Losing my religion

How do you feel about losing your faith in the Church? Is it something you want to regain, or something you want to completely lose? Would you be interested in pursuing a different spiritual path, either within Christianity or outside it, or would you rather abandon spirituality?

 

In my honest opinion, organized religion is EVIL. There are hypocrites everywhere, as well as people that abuse the faith and trust of others for personal gain, and people that use their religion to justify personal hatred and intolerance.

However, here are some things to consider:

1. There are a small handful of situations in which divorce is supposedly acceptable, and even if divorce is wrong, once it's done, people may still need help to cope with what they have done.
2. One partner may have made every effort to hold a marriage together, while the other insisted upon divorce.
3. Playing bingo is not necessarily gambling. If you play for prizes without contributing money or tangible possessions, it's just a bit of fun.

 

Honestly, I'd leave them and look for a GLBT friendly church. I threw in the towel with my old church when I was told to leave for showing up to service in a dress. Evidently "it is a grave sin" to come to Gods house as my true self and not a fabricated lie. Don't lose faith in the message of the Bible just because that self-serving church sucks at delivering it. My new GLBT church actually attempts to make sense of Gods teachings and teaches equality. And instead of shaking an offering plate in our faces every 5 minutes they have a donation box in another room. It's a better alternative to a church that used the Bible as a weapon to condemn everyone who is "not a normal heterosexual" while tightening their squeeze for money from their flock.

 

Yes there are churches that are open and affirming, which means they accept the LGBTQ community. I've had many spiritual experiences so I won't walk away from my faith, but it's really up to each individual to decide their path on their own.

 

I see two points of view for this. Yours is the first, but if you look at it from a different perspective, not everyone understands transgendered people and crossdressing. It is easy to understand why doing something like that would seem perverse and disrespectful to the uneducated or ignorant. I do believe that all people should pay a measure of respect to the decorum of a church, if they wish to attend it, or visit its premises. That being said, churches should welcome all people without judgment, if it is clear that they seek (God, sanctuary, counsel, etc.). My mother once told me a story about the time she was kicked out of a church for being dressed as a hippie in the late '60s. Indeed, she was a wild rebellious hippie during that period, who engaged in all of the "worldly sins" that churches detest; but she had entered the church quietly and respectfully, to pray, and the church staff demanded that she leave. She was quite shocked, and I would have been, as well. Not to wander into a religious rant, but one of my main issues with most variants of Christianity, with respect to its followers, is that far too many people are perfectly content to disregard the teachings of Jesus and substitute harsh and judgmental attitudes.

 

Have you read the book of John, Acts and Romans? I think it will show you where true hope is, and is not. Happy to discuss with you any parts in them. I think it will make you feel better too.

 

I was raised in a Catholic home, as well. Influences from the internet played a role in my transformation to atheism, but nevertheless, the catholic church disgusted me, as did all religions. I converted from catholicism, to deism, to agnosticism, ignosticism, then finally to atheism after finding that it made more sense that way than sitting in church on Sunday, listening to someone talk about desert stories.

(I MEAN NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE WHO IS RELIGIOUS, THIS IS JUST HOW I VIEW RELIGION AS A WHOLE).

 

Just remmy, they are sinners and humans needing fixed too...that is why they are there. We find same judging humans do at work and school and just in an apartment building. We tend to think our actions are not bad, but others not looking and acting like us are therefore bad. Somehow I have always been able to separate human failure from God's thinking.

Example: In a big company, although a CEO or owner may originally set standards in his workplace, the many managers can interpret it a bit and by the time the workers at the bottom get the new rules, it can feel like a tourniquet. It may have actually not been the plan of the business owner at all to make hours change, or responsibilities more on some one, but a bunch of local lower level managers could just be bad at their jobs and put some of their job on the backs of their crews.

Adults can be cruel and uncaring to children...are all adults evil?
Teenagers can be rebellious...do all teens love heavy metal and goth clothing?
Churches, political parties, clubs, businesses, and schools can have corrupt membership...should we do away with them all?

 

I stopped believing when I heard that god creates everyone equal but the church is against gays. It seems to me that the rules of the church are only applied when convenient.

 

Religions may be inspired by God, but they are created and operated by people, who are fatally flawed.

 

Your issue is with the church, and not the bible's teachings. Note that there is a difference between the two.

What I have truly failed to understand throughout my life, however, is the fact that when I express my disdain for religion, many Christians I know jump in and agree that religion is bad, but stress that what they have is not religion at all, but "a personal relationship with Jesus." ...Yet they expect me to follow their bible, serve their God, attend their church, take up their values, and endure their judgment. In any case, I still have issues with both churches/religious followers, and the bible itself.

 

There are the Episcopals...

 

If you're questioning your religion, question it further. Question everything. I hope you find on your journey that organized religion is the worst thing on Earth as I did when I questioned my religion and I mean that. Questioning starts with just the way the church does things and then it leads to the philosophies of the religion itself. Yes, you can go to an LGBT-friendly church but why bother when the Bible itself goes against homosexuality?

Yes, I know about other interpretations of that but seriously, read the Bible. Keep a tally of all the disgusting things you come across. As far as I'm concerned, you can't misinterpret "put to death" no matter how much some people want you to believe. Your faith is not worth the racism, bigotry, and hatred Christianity promotes. You will see nothing but hypocrisy if you seriously question it. Get over the illusion and you will be a much happier, knowledgeable person. I wish you the best with that.

I mean no offense but I know this will be offensive to some and I apologize but this is the blatant, hard truth to me and it set me free like nothing ever had before.

 

^ I undy this is your faith now...none, however if you read it, it is pushing hard your anti-faith onto others, and saying Christianity is bad dump it. The offensiveness dont come from your faith in no faith, it comes from the encouragement to abandon God and what that means is HUGE.

Again, for anybody not seen my past posts on athiests who are gay...this is what makes peeps like me want to go back in closet...to not be grouped in with that or feel we are being told we are un-knowledgable...as if athiests are superior intellectually. Scary.

 

I think you should just pick up a bible and read it for yourself, If you believe in God then ask Him to speak directly to you when you read it. Church was intended to provide a place of worship and fellowship, however priests are human too, and succumb to any "evils" that plague us. Only difference is they won't admit it. The ones that do admit it are often the better ones. My point is that hypocrisy is something you can live without. Jesus wasn't too fond of churches either, but He does want you to follow Him, So read HIS word for yourself and learn on your own, the priests don't always have the answer.

 

^ THAT is what I think.

 

Losing my religion was an interesting experience for me. Once my faith was shaken, there was no turning back. I'm not sure what triggered me to question the existence of a god specifically, but I know that during the process I saw the rampant hypocrisy in the Catholic church that I had previously been ignorant of. Knowing that only turned me further from maintaining any sort of belief in a god. It's probably one of the best things to have happened to me, to be perfectly honest.

But enough about me, let's talk about you. I agree with djt820: this is the best possible time to question your faith. Read the bible and question everything in it. Pray. Talk to your priest. Just think about everything, I suppose. Then once you're done with all that, ask yourself if you still believe in God. If the answer is yes, then ask yourself, with a sober mind, if you believe you can maintain a relationship with God without being Catholic. Look for progressive churches and see if they appeal to you more. Seek out some way to restore your faith if you wish to restore it.

If you don't believe in God anymore, or if you no longer wish to restore your faith, then it's likely paradise lost, not that it's a bad thing.

 

hmm dont have your faith in the people who are running the church dear. God is not saying anything its all the people who are misusing his name. He loves us no matter what he made us gay and doest discriminate us from the staright ones. its the people who do that. i have a great faith in Him. many ppl are atheists and i have nothing against them. its ones way of thinking and ones own way of life. but for me He surely exists and takes care of all of us