Christians anonymous

[Seawolf]

It's a figure of speech that seemed appropriate.To me it just means good intentions can lead to bad things. Someone can genuinely want to help and end up destroying another person. We think we have what the other person needs. An extreme example is parents who send thier children to anti-gay camps to change their sexuality, and the child commits suicide. That came out awhile ago and it still happens.

[Morpheus]

You know Seawolf, it always seems to come down to the gay/straight issue. Why is that?

You have now for several decades the Metropolitan Community Church which is Gay, and now a number of others, similar, who are nevertheless believers in Christ.

You have a very valid point. Sometimes I think it's more for the parents benefit. Like they don't want to have a gay kid, or they don't want to look like failures when their kids abandon religion. There's just so much guilt people put on themselves. Not to mention the fact that kids are so totally looked down on. Like they couldn't possibly understand anything without complete and utter brainwashing. Everything is designed to teach kids what to think, not how to think for themselves. I won't get into conspiracy theories behind that.. .but that's one of the reasons I home school! I really value my son's opinion, and I want him to think for himself. Sometimes I think kids are wiser then adults because they've been brainwashed less and still ask questions.

I think one of the prime examples of people having good intentions, but doing horrible things, would be war. Soldiers are painted as heroes for killing people. Course I could now go into a whole religious/money war rant. But instead I'll simply quote Einstein "The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service." Or the soldiers who refuse to shoot when given orders to.

I guess even good intentions can be brainwashed into people. This goes back to a question I keep asking myself, "how many of the thoughts I have are my own?" Can people go through their whole lives without having one original thought or opinion?

Morpheus.. I think you missed the point there. Seawolf was just giving an example of how good intentions can kill. I really couldn't care less if there are pro-gay churches out there. They probably happily condemn people for something else.

[Morpheus]

Seems though, in his post, he sizes up, labels, judges, and categorizes people of certain perspectives, and faith, in one lump.

I don't think his post was nearly long enough to accomplish all of that. lol. We're just sharing our own personal experiences, which is the point of this thread. I'd love it if you would share yours. Did you escape from religion and the church, and if so how did you manage it?

[Morpheus]

Not escaped, progressed in the Way. The Mystical is the destination.

[Seawolf]

Originally Posted by Newfreedom9

I guess even good intentions can be brainwashed into people. This goes back to a question I keep asking myself, "how many of the thoughts I have are my own?" Can people go through their whole lives without having one original thought or opinion?

In my view we gather information and can use it however we want. We can accept it or question it. We can use it to help or to hurt. Yes I was brainwashed, but was it really the fault of the people around me? They were brainwashed too. Maybe it's the fault of whoever set up the system to not teach critical thinking skills (which is great you're doing that for your children). Maybe it was my parents fault for sending me to schools that didn't teach critical thinking. Or maybe it's my fault. It could be everyone's fault or no one's fault, but it's my responsibility. I'm responsible for whatever I do, as well as how I think.

Morpheus, I'm talking about my experience, not about all of Christianity. I realize there are many different kinds of Christianity.

Yes, I agree it's a personal responsibility to question everything. I've never found the blame game to be particularly beneficial. I don't blame myself or my parents, and I don't even regret my experiences. They're just that, experience that I've learned and grown out of. It's impossible to say what sort of person I'd be, had I not grown up in the church. For right now, I'm just having fun experimenting with what's possible. Things that were kinda off limits before. Like, I'm really into energy healing right now! I find it absolutely fascinating how we can help to heal others and ourselves with our hands.

[Seawolf]

That sounds fun. I know they do things like that in asian countries. It's funny that there's people with powers, it reminds me of japanese anime characters. From what I understand they're underground though, the powers don't work when they're used for glory. Funny over here everyone's a master, and where they actually do energy things there are only a few masters.