Traumatized by Christian Dogma & The Evangelical "Good News Club"

Thanks for the great post OP. I think more people need to learn about the physical, emotional, and spiritual damage that radical evangelism does to children. I've made posts before about a lot of the abuse that I went through with radical evangelical parents, having to go to private Christian schools, and general brainwashing that I endured.

But yeah. Thanks for raising awareness of this nightmare.

originally posted by: Chronogoblin
Where is the difference, between religious indoctrination, and any other kind?

What "other kind"? Several of you have mentioned another or opposing type of indoctrination and I'm not sure what you mean. Can you explain?

originally posted by: Chronogoblin

And even if the kids were getting a ride in the carpool lane to heaven, it still doesn't explain how Christians can reconcile the concept of a loving god who forgives us our sins, per J.C. With the utter wanton destruction and brutal violence that is the hallmark greeting of the OT god. Though I suppose it was easier to pull off when Christianity finally made it to the big leagues under Constantine having a vast population of mostly illiterate and uneducated peasants.

I could go into detail about the reasons God did what he did in the OT, however, I feel as if you would not be interested, not believe me. So have a nice day.

That's kind of cute. You assert yourself then climb on your high horse, make false assumptions and ride off into the sunset with your cape blowing in the breeze. Kind of like the ending to Shane. If you could get over your own presumptions of superiority you might be surprised what people are interested in or want to hear, even if its simply for academic purposes instead of personals revelation.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout, I'm telling you why. He's making a list, checking it twice; gonna find out who's naughty or nice. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.

He sees you when you're sleeping...he knows when you're awake...he knows if you've been bad or good...so be good for goodness sake...goodness sake. You better watch out...

Now, that's just creepy

Seems someone is coming to town - and there will be hell to pay no matter who he is

When you're only little it's hard to know what's real and what's not

It's also hard to know what's bad and what's not - so there's always a real good chance you're being bad. Especially if you were born bad

It must be terrifying

S&F Ms. Buzzy

I grew up going to church and Christian camps during the summer. I went to a private Christian school from Kindergarten to 12th grade. I even graduated from a private college with the word "Christian" in its name. My mother loved the Lord and taught me about Christ's sacrifice. She was nothing but helpful in my spiritual development. However, I will admit, by the time I got out of the house and went to college, I had absolutely had it up to here with the religious indoctrination of my school. By the time I finished high school I had written hundreds of papers in which the theses pertained to God and his nature. I felt like I had been living in a compound and all I ever wanted was to climb over the towering walls of this compound to see what was there. Basically, I wasn't able to believe anything until I had seen it all. After a year at college I came home and told my mom I wasn't a Christian.

Then, after a few years of exploration, lots of reading material and much enlightenment, I realized the paths leading me away from God were cold and lonely. So I asked God to show himself to me once more in a new light, even with all the newfound knowledge streaming through my head, and that is what he did. The Bible revealed a truth to me that I had somehow missed during my days in the compound. I met the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ as the spirit speaks to my heart by the grace of God. For this I am constantly thankful. For this I am constantly mocked and ridiculed. For this I live my life.

I believe we are all free.

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you. Proverbs 2

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: nfflhome

You sound like another Liberal trying to take another constitutional right away.

That's your opinion. I'm a secular person who knows about early childhood development and parenting issues.

I'm not trying to take away any rights. I'm trying to help the world become a less dreadful place. It begins with parenting.

It does not begin with parenting. It begins with truth and walking in God's righteousness. Only from this can you raise children in the same.
You say you want peace, a "less dreadful place". Please tell us, do you want pedophiles and pederasts, sexually preying upon your children? Peace to them is full legal access to children for sexual purposes and children being given legal rights to "choose it", and that delusion of peace brings torment and misery upon parents and the children who becomes their victims and prey.

The point being, where can there ever be peace for all parties involved here? The world will eventually compromise, the righteous will become unrighteous - not the other way around, the unrighteousness becoming righteous. The world pursues its emotions, it makes decisions to go in ways that seem right...it seeks peace and happiness as feelings as pleasure....and cannot see the trail of destruction growing in it's wake.

Kids today are taught, day in and day out, to make decisions based upon emotions. If it feels good or makes them feel good...then it's good and right. And if it feels bad or makes you feel bad...then it's evil.
Truth hurts. Truth cuts the quick, it separates the soul and spirit. Truth, spoken kindly and gently, can hurt. But do you not see the problem here? And where it is leading our children when they are brainwashed to believe that anything that makes them "feel" bad...is an evil? What is actually being produced is an entire generation of children that will stand for zero correction and who certainly perceive a God who chastises His children out of love...as a monster. This is clearly manifested in the growing number of children calling their own parents every name in the book and threatening to call social services on them....for simply making them feel bad through attempts at correction.

This is the parenting issue. Matriarchy. Soul exaltation. Emotional raising of children. Catholicism for the masses

originally posted by: diggindirt
What is the difference between scaring kids about going to hell and the present day tactic of the Education Industry of scaring them about "ruining the planet" by driving cars and living in "too big" houses?
I know of kindergarten kids who came home after their first week at school crying because the teacher had told them that their parents had polluted the earth and were ruining the world because they drove cars that used gasoline! That all the fishes in the ocean were dying ....the world is ending ....because we're using paper bags for groceries----No! Wait---it's ending because plastic grocery bags are getting into the oceans...No! Wait---humankind is a virus on the planet and needs to be controlled!
At least we were told how to protect ourselves from the atomic bombs about to be dropped on us---Duck and Cover.
If you don't want to teach religion to your kids---don't teach religion to your kids. It is not up to you to make that decision for others however. It is not up to you to CONTROL others.

People are under hypnosis. They do not see George Washington portrayed as God on the Rotunda of the Capitol, directly over his empty tomb. They are hypnotised to not see it, they are hypnotised to believe the western governments are secular, they are hypnotised into believing that the western nations are secular...and yet their kids are being taught religion right infect heir nose, day in and say out and it's entirely
anti
Christ

a reply to: Year1

It does not begin with parenting.

Yes.
It does.

a reply to: Year1

How can you say that it's not about parenting and then go off an a two paragraph tirade about how children are rIsed and how thru are taught? Who exactly do you think a child's first teachers are? It's their parents. The parents teach them all the basics of life and impart THEIR moral standards and values upon their children. That's exactly where it a begins, in the home with the parents.

sa reply to: BuzzyWigsThis is my first post. It is a topic that I have personally grappled with my entire life. Raised southern Baptist and threatened with hell, taught and led Sunday School programs but as a mother I refused to scare my children with threats of hell and punishment from a "loving" god. My 5 year old daughter described sunday school lessons as fairy tales and I let her have her own spiritual journey. I believe I am a humanist after many years of professional biblical study. I am very concerned about the "Christian" private schools and indoctrination; my own nieces, nephews, cousins, family come out of these "schools" with such judgmental hatred for other religions, races and nationalities that it literally makes me ill. I try really hard not to be anti-christian - but I definitely believe "religion" is the root or used as an excuse to control - and hate. This makes me very sad and I wish I had a more positive future outlook. Thanks for letting me share something I just about always keep just to myself.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs
I was not raised in a religious home yet always believed in God and Jesus and nothing in the Bible was ever frightening. It is valuable for children to learn the value of humility, (through stories and lessons on who we are, not abuse in any fashion of course) otherwise we tend to become proud and believe we can do no wrong. So, though we may agree on some level that people take it too far and almost act nuts for perhaps attention, the lessons and truth about the eternal ramifications of the soul must not be hidden because the truth hurts. In fact the sooner you address it, the sooner you can solve the problem

Thanks for replaying my entire childhood out for me in one single thread. I have a 3 year old son now, he will never step foot in a church or a sunday school or any religious environment until he is of the age to choose for himself and understand the reasons behind his choice. Something tells me that raising him to be a critical thinker and ask questions of his surroundings that he will most likely not willingly choose to partake in those activities.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

As a Christian I know "Hell" is a false and terrible dogma propagated by the clergy of Christendom to scare the masses.
That is not to say there is no punishment, for breaking the rules, but it isn't that(Hell). Ironically it is what an atheist would believe, that is non-existence.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Now, either you don't know what the bible says about Sodom, don't believe it, or simply don't agree with it.
But your statement is false about how God COULD have dealt with it, Abraham actually had that conversation with God himself. If anybody could have convinced God to spare those cities it was Abraham, and he actually tried. In fact later because of Lot's request Zoar was saved when it was also slated for destruction too. You are armchair quarterbacking God on past events, it amazes me how people think they are smarter than God.
But then we live in a time when bi-sexual males will gang rape their male peers in school, just like what was happening in Sodom. Guess what, those sodomites aren't in hell, they aren't anywhere, they don't exist, and they are gone forever. And those with similar dispositions will be in the same category in the future, not in hell, not alive, but just dead; eternal non-existence.

I absolutely hold that indoctrinating children into cults, like Christianity, is child abuse. It's not the fault of the abuser, though. It's the cycle of abuse.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I think this makes perfect sense, God gives you what you want. You want to be God, then go ahead make your own universe with your own rules and live in it the way you want to - if you can. You don't sound to me like someone who doesn't want God's help. I agree that "ministers" use the threat of hell fire and damnation as a big stick to hold over their poor sheeple members. God is not like that, he actually wants to help you out of the mess you are in through not fault of your own. You could not help being born into a line that is estranged from God, but He has done everything possible to fix it up for you. But there are people who would prefer to go it alone. I don't know why.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
Yep.

Religion is nothing more than a tool of control, based and built on guilt and fear. When I drive by churches on Sunday I remark to my girl, "Look at all the guilty feeling people!".

One doesn't need to believe in an imaginary sky-genie, whom you telepathically worship and request wishes to have morals.

This is too simplistic of a belief system, and is shown to be in error across the board.

Something out there is PLAYING GOD, and it is NOT HUMAN, and they are using FEAR against the ELITE of this world, and have been for a very VERY long time.

Manly Palmer Hall, Honorary 33 degree Mason tells a far different tale, as do SO MANY....but you would rather believe the ongoing hyper garbage, and think that OUR LEADERS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS, ALL BELIEVE IN something, that has them over a barrel!!!

originally posted by: diggindirt
What is the difference between scaring kids about going to hell and the present day tactic of the Education Industry of scaring them about "ruining the planet" by driving cars and living in "too big" houses?
I know of kindergarten kids who came home after their first week at school crying because the teacher had told them that their parents had polluted the earth and were ruining the world because they drove cars that used gasoline! That all the fishes in the ocean were dying ....the world is ending ....because we're using paper bags for groceries----No! Wait---it's ending because plastic grocery bags are getting into the oceans...No! Wait---humankind is a virus on the planet and needs to be controlled!
At least we were told how to protect ourselves from the atomic bombs about to be dropped on us---Duck and Cover.
If you don't want to teach religion to your kids---don't teach religion to your kids. It is not up to you to make that decision for others however. It is not up to you to CONTROL others.

Yes and some public figures have gone so far as to suggest that "mother earth" is going to retaliate. Big and mean she will take wrath upon all those that abuse the earth. She will thin the masses with plagues, shake the earth with a great quaking in retaliation for folks drilling holes into her. This is the wrathful god that the secularists present for general consumption.

a reply to: hxc408

It is valuable for children to learn the value of humility, (through stories and lessons on who we are, not abuse in any fashion of course) otherwise we tend to become proud and believe we can do no wrong.

I raised my kids to know right from wrong without using the Bible at all.
People who believe they can "do no wrong" have no morals. They are psychopaths. Religion is not necessary to learn morals...empathy has nothing to do with God stories.

I appreciate your point, thanks for participating.

So many people have different ideas about what religion means and what the lessons are... One says there is no Hell, only "nothingness" (that's NOT in the bible - I don't know where you got that), one implies that to learn humility, we must learn who we are (through religion, I presume), another says there's something "out there" playing God, and one claims that to be without religion or belief in deities means one wants to "be God".

Simple truth is, we don't need a God or religion to learn consequences in THIS life, nor to learn humility or to learn who we are, and it doesn't mean we want to "be God". I don't believe there is a God, I certainly don't want to be one, myself.

Life is full of opportunities to learn love, compassion, understanding, sympathy, humility and generosity. Belief in a God and religion are NOT necessary to life a full, meaningful and happy life.

a reply to: Justso

Thank you for your post, Justso!
Welcome to ATS activity...

I read an interesting blog post on patheos this morning about Judging - the author presented the Garden of Eden story with a slant I'd not heard before:

The eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is, according to that author, actually "original sin" - it opened the eyes of Adam and Eve to assume authority to judge others in the name of God, when God alone was to be the only judge.

One has to wonder why the hell (heh - unintended pun) God put the tree where they could get to it to begin with....
to my mind, just another dirty trick to trip up his beloved 'creations'. *eyeroll*