Get Them While They're Young
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- "Get them while they're young." This is the unspoken (and not so unspoken) mission of churches everywhere.
They understand how critical it is to gain converts before they become adults...before they're exposed to science, history, other religions and other points of view. They aggressively target children and youth with marketing campaigns that rival many advertising companies. They sponsor events, activities, games and lots of free food for the opportunity to influence impressionable minds.
Chris, Andrea, Matt and Dell share their own experiences as children and adults from inside these programs.
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Honestly, I was so fucking brainwashed as a child, I'm so glad to have come to my senses finally
Patrick Star feelings mutual because my church that I was forced to go to brainwashed me I felt like the winter soldier trying to fight it and I eventually broke free
Programmed. Nothing is yet in precious minds to brainwash. Can be very difficult to unlearn wrong teaching. Glad you did. Glad I did.
Interesting video. I grew up christian. I went to church every sunday. I went to sunday school, to bible camp, to the bible pizza parties. When I got older, I went beyond what my christian friends did and took parts of the bible more literally. I volunteered, I helped the needy and I helped the poor, I volunteered to raise money for widowed wives and their children. By all accounts I was a model christian child... except for one thing: I did not read the bible.
I thought that doing so was pointless; after all, I go to church everyday to hear the bible spoken, so why would I need to read it? At the urging of my ATHEIST friend, I did start reading the bible. and I was shocked at what I read
An illogical creation story, murder, genocide, events that did not match up with history, war, incest, famine, disease, etc. After reading that cursed book, I rejected the christian religion as false.
To this day, I still volunteer. I am an agnostic, and its ironic that I am still closer to behaving like christ than most christians are.
I was Christian, but then I read the bible
"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
― Isaac Asimov
Essentially, by your own admission, you were a "cultural Christian and not a believer. Reading the Bible at the urging of your atheist friend (filter) is part of the *problem* - NOT the solution. Your journey as Christian actually never began. Let's hope you aren't finished looking for the truth.
Hope this can help : www.reasonablefaith.org
Joel Daniel lol my journey as a christian never began? all my friend said was read the bible. That's it. he never talked to me again until AFTER I had read it, analyzed it, and studied it. If your god hypothesis was true and provable, I would have reached the conclusion that your god existed, not that he didn't
Joel Daniel What is, by your definition, a true Christian?
RunningWithRoses You arent alone, I had a similar experience.
I was a brainwashed mormon. we had seminary, mutual, youth group, mormon choir, mormon dances, camp outs, boy scouts, firesides, three hour long church, and in all my years as a mormon the only miracle ive witnessed was me escaping
Still waiting for the day I can come out to my dad as an Atheist. My brainwashing was broken as soon as my mother came out as homosexual. How could an unconditional loving god teach you to honor your mother and father, but to shame something that they were created as? I couldn't accept it as truth, and to this day I am waiting to tell my religious father that I, as a free thinking individual, have chosen to pursue truth and not blind belief and superstition.
+Hebdon Films I wish you luck. My mom still thinks its a phase but thats probably the best reaction someone can hope for.
Good on you for escaping! You have a lot of time to make up for though, it sucks that people drained your time on this Earth with that crap!
I was raised in a religious home and brainwashed as well, but I do not hate my mother for it in any way. I pity her and I understand her. I see religion as the first step in grief about mortality. Some people are just stuck in denial. Especially if you've lost someone dear to you. It's a momentary comfort that is a trap for your life. All she wants is to keep me from burning in hell and as misguided as that is, she does it because she loves me. And I love her. It's a very sad situation.
I see where you're coming from. I'm afraid to tell my mother. Not because of judgement per se (although that is a contributing factor), but mostly because of grief. She lost her brother when she was young. The only thing keeping her from delving into a raging depression is the idea that he lives on in heaven. He is my namesake. To her, my atheism would be betrayal.
Same for me. I can't break my mother's heart by admitting my unbelief. It seems hypocritical of me, but I console myself with the fact that it's for a good cause, albeit my mom's peace and well-being.
@@darlenemchenry1104 I hope your relationship with your family doesn't interfere with your life plans. It's never any fun to lie to a parent, even when to spare them. Since writing that original comment 7 years ago, my mother has since learned that I'm an atheist. It was hard at first, but in all honestly, I think it's for the better for our relationship. She rationalizes it with a confident belief that I'll return to god someday. It's sad, but on the whole, now that I don't lie about who I am anymore, it's been a huge weight off my shoulders and actually helped our relationship a lot. No two situations are the same of course.
Childhood indoctrination is the key to inexorable belief in the irrational. Religious figures know this all too well. The people who wrote the bible knew this. Get 'em while they're young and programmable and they will grow up to be your mindless, tithing servants.
Hit the nail on the head with that one.
That's how they got me, just minutes old, into the Church of England. But I saw the light at the age of seven: I rushed home from Sunday School and told my mother of my epiphany - I said I didn't believe a word of what the vicar was wittering on about (the story of Jonah inside the whale was the tipping point) and I didn't want to go back to a church. Mom just said 'okay' and I was free to just be a kid and fall out of trees and stuff. Haven't looked back.
rex muzyka Hey Rex how are you doing? Yeah my mother was pretty cool about the whole thing, she always encouraged me to think for myself. She is 87 now and has dementia and I am her Carer but there are still traces of her old self...now and again.
Jonathan Peden I am doing well (except being pissed about working Thanksgiving). A good mother is a special gift. I feel sorry for children who don't have one, as they are the ones who usually teach us empathy for others. My mother is in declining health as well. I remind myself constantly to enjoy /be there for her while I can. It's the least I can do to repay her for a good upbringing. I hope you and her have a good day.
rex muzyka Sorry to hear you are working on Thanksgiving, and thank you for your kind words. I see it thusly - when I was a child my mother brought me up and protected me, and now it is my turn. I like this phrase: Once an adult, twice a child. It sums dementia up quite nicely I think.
Mormon household. No sleepovers, no pepsi, no coffee, no friends that do any of the things we aren't allowed to do. My parents have my social media account passwords and won't allow technology of any sort in the room.
I wake up at 5 in the morning so I can go to early morning seminary on weekdays before school starts (Where we study the book of mormon and bible page by page) church on Sunday, Youth activities since I was 8, and church is 3 hours long. My parents, like most mormon parents, force me into every activity. Firesides, BYD, BYC, general conference, stake conference, dances (All though I actually enjoy the youth dances).
It takes up so much of my life that I barely ever have time for school, let alone friends. The only friends I ever get to talk to are the ones that go to the youth activities every Wednesday.
Every time I try to start a logical reasoning (Evolution, drinking soda, ect.) she quotes some general conference talk saying that some old guy said we aren't allowed to believe/do that. Being born into the church and becoming a member before I had any other connection with people outside of the church. I have to live the doctrine until I leave this house, where I can finally make my own decisions instead of being forced to do what's "Right".
I'm tired of religion controlling so much of my life, practically taking away the freewill that is so glorified in the church.
Don't give up. Get a good education, a job, and leave. But make sure you can make a good living, that you don't wind up in poverty. There are other people out there/here...look for support even on the internet.
Many of us have had the same experiences. I am 55, left catholic church a long time ago, was hard but i survived.
Have a good life, family and friends.
Good luck! :-)
I probably would have died if my parents forced me to do that stuff, i'd probably have ran away and never looked back....
mary husted My dad left the Mormon church and I am an atheist. Glad I didn't have to deal with the BS you did!
mary husted From Marilyn to Mary, you should talk to them. I had pretty much the same thing, only catholic. And at 18 I told them, I just did not believe, and guess what? They stopped going to church, and doing all that shit, they were doing it because of me. They thought there was something wrong with them. I might add, my cousins were all raised catholic, and their parents stopped going to church once they realized their kids were atheist. Though my uncle Andy kept giving clothes to the poor, "To build a mighty fortress in heaven."
I once asked him, why did he need a mighty fortress? Then I said, "You're not thinking of pouring boiling oil on passerby's are you?" He didn't answer, but the look on his face was VERY interesting, like he'd been caught red-handed.
+Dusk vex good for you young person, hope it will turn out well for you.
The concept of a God will slowly died like all the other myths. Today we have the internet to spread knowledge & truth. The internet is the place where religion goes to die. Peace
The internet is amazing, yes. But if you're forced from birth to believe in something because your parents tell you too, wouldn't it be natural to believe in it? They said it themselves. Kids are taught not to ask those questions. Those who do end up as atheists. They have the idea of "Wait, this doesn't make sense. Why is this correct?"
I wouldn't say that the concept of a god will die out, Im an atheist but I wouldn't be surpised if there is infact something responsible for everything there is. What I would like to die out & it is actually necessary to die out is religions & dogmas. They only separate man like politics & the concept of nations. We are all one species & we should live as such.
"The internet is the place where religious people can freely insult and call death threats on atheists, and vice versa."
As sad as it is, it's still true so I fixed it for you.
The internet is the place for knowledge & truth?? Everything said is someones opinion...So is everything in a way not propaganda??
sonicXrules123 I asked questions, then I received biased answers and assumptions which made sense to my 11 year old self, mainly because I was told that it made sense. And when something didn't, "Gawd iz mistereoz"
It is insane! My uncle and aunt pulled their son out of school because, out of the other three children, loved science and started asking questions about the views of religion vs science. They home schooled him and he is now a good little automaton. Very sad.
That's child abuse in any right thinking persons mind.
If christianity was true then it should be possible for a person who has never seen or meet a christian and who has never read or heard of the bible to come to the same conclusion. That's how true things work: People in different eras and different cultures can come to the same conclusion without ever having been in contact. That's why evolution was thought of and conceived of in many different cultures and eras in time before it was finally made widely known by Darwin. And that's why no person in the history of the world has ever come to the conclusion that Jesus is god without ever having heard of Jesus or christianity.
I became an atheist when I was 13 and now I'm 17 but I still have serious trust issues with my parents knowing that they brainwashed me as a child I mean what kind of sick person does that to something so small and helpless? That's the thing about us atheists, we break free of and recover from childhood indoctrination but the scaring done by it stays forever...
You understand that atheism is a belief, don't you? I feel sorry for you that you were indoctrinated, you should have been given space to think it through on your own at some point, but who indoctrinated you into atheism?
Saying atheism is a religion is like saying not playing basketball is a sport.
Kovadi What you're talking about is agnosticism. Atheism is a *belief*. It's a doctrine proclaiming that there's no God.
It's a *lack of belief*. I never mentioned agnosticism once. Not believing in religion is not a religion, it means you have no religion. Religions are just doctrines.
Kovadi You're confused. Lack of belief is agnosticism. Atheism is the belief there's no God.
And if you talk to some atheists, they're very doctrinal about it.
I was raised in a Christian Greek Orthodox family (thankfully I saw logic and reason soon after I was an adult and grown up), and one of the most horrifying things that the Church (and parents) would teach to nearly all children was "Believe but do not question".
I think this is literally child abuse and should be outlawed, when in fact we should be teaching our children the exact opposite: To always question, always challenge always wonder about everything around them.
Jonathan C I will watch it, thanks mate.
Robert Schim True story. And we can all agree that this type of abuse of power and crowd manipulation doesnt have to continue anymore.
Clearly child abuse that needs to be *stopped*.
I too was raised in a religious home and yeah, I was brainwashed too. It took me a long time to open my eyes to the truth about how this crap is false. I am now 16 and an atheist.
I doubted it a long time ago when I was eight - I loved natural history and prehistoric animal life.
when I turned 11 I began reading about evolution and was fascinated by it all, to the delight of my science teacher, who previously hated me for my troublesome behaviour.
when I was in my teens I remained indifferent to religion but still kept an open mind. in my 30s I realised I knew very little about the 3 Abrahamic religions, but to ensure I myself was not being ignorant and despite my doubts, I made the effort of reading the torah, bible and quran.
after all the hype the books received I can honestly say I was disappointed as it appeared to me to be nothing more than a man made social guide which served to keep society I check and give comfort to the inevitable death we all will face (hence: heaven and hell)
to make matters worse religious apologists contradicted themselves when rejecting evolution which demonstrated their lack of knowledge of what they are actually rejecting.
still despite this, religion I some aspects is not all bad, serving a functional role/moral guide, I will use adam and eve as an example: when they eat from the forbidden tree to me that is a story of authority, trust in authority and irreparable consequences.......I get that but do I believe eve was made from adams rib? NO!
"but its gods work and god can do anything even if that means bending the laws of physics, biology/genetics and chemistry......that's gods power"
it can work if some kind of reform is implemented however I don't believe it is the ONLY way and when it is imposed on others then it becomes a problem, I am an agnostic/atheist, but I would never dream of imposing my views on others but I do find it quite annoying that many theists are trained to have a level of pity and distrust for non believers.
I am now 33 and hope my son thinks freely without restriction, if he decides to follow religion then that's his choice but i would like to think he is making an educated choice not a coerced one. to me the belief is not important but rather how one comes to their belief......often I have found that theists tend to display confirmation bias more often than not...........
And you should be. I'm glad to see that more and more christians open thier eyes and lieves that stupid believe.
Allan Laerz I totally agree. It feels great that I finally have complete control over my life
I needed to hear that, thanks for sharing. Happy 17th birthday dude, whenever it was/is :-D
Mine was on a Saturday in September
The two most insidious words in the English language when put together: "Sunday school".
you said it
@@Thecatnipproject I had to go to Sunday school during my early years and was supposed to continue religious indoctrination during my teens but I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. They had the classes scheduled for Thursday night, but that was the same night as Star Trek was on so that ended religious indoctrination for me. Science and the Starship Enterprise had won out over more brainwashing and though control.
I was never religious in any sense in my entire life so far, always been an atheist, laughed at those who believed blindly and tried to enforce their beliefs in to my life or school system. I always have gone and will go to science and logic for my answers and if there are none to be found, then I will try to find them with my own gained logic.
So much truth, the church is pure marketing. Period.
"Hook 'em while they're young!"
"Much like the tobacco industry."
"Oh, if only we had their numbers!"
-- George Carlin and Chris Rock in "Dogma"
took me 15 years to come to my senses
Pink Arrow took me til I was age 19
it doesn't matter when, it only matters that you did.
Adoption center worker: "Children! Children! Get 'em while they're young!"
Priest: "I'll get 'em while they're young! ...in more than one way."
That quote by Ernestine Rose. So true. I was not born in a religious family. My parents just didn't care about religion, and neither did I. I have never been to a church, or any proper religious institution and probably never will. I was born an atheist, and with nobody to indoctrinate me, I stayed that way, and now that I am grown and started taking this subject on atheism, religion, etc. rather seriously I most likely will be an atheist forever.
Get'em while they're young? Exactly. My cousin's little five year old son graduated from a Christian Academy of some kind around here not very long ago. Instead of feeling happy for the little dude, I felt sad, because he was already well on the way to Christian brainwashing. It figures his grandpa (his mother's father) is a preacher
"Give me four years to teach the children. And the seeds I have sown will never be uprooted".--Vladimir Lenin
"Give me a baby, and I can create any kind of man".--John B. Watson, founder of Behaviorism
There you go. Psychology and Communism (atheistic religions) admit they deliberately brainwash their young.
@@jennywaldensi4868 Behaviorism was proven false and isn't used at all anymore, I don't know about Vladimir though.
At least we own up to our mistakes for the betterment of the human condition. Psychology is no religion, its a study of how your brain works and is based on actual science, your religion doesn't even change for anything other than how you interpret it.
I finally started questioning christianity early last year and broke out of it around last summer I became a much better person after that but other people didn't like that, I had to be a christian for them to still like me, even, some family members, 15 years of being forced to be a jesus freak, I never understood or anything or actually believed, I just did what my parents told me or something, indoctrination is a terrible thing, especially with children, coming from a former dedicated christian teen, that needs to end.
Same thing happened to me two years ago, except I was raised a Muslim and now I'm an atheist
+Slim Jackson - If Jesus were alive today I think he'd also question Christianity.
I just wanted to say I loved every word of this message.
"Everything I ever learned about marketing, I learned in church." Yep. Me too. I didn't realize I was so qualified to work in another field until now. Thanks for that.
Nobody is born religious. We all come into this world unknowing of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, etc. Everyone is born an athiest but many are 'corrected' and put into a belief system that they follow because they don't know better.
If you want to be Christian, never read the Bible.
I am ex-Christian.
my mom tried to 'immerse me'... i do remember having fun playing with felt animals in sunday school but that's about it. 57 years later and she's STILL trying. 'ONE DAY YOU WILL SEE THE LIGHT AND GET YOUR LIFE IN ORDER'... had it been anyone else, she'd be down the road kicking her lunchbox... i've decided to find it 'charming'.
When I was 10 my littlest brother kept crying so we had to leave church and we never came back.
Since then I've become more aware of things and I have my brother to thank for it.
I was raised as a Christian since birth, even taking a sense of pride in my family's work for our church dating back several generations. My wife was raised much less religious, but there was always an assumed belief as her mother was the daughter of a preacher. During high school, dating, and eventually marriage, we went to the same church for several decades and, from college onward, I gradually realized that my questions were simply not being answered. In recent years (after listening to speakers like Christopher Hitchens and Matt Dillahunty, and listening to music like Pedro the Lion / David Bazan), the itch to finally give up religion grew even more, especially since I didn't want our own daughter to grow up in Sunday School.
Several months ago, my wife and I finally left church for good. The final straw was a sermon about raising your children Christian, something that I was obviously against so strongly in recent months. My only regret is that we didn't break off from religion years ago and, though it's obviously caused some friction with my parents, at least my wife and I are on the same page (or at least the same chapter).
Kids do not belong in church, period.
I've asked all my Christian friends when to teach kids about God. They all said as young as possible.
It is heartening to hear the stories of those who questioned, and then didn't accept that irrational belief was a good way to make life choices.
I was brought up in a Catholic household.When I was about 13 or 14 my parents started letting me go to a later service on Sunday.So my older brother and I would "Go to the later service". What we would actually do is go out and smoke weed and go play video games for an hour or so.I knew at a early age that religon was all B.S. I'm proud to say I'm a recovering Catholic going on 40 plus years!
They got me when I was young, but this free thinker couldn't keep believing all of this forever! I have opened my world beyond the church and it is not only beautiful, but it makes sense!
1:00 "Yes you do" gave me chills. As bad as my experiences were it gives me some perspective knowing some of the downright psychological abuse some people have had to go through. I wasn't yelled at, excommunicated, sent death threats or murdered, _so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones._
I am not a person who accepts things too easily. I have struggled with my faith because of science and the misperceptions that have developed surrounding religion. I spend hours and hours learning about God and science every single day. I pray all the time. And when I say stuff like I just said, the Holy Spirit touches me, and comforts me in my beliefs, so I know I'm right about this.
As a child in Catholic school in the 1960s I had questions that my fanatical mom couldn't answer and she would always say," Just have blind faith." And I remember thinking, WHY?
Watching these good people tell the story of their childhood and youth, floods my mind with memories of the same happening to me. Gut wrenching.
It's videos like this that make me thankful that I didn't grow up in an obnoxiously Religious household. I would have ate this shit up as a child if I was raised that way. But because it was never a focus, I never fully bought into it, only lightly due to outside culture; before I reached that age of intellectual curiosity. I had a friend at 12 who was a very devout Christian, she was always disappointed with my disbelief and skepticism. She tried to convert me on multiple occasions by taking me to Christian concerts and church activities, hoping I would 'see the light' and join their side. Unfortunately for them, it had the opposite effect when these things would bore me to tears. It drove me further away from faith. She was a perfectly intelligent person, but no doubt brainwashed since birth by her terrifying mother. The poor thing was probably too scared and trusting to ever question anything, if I brought forth a tough question, the subject was always swiftly changed.
I haven't seen her in about 10 years. I hope she's well, or happy at least. She openly supports gay marriage, so maybe there is hope for my old friend after all. Who knows? Maybe she's converted back to Atheism, as all humans naturally are from birth.
My family didn't brainwash me, they gave me the decision of being the person I wanted, and I decided to be an atheist and they respected my decision and didn't tell me nothing else about that
continued....Once I stepped out of that box and let my reasoning and logic kick in, all I can say is, what an eye opener! Everything started making sense when you took god out of the equation. Such a feeling of freedom I've never felt before. Real happiness was truly inside of me for a change.
No looking back now, never again will I be a religious person. Once you know the truth (like Santa Claus say) you just can't go back and why would you want to. I wasted 40 yrs. Damn what took me so long.
"Youth Group"- I remember that, got out of it around 2 years ago and it took me starting at college excuse to get out of it.
I'm so glad I wasn't raised in a religious family at all. My parents are both Christian, but until I got older and had already started to form my own views they never spoke to me about religion. When I was little, I heard bible stories sometimes, and I enjoyed listening to them, not because I thought they were true, but because I like fairytales and they were fairytales to me. Whenever I went to church, I was always bored as all hell. However, I was still under a little pressure -cont-
This should be considered child abuse, and I’m a former Christian who attempted to raise her children as Christians. Thankfully, I was unsuccessful because I also taught them to think for themselves. I have deep regrets for subjecting my poor kids to religion 🤦🏼♀️
These people are freakin' strong. My faith in humanity is restored a little bit.
"Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.”
George Orwell, 1984
I have been an atheist since I was around 8 years old and it's been nearly 8 years since I made that decision, and it's been tough because I live in a nearly all christian community. My parents never told me what to believe, and I found out recently that they were atheists. So I grew up into an atheistic household.
I'm so happy I was barely exposed to religion when I was young.
"There's no saving something that's not wrong, it's like fixing something that's not broken." lol I like that.
"No saving something that's not wrong...fixing something that's not broken"?! That is the hubris of egotism at work, made by someone who does not realize how ignorant he (and she) really is. Every child is born needing instruction, direction, education, correction, love, cherishing, comforting, protecting and helping. Is this brainwashing? True followers of the Lord Jesus and His Word do these things for their children. No one does it perfectly, but done relationally, not through programs, it offers life to the child. If that child rejects the life Christ has to offer, it is their fault -- not the fault of his/her parents, nor of Christ and the Bible.
Finally...I'm sorry about your brother's passing. I am a spiritualist, not an atheist, so I cannot possibly imagine what it must be like to have someone truly close to you pass on when you believe that. Maybe it's worse. Maybe it's not. I just don't know. If your family does split from you for this, then you are the better man. I hope it doesn't come to that. I hope that they can see further than their own fears.
This video and the others Seth produced during this time period have really fine production values and are very entertaining and enlightening. Thank you Seth. As for religion... if it is so good, why not make it PG-17? Don't teach it to kids until they are old enough to make a choice on their own. Why does it HAVE to be indoctrinated?
+clydesight it must be indoctrinated from an early age otherwise catholicism would have died out 100yrs ago.
+clydesight Religion has to be indoctrinated into children before they reach the age when they can easily tell fact from fiction. very few theists start believing as older children or adults. They need the idea if invisible, magical entities and miraculous event deeply in their mind before they reach the point where they start askinh " wait a minute, she talked to a snake? And Noah took how many animals onto his boat?"
without childhood training, religion would have died out centuries ago.
4) Reading my Bible is what originally made me an atheist. I was a Christian for 20 years and my parents sent me to Christian schools since kindergarten. I began to question my faith as I grew older and I turned to my Bible for answers. Becoming more familiar with biblical content resulted in my apostasy. Subsequent conversations with my parents made them question their faith so much that they stopped attending church. Religious beliefs fail miserably when subjected to critical scrutiny.
It is very hard for those suffering from "The Stockholm Syndrome" to climb out from under that horrific programing. I was lucky, as my parents gave me free reign to make up my own mind. When I turned 18, that never next Sunday I told them I was never going to church again. Mom begged me to come along all the way out the door as dad was dragging her to the car, so to speak. She just couldn't believe that I was not going down that path any longer !
I have dabbled in many types of belief systems, and believe that I have now begun to understand who and what we are, and how we came to be, and it is not what you read in the bible, not by a long shot.
We have something in common. I'm 16 and I'm an atheist. My Dad is deeply rooted in religion. If I told him, he'd probably think I was evil or some shit. Then he'd say that I'm going to hell. I tried to show my little brother how ridiculous God and the Bible was, but he kept the faith. My mom would probably go crazy if I told her. Don't tell your family if you're not comfortable. You just have to wait until the right time.
To anyone who was raised or is being raised in a religious family and you have differing beliefs that make your loved ones hostile to you, I want to say I'm sorry. It's heartbreaking when the people you love turn away based on differing philosophies.
I was born into and raised by a Christian family and, even though they taught me to be open and loving and that all beliefs--spiritual or not--which teach love and compassion are good, I was still terrified to come out of the broom closet to them. It was one thing to teach about being open to others, but how would they react to having someone spiritually different in their own family? It took a lot of courage for me to finally say, "Family, I believe Jesus was a wonderfully loving, enlightened man and that his philosophies of being good to others are worth following, but in my heart, I'm a Pagan. I believe in magic, the Goddess and God, the sacredness of nature, and that divinity is in all things, including us." To my immense relief, my family accepted my beliefs.
In my heart of hearts, I always knew they would, but before I finally said, "I'm Pagan," to them, I was terrified of rejection. I can't even imagine the fear felt by people who know their families won't tolerate differing religious beliefs. So, again, to anyone struggling through that, I'm sorry. Have the courage to be yourself, no matter what others say. Blessed be.
We all weren't born into religious families...I didn't accept Jesus until I was in my twenties and I'm still a believer today at 44.
Personally...I think it's better if you come to know Jesus later in life rather than early on because when you do you KNOW even more that it is all true.
My condolences.
I was and am currently still being raised in a religious home. My parents may be Christian but I, the first of the family to ever be atheistic towards their faith. I am a spiritualist, and I simply believe in spirits and paranormal activity but not a proven god. Therefore, in a sense I would say I'm a spiritual agnostic.
I like how you took, "I don't want a dictatorship. I see a creeping theocracy happening."
And made it into "So you want a dictatorship. "
It is my turn to augh.
Thank you for this question. To make it clearer i would simply add...
When I travel to India, Kenya, Italy, France, etc... I love the different languages, foods, personalities, humor, architecture, music etc.One of the saddest things about a 'Multicultural' society is how everyone is homogenized into am indistinct blob. On a recent trip to Kenya I saw a new bus station that looked just like the new bus station I saw months earlier in a small town in Nebraska. Let's value our differences more!
I know, I know. That's why it's so frustrating sometimes. I so desire to convince others, but I really can't. It never happens.
I personally don't care what you will or will not stand for. I would die standing for what I believe.
I am a skeptic and a free thinker. I test everything and value rational, reasonable thought. And that is exactly why I'm a Christian and not an athirst
We are all products of our culture. I was raised in a Catholic family but my mom encouraged me to think for myself and over the years I discovered that religion is garbage. I never belittled her for her faith but I did tell her where I had disagreements. They were over doctrines but it wouldn’t be until after she died that I would totally leave religion. I’m an agnostic and atheism is on the table for me.
Amen brother! I know that I know, and thank God for letting me see the truth. I don't regret turning my back on sin and living for Him. Life is better knowing the Giver of Life. Even my WORST day now is better than my BEST day as an Atheist. Let's pray for these bitter atheists. They are just bitter because of being harmed or hurt by some religious and UNCHRISTIAN person in their past. I pray they will heal of that trauma and open their minds.
My head tingles and feels warm and I feel like everything is going to be alright.
So instead of being offended by their caring, just set boundaries and if they cross them, then let there be repercussions. But don't begrudge them for caring. Of those best people I've ever known, one is the love of my life. She comes from a family of bible-thumpers and believes it with all her heart. I go to church every Sunday, just to support her, although she knows I don't believe in it. She once told me that her greatest fear is that she'll get to heaven and I won't be there.
And thank you for your civility. Usually, I get condescending atheists responding to me. Which is why I tend to mirror their behaviour back at them, to my shame.
You said "Everything started making sense when you took god out of the equation. Such a feeling of freedom I've never felt before. Real happiness was truly inside of me for a change."
I couldn't possibly have said it better myself. All of those things make sense...the contradictions to science and reality in the Bible...the 30,000+ different Christian denominations...the millions of children who starve to death every year in an all-loving god's creation.
Everything makes sense WITHOUT a god.
when it says God created the heavens and earth it also says that it was all chaos and "let there be light" was the big bang that shaped the universe and organized it.
Zen, I hope things go well with your girl while she's away from you. Let's hope her trip is safe there and back. My sister was just in Mexico with her two daughters last month on some mission work for a couple of weeks. I don't know many of the details.
You're right when saying, it's not all the people in the church to blame but the ones who wheel the direction in which they're lead that can cause the problems.
If our family has a rift, it won't be me who doesn't see them. I'll always be there for them and be with them if they'll let me. If that doesn't happen it's because they don't want me around or around their kids. Ah, we'll see how it goes.
I did mention I was a christian for 40 yrs. One of my brothers died a couple months back. We were as close as any brothers could be. It's the first time experiencing the death of a family member as an atheist. That's a whole other story.
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Seth....you really do produce some wonderful stuff.
This should basically be the principle of every religion treat others the way you want to be treated
I read the Bible, and I do enjoy it, but I was taught to be empathetic towards other people's opinions and beliefs as long as they don't harm others. I even respect people's right to be stupid because in the end, they are kind of entertaining. I can't fix people's problems, only they can, so I respect people who abandon their parents crazy religious beliefs and survived being out casted.
Remember kids, thinking for yourself is bad. Authority figures always know what's best, especially those who speak for God.
No one told me, or taught me to believe what I do. When I became intelligent enough to see the Truth- it was clear and apparent to me. I don't Judge others' beliefs, or tell them they're wrong, or try to convert them. I don't want that done to me, either. Personal choice is personal.
I really like these short vids that TTA has put out over the years. They're very well done.
You gotta be sh!ttin' me series is the best))
cont....The loss of my brother, now that I'm an atheist, I can't answer if it was worse or better than if I was still a christian. Maybe the answer would be there if it wasn't someone so close, not sure. It's just painful, really hard to deal with.
Never fought and always got along for over 50 yrs. He was the only one other than my girl who knew I was an atheist. I miss him, will always miss him. Damn....this was hard to write.Well, I enjoyed chatting with you. You take care.
Think of it from their point of view. They truly and honestly believe that you might be at risk of suffering an eternity of torture and dispair away from anything and everything that has any semblance of hope or goodness to it. And worse yet, you will be forever seperated in the afterlife from them and everyone whom you have ever cared for. They BELIEVE this, and there is no way to make them not believe. Imagine how terrified that must make them.
I understand where these folks are coming from. I was forced to go to church every sunday school. I went to the RCIA program and learned about Emperor Constantine and the Nicene Coucil. He tried to create a one world religion by having the bible writen 150 years after the supposed death of christ.. I understand that now at 43 years old. I no longer attend church and I don't nor will I force my daughter. Nor will I force her to adopt my philosophies.
That last line in the video is exactly on the point.
I am not a believer but it is not worth destroying the whole family just to even have a discussion about religion. Just to mention anything about my lack of belief to my family is like a battle cry. They know how I feel, I know how they feel and we just leave it at that. They all know that I view them as having the intellectual capacity of a dirty ashtray.
from my peers to believe, so I sort of did. But it didn't last long, because as I grew older I began to really question it and drift away from it, until I went from agnostic to atheist entirely. Now my parents regret not taking me to church more. I'm still a teenager, but I will never be a theist. I am an example of what happens when the church doesn't get to brainwash a child and the child is left to think for herself.
Proverbs 13:10
By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.
My point, which you obviously missed is a milkshake, being a cold body transfers energy into our digestive system (a warm body) but it never violates the second law of thermodynamics because of "closed systems" created within the cell. Yes the cold body takes HEAT energy from our body, but it provides energy in the form of complex sugars and fats. I am a molecular and cellular biologist so I can tell you we can explain how energy is converted from a milkshake quite completely.
I was actually very lucky. When I was young, my parents didn't give a fuck about Religion even though my dad believed and slowly, my sister, my brother and now me stopped believed because we opened our minds. I'm now 13 and glad my head isnt stuck in Mud ! while most of my friends at school are blind believers !
I started questioning "god"'s existence when i was 8 years old, I completely rejected it's existence at the age of 9.
why? because two of my friends, when I was a kid, died for no reason, friends I made at sunday brainwashing... devote girls that believed in god died just days after the comunion ceremony, I was panicked at first, thinking god would smite me like he did them.
but of course I grew up, studied and became atheist by my own means at early age, and I am happier than ever since then.
All of my "friends" tell me they are going to pray for me, or they tell me I better repent before I burn in hell. And all I say is " there is only one person in are conversation that's afraid of damnation, and it sure as hell isn't me"
thats right, because nobody tells us what to believe and we don't derive our world view from the greatest comedy book ever written
Everything a person can learn about life, can be learned on the Internet. So long as they have the logical sense to weed the words or the ignorant from the wise. Everything we could ever want to know is right here. Everything we could ever want to experience, Is beyond our doors in the world outside.
Precisely. It just keeps getting further and further from being likely. After a time, it's more about being afraid to change one's position. Most people are frightened by the concept of being considered "wishy-washy" (changing their position and being indecisive) and think it somehow makes them look weak instead of open minded.
BTW- You write very well. It's amazing that English is not your first language.
Oh tanks that's very nice of you to say.
Yes you are right, I personally consider it to be a sign of strenght to be able to admit if you don't know something or to amit that you've been wrong. You can never truelly grow as a human when you are not prepared to do so.
In my old private school, the teaching of evolution was not allowed. I was forced to attend Church services, youth group, choir, prayer groups, Christian camps, Christian events, Christian lectures, study Christianity in depth, and pray every morning, afternoon, and night. Any other doctrine or belief was forcibly kept away from me by my oh-so-loving parents and teachers. If this isn't indoctrination I don't know what is.
when I first saw that proverb I said to myself "not in my future" because 50 years from now people will ask me how did I do it how did I become an asexual activist\ writer and the king of transgender rights when one side of the family didn't want me to succeed at either the answer Is endurance. when they pressured me about things that I clearly did not need to survive I turned the other cheek and said no this is not who I am. the family name already deserve it's place on the ash heap so I they dont get what they want it wouldn't bother me either way they would only be dying for thier ego anyways. because the days go family tradition are over I have seen the way of the future unity instead of division healing instead of harming an sharing the preciousness of life
Churches are like fast food restaurants. Fast food restaurants offer cheap, but fun-looking toys with their kids meals, so that when parents take their kids to fast food restaurants after their kids begged them to go so they could get the toys, the kids end up growing up going to that fast food restaurant, and thus the restaurant instills loyalty into the impressionable minds of young children. Churches are the same way. They offer fun programs and ways to get together with friends -cont-
But he's a good man who doesn't really hurt anyone and genuinely believes what he preaches and I can't disrespect him for that, although I often feel he's misguided. You're right. If the religion tears your family apart, that is bad. My love talked about going on a mission trip recently and...I felt a pain in my heart. Because when they go on their mission trips...I spend the nights praying for the protection of the people they are going to from them.
As for the woman saying at 1:27 saying that Christians say that religion is man reaching out to God and that Christianity is not a religion because it's god reaching out to man, that definitely seems like the narrative I have heard. Commonly Christians also say, "Christianity it not really a religion, it's a relationship."
He's actually one of only like 3 people I've ever met in my life that I couldn't stand to be around. And I think that he hurts my love a lot more than he helps her, so I wouldn't complain. As for her friends...I can't say. There's a couple whom I'm pretty sure would stick by her, although they'd be very worried, and there are a couple whom I am pretty sure would be less...understanding. Her mom, as I said, would accept her, but she'd probably sleep poorly over it the rest of her life.
It's more complicated than that. Space itself is expanding. Time is linked to space, as well. What is outside of space and time, we don't know, and might never know.
If there is any room for a Creator, it is there, but that is a "God of the gaps" argument, and assumes its own conclusion. Science says, "We don't really know, so we need to learn more to figure it out." I am confident that we will discover new theories that can deal with the singularity problem and describe what happened.
"And were religion not inculcated into their minds, they would remain so." Which further proves the point that atheist also carry on the traditions of their parents. Pointing to indoctrination through traditions is not evidence against any particular religion. Also, you can be a freethinker (open minded) all you like. But their is a truth that relates to us all. Being open-minded just means your willing to accept anything including misinformation & even a lie. Truth closes your mind around it.