guardians, but also the behaviours of priests and prophets whose conduct likely influences the children’s primary caregivers. This means that if a deity does not like the way children are treating their priests and prophets, that god should either look in the mirror or take the matter up with the other gods.

The worst part is that if I did something that horrific, not only would human justice punish me but religious people and their priests would be exhorting their god (the same entity that slaughtered children in centuries past) would punish me with eternal damnation.

For these reasons, I cannot in good conscience worship any deity that savagely slaughters children for any reason whatsoever. Personally, I think that any supernatural entity that allegedly knows infinitely more than I do should be teaching children, their parents and their priests to be tolerant of others, particularly those of another custom. Nor can I support any religion, nation or society that celebrates any god that slaughters children for any reason whatsoever.

Instead, I need a spiritual role model that celebrates childhood, a model that understands childhood growth and development. I also need a spiritual model that preaches tolerance for our differences, especially when those differences cause no physical or psychological harm. Above all, I need a spiritual paradigm with higher moral standards than I possess, something that will challenge me to become a better human being.

What do you think?

Just saying. I found him recently thanks to that whole Joe Schmidt conversion bullshit and I've been hooked ever since.

Honestly, ten years ago I had my own podcast interviewing people who deconverted from Christianity. I called the portion of the pod where I interview deconverters the "Ex-Files"... Yeah, I know... super original. But it was fun. It got all of my angst about religion out of me. We were starting to gain traction and even got a shoutout from another pod before my schedule changed and my co-host and I couldn't do it anymore.

But honestly, I loved it. It helped me vent. I talked with a lot of people from ALL walks of life. Not just Christians. And it was awesome.

I THOUGHT my days of being an angsty, atheist ex-Christian were over. That I could just chill, do my own thing, let Christians do their own thing... and that would be that.

But apparently not.

Now we have Christian Nationalists who haven't a fucking clue about running a country, running America straight into the fucking ground.

We have an American named Joe Schmidt, whom I hadn't even fucking heard of prior his money-enhancing, Patreon-bullshitting "reconversion" telling everyone that the "Majesty of Reason" wants you to know that God himself signed a letter in blood that Catholicism is the one true religion.

Fuck off.

And then I discovered MindShift. This dude is so chill when he talks. Soothing almost. He doesn't get mad. He doesn't let his emotions show. He's not a monotone robot either though.

I don't know how he does it. And I thought I was done listening to people talk about Christianity like I had done myself a decade ago.

But this guy is legit and if you're questioning whether or not to deconvert, GO TO HIM!

Some context, I came out as gay when I was around 15 yo, I’m 23 now. I do not believe in Christianity, hell, heaven, the bible, etc, but my brain had been so rewired growing up in traditional and conservative baptist christianity, that I still to this day continue to have moments where I start saying “welp I’m definitely going to hell”, or I’ll make a snide remark because of something bad that happened whilst looking up at my ceiling as if I’m talking to “god”, or other phrases/habits like that. It’s like my mouth says it before my brain realizes it. I want to stop it, it annoys me and angers me that Christianity had such a chokehold on my childhood that these little sayings and oral habits have become almost inherent to me. I was in therapy for a bit, but stopped just recently. I plan on going back once I’m in a more financially stable place to do so.

Does anyone have any advice? 🫶

Its something i never understood. Do they want money? Us to treat jesus like a king just cause he suffered?

Like i genuinely don't know what they are hoping to accomplish but sayin this especially to atheists like me and other's non relgious or other religions.

Like ok? And? Is usually my response. idgf if jesus 'suffered' we humans suffer everyday he isn't special.

Im not about to role out a red carpet for him.

I genuinely and honestly don't give a fuck if some random guy died for me. Why would i be happy a person dies? If they expect me to react with joy?

Any person who responds with joy at death needs mental help.

Edit: i mean in all honesty i find jesus's 'death' a bit forced upon on us. I mean we some how have to understand how this is our 'fault' when its all gods really. I mean i bet i can speak for many of us here saying we did not ask this guy to die for us. I don't view this as an act of love. Rather i view it as an act of 'worship me and love me against your wills'. Except this forced gift.

I'm sure many people here are dealing with this in some shape or form, so how do you make peace with having bigoted christian parents, because it's genuinely making me miserable all the time. Ever since deconstructing, my relationship with my parents has gone completely downhill. I really think their veiws are reproachable, and I've lost all respect for them. I will probably never tell them I'm an atheist, but if they found out they would hate me. Just looking at them makes me miserable. How do I deal with these feelings? I still live with my parents and I will for the foreseeable future, so I can't avoid them. I care about them so much, but it hurts knowing they're spreading their hateful religion around, and believing all these horrible ideas. I don't know how to be around them without feeling depressed. Do I just try ignore the bad parts of them and focus on the good? Any advice? Do you have a relationship with your christian parents? What worked for you?

For those of you who have left christianity, were you ever involved in this movement?

For those not in the know, this is the theological underpinning behind the Republican / Christian attempt to take over and remake the US government. These people are convinced that they have a mission from God to conquer the seven 'mountains' of human culture.

I mean, come on, never mind that the Bible actually says that the whore of Babylon sits upon the seven mountains. I guess they're going to knock her off of them?

Before I left the church around 2010, the one I was attending had been involved in it for several years and was just getting deeper. The pastor did not have any sort of theological training, he had a master's degree in nuclear engineering and was a former GE exec. Anything any of these people taught he just swallowed it and let it happen. I think the only thing he drew a line at was the fact that the sound guy and myself reported that one of his guest speakers had pushed us over under the guise of 'being slain in the spirit.'

So y'all, I've deconstructed, I fully can NOT believe the bible bs, but there's one thing i need help with. Jesus. We know he was real, and a lot of people claim he was for sure crucified and for sure people saw him afterwards which means he rose again. And there's the Shroud which I found fascinating as a kid and only just remembered while I was showering today (as it often goes). Andbthe miracles too. Cause they seem unbelievable, but something must've happened, right? I mean if he said "Hey watch me resurrect this dead guy" and nothing happened, I imagine he wouldn't have had a very large following. In the end, he said he'd return in his disciples lifetime and didnt, and it seems pretty convenient that he only (allegedly) hung around a couple weeks after (allegedly) resurrecting before he ascended. But i dont have any solid way to disprove all this stuff the way i can, say, the flood or eden. Like i know he was real and I think he generally had some pretty great life advice but I dont think he was god or that he resurrected. Thoughts?​

The insane amount of cherry picking Christians do towards the Bible needs to be studied. Whenever you press them on the disgusting stuff in the Old Testament and why they don’t follow it they say Jesus came with the new covenant, the old covenant was for the Jews not us. Hmm okay… The Old Testament is more than 70% of the Bible in most denominations. It includes crucial books like Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah, etc… If you take the Old Testament out then the whole Bible falls apart and their whole theology does so too. Also in the NT there are several instances where Jesus upholds the mosaic law and quotes the OT. Christian’s literally treat the Ten Commandments as binding and they follow them. So here comes the question, why do u quote Leviticus, Exodus, Genesis, Proverbs, and others to justify your actions and political motives if you’re only gonna follow what aligns with your motives. Why not follow the other barbaric stuff in the OT. What is this severe case of picking and choosing. This literally diminishes all your credibility as a Christian…..

Also they see that I’m no longer religious and have been praying for me to “get back to God and living right.” I hate Christianity so much lol

Sunday school covers Noah’s ark and David and Goliath. It tends to skip the prophet who sets two bears on 42 boys for calling him bald (2 Kings 2:23–24).

What’s the one that stopped you in your tracks? Add the reference so the rest of us can go and read it.

I'm 20 years old, and I still live with my parents. They've known for about a month and a half that I don't believe in Christianity. We have, or had, a good relationship beyond religion, so at first I thought I could still get along with them for a while, at least until I finished college.

Every day that passes I realize that this is impossible. They simply cannot conceive of the idea of me not believing in God, and this ranges from proselytizing to immense psychological pressure.

If I go to church, everything's fine. But when I try to do something different, like going to a pub socially, it becomes a huge problem. And sometimes I can't even lie, I don't know if it's because of the previous pressure, or because they seem to know when I'm lying. The point is, as long as I live with them, I won't be able to fully progress in anything. I'll be stuck in the same cycle, unable to explore without it turning into an argument or a lecture, even though they already know about my disbelief.

As I said, I intended to finish my undergraduate degree in the city first, and then move and pursue another undergraduate or graduate degree elsewhere. But that will still take at least another year, and I don't know if I can wait that long after everything I've already thought about. So, the alternative would be either to give in, or to leave home while still in the same city, solely to no longer live with them directly. I think it will be better for me, and for them to forget. And I know that this can, and probably will, be received very hostilely, and that they will see it almost as a complete severing of the relationship.

Well, in my experience with previous reports/advice in this sub, I realize that relationships with parents are never as simple as they should be, but is there any way to leave their house more "peacefully"? I mean, to still be able to maintain something afterward, so it doesn't feel like a breakup.

If you've also been through something similar, what was it like and how did you cope?

I just finished watching the new Carrie series, and holy shit, it was phenomenal. It was such an incredible show and brought up a lot of emotions I wasn’t necessarily expecting.

That being said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so accurately capture the fucking pain of being a kid struggling with a conservative home while also feeling so painfully out of place around people your own age. It really showcased that feeling of never quite belonging in either world, and just how lonely that can be.

Obviously, there’s a lot more to the story, and plenty of elements that I’m sure most of us can’t personally relate to. But when I tell you there were several moments where I felt physically nauseous watching it because of how much it brought me back to my own experiences… DAMN. That shit was not for the faint of heart.

Just needed a space to share that. 😅 There aren’t too many people I know who would understand that particular feeling, and even fewer that I still talk to from my homeschool days

I was not raised a Christian. My mother was "Lutheran" growing up, but I don't know how devout her family really was. As an adult, she became a lukewarm Christian in that she would cherry pick verses from the Gospels to make her feel better in the moment but wouldn't embody any of Christ's teachings. She just asked for forgiveness from me and my brothers for her verbal abuse and neglect, but never once apologized to any of us. My father was raised Catholic yet hated the church, and that seems like a common story. Catholicism seems to drive people away en masse.

That was my experience with Christianity growing up. Nonetheless, I've always believed in God, for some reason. Maybe it's baked into my genes and personality. I always thought the world was too beautiful to be random chance. Anyways, I was exposed to a lot of Jesus' word growing up on the internet, and I liked what I heard. I decided to start attending a church last October, and I've been going for the last year. For context, my church is technically non-denominational, but they admit to swing towards Baptist. Which is typical for the south.

After a year of attending, I gathered a lot of information on the church's belief system, and I can say with confidence now that I don't belong. There are fundamental disagreements I have with my church, and frankly with all of modern Christianity, that I don't believe I can reconcile. Here are some of them:

1.      ORIGINAL SIN

I hate this. I mean really hate this. First of all, Jesus never mentions it. It's taken from the Old Testament, and that's another grievance of mine altogether. I can't see myself telling my future children that they are born inherently guilty and need Jesus. Jesus didn't even say this. He said that children are the highest in the kingdom of heaven. So what gives? How does that mesh with original sin? Short answer, it doesn't. I can't shake the feeling that the majority of Christians are just self-hating people to begin with (because they haven't confronted and processed their own childhood trauma) and thus they truly connect with the ludicrous notion that they are evil by default. Original Sin makes sense to someone whose parents instilled shame in them already. As someone who has worked tirelessly to overcome my childhood trauma and the narratives my parents placed in me, I HATE the idea of original sin. Not to mention that, again, it's nothing Jesus believed or preached in either.

2.      PARENTING METHODS

I believe in peaceful parenting. That makes me a minority in the world, I know. And the last place a person like me should expect to find comrades in this regard is the Christian church. I tried to defend peaceful parenting once and I was utterly alone in my stand. Christians are pro-spanking usually. That makes me angry and sad. Especially because Jesus was a peaceful parenting advocate. Need I quote the line in Matthew about drowning child abusers in the ocean? And tons of people will take this line and use it exclusively for child SEXUAL abusers. Which is such a manipulative and dishonest take to have. There are a trillion and one ways to hurt a child emotionally. None of this is to mention that I've never heard peaceful parenting preached at the pulpit. Despite the fact that Jesus was explicit in his love of children and his hatred of those who hurt them. What gives? Also, we apparently "hate sin," but we conveniently don't address the most common form of sin: child abuse. What the fuck?

3.      THE INCLUSION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Old Testament is creepy and weird and does not belong anywhere near Jesus' teachings. People in the church believe that they ought to read and defend the OT because otherwise they're ceding ground to atheists. Brother, atheists are 100% correct to call out the OT. It's fucking gross. Abraham and Isaac is a disgusting story. What loving God asks you to sacrifice your son? Circumcision is fucking disgusting and I'm 100% against it. The God of the OT seems like a demon or something. Definitely not related to Jesus in any way. I cannot believe we are lumping the Old and New Testaments together as common practice. If there's a denomination which excludes the OT, then bravo, you have my respect. But as I understand, a lot of Christians will read both testaments.

4.      ART

This is my last point. I love art, and I am a very open-minded curious person. Christianity, at least the modern church, asks of you to stifle your curiosity. I remember my pastor (a nice enough guy, by the way, not to rag on him too much) saying that Halloween decorations were weird to him because they were a celebration or mockery of death. I see where he's coming from, but also, I love Halloween, and it was always a highlight of my year during childhood. Halloween can get demonic and strange, sure. But it can also all be in good and innocent fun. I think an inability to enjoy the simple stuff like Halloween, scary movies, dark music, etc., makes a person so shallow and narrow minded. By no means am I imploring anyone to watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre every other day (I can hardly stand that movie), but I am saying that dark art doesn't have to be off the table. In fact, stuff like grunge music, horror movies, etc. are actually WORTH celebrating in my opinion, since it's proof that negative emotions can be harnessed into something fruitful. Would you rather that someone took their anger and used it as motivation to commit a crime? When someone who's angry makes a piece of music to express that anger, that's a fruitful use of a negative emotion, which I think is AWESOME! And I think that kind of art can be glorifying to God in its own way. Yet I know that makes me a bad fit for church, since a lot of Christians just don't enjoy weird art the way I do.

Anyways, that's my rant. I've been so anxious lately that I needed to write something out about this matter. I want to put this out there and see if anyone else can relate. I truly don't think the church is for me. I know I could try other churches, seeing as how this is only my first one, and maybe I will go elsewhere. But for now, I need a break. I feel like I've suppressed a lot of myself in order to fit into the Christian gathering, and now that the lid is off, so to speak, I'm overflowing with emotions. Leaving church is bittersweet, because on the one hand I feel free, yet I also feel lonely since I used to look forward to the community that awaited me there every Sunday. However, I don't know what good a community is if I have to edit and revise myself in order to fit into it. I'd rather feel lonely for a spell while I find "my people" than change who I am to fit into a collective that, honestly, I don't belong in.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day.

As someone who grew up in a conservative household, christian family, christian school and social circle. A thing that just pisses me off about christians is that they act like they know the Bible 100%.

When a gay person or a non chrisitan interprets a text from the Bible that defends themselves (such as homosexuality being a sin being a mistranslation) christians are always like 'no you're interpreting it wrong' like how do you know? Why are christians the correct ones? No matter how much you study, go to church and pray, you'll NEVER fully understand the Bible til you go to heaven because you aren't God. You didn't write the Bible therefore you don't know the meaning of the text or what thought was put into it.

It pisses me off that christians act like they understand it so much. You don't. I feel like more people need to realize that. Just like if you read a book and then tried to say 'I know everything about it' when you don't cause you aren't the author.

I hope I explained that correctly.

If you were victim of any, then I recommend you to go all no contact with them and just ignore them... if they try any manipulative tactics against you, then you go more no contact! If your no contact don't change their behavior, then the case is: they love their fucked up shitty and filthy ego more than they love you!

When it comes to religious side: If they love their religion more than they love you, it's their choice, not yours, so they cannot blame you for that! :) If they chose path without you, then they need to be ready to walk that path alone and without your support. If they tried justify their shitty behavior with bible, it means they cannot carry their own weight :'D

And even when you told them: "I respect your religion", but they still were asshole to you, that prsn is not a person worthy of your time anymore! :)

Well this is my second question for yall but iam curios lol

So, iam not christian, but i want an answer from yall since i want to gather more opinions rather than asking only in my religion circle, my question is: do Christians feel like jesus is coming when natural disasters and wars etc happens? Do they feel like they are scared and try to be more religious? Also do some Christians whenever they feel “oppressed” they think that means they are on the righteous side and saying things like “they’ll fight you when you say the truth”? Has anyone of yall went through “i’ll stay in the religion so i dont go to hell” before becoming an ex christian? Do people tell yall things like “don’t question too much, just follow as what is said” and you feel like you could be one of the “unrighteous” people that Christians warn you about, you feel like you could be one of the “unrighteous people” that could appear when jesus is coming soon, so find yourself in a loophole of questioning and thinking that your questioning could be a sign that jesus is coming soon? I hope what i asked is understandable because i really want to know your answers!

My friend used to be agnostic because he stopped believing and thought it was “stupid,“ but then he turned back to Christianity because his belief “just came back.” A couple years after that, he said he was sitting alone in his room when Jesus physically spoke to him on his left and told him to go to a Christian college.

Genuinely what is going on with this man? I’ve been trying to get him to become agnostic again because he knows he’d be happier that way (he’s struggling with being bi, calling himself a freak and a monster, and he said his life would be so much easier if he wasn’t Christian because he’d be free to be himself) but he says he can’t ever leave because Jesus spoke to him, so he knows he’s real and doesn’t want to burn in hell. I’ve tried everything to convince him, and he just says “I don’t know anything, I just know that he spoke to me.” I asked why Jesus didn’t speak to me and try to save my faith, and he didn’t know. He told me I’m one of the nicest people he’s ever met, so I asked him if he thinks I’m going to burn in hell for all eternity. He said yes. :)

My teen received a text from a teammate they’re not close with, but not enemies. In a nutshell, the text said that God put it on their heart to save my kid - basically. Multiple paragraphs and used the “depart from me I never knew you” verse. Many times. In summary, they said in so many words that if my kid doesn’t believe exactly as they do, my teen will end up in hell.
I’m livid. My teen responded by saying thank you for sharing your heart. But I’m furious. Condemning someone you don’t know to hell? How dare you! And I’m having a hard time with clarity for giving advice on how to set a firm boundary. Especially since I foresee this happening in the future.
The other teen doesn’t know my teen, never had a real convo. They don’t know their faith whatsoever - or anything else about them really except they play the same sport.
Of all the Bible verses could have sent, that teen thought sending condemnation verses to try to fear-convert my kid into their brand of Jesus… doesn’t set well. Whatsoever.
How do I prepare my kid that hates conflict/confrontation on managing those peers relationships? I was in the sauce in a cult at that age, so I feel extra lost.