#pacifism #christianpacifism #postchristian

A Christian pacifist in the American Empire, a series written by Ted Grimsrud

"For the past fifty years, it seems, I have lived in increasing despair as an idealistic citizen of the United States. I have tried to think my way through what seems to be an irresolvable and terminal problem."

https://thinkingpacifism.net/a-christian-pacifist-in-the-american-empire/

The Canadian pop singer Shawn Mendes wrote again and again in his journal "I will sell out the Rogers Center". He was doing something called manifesting, which has taken off on Tiktok. But what exactly is it? I investigate:

https://oblivionwithbells.com/2024/10/19/thoughts-and-prayers-is-really-just-thoughts/

#Manifesting #magicalthinking #manifestation #Christianity #Christian #Prayer #Faith #Belief #God #Jesus #ExChristian #Exvangelical #PostChristian #PostChristianity #Doubt #Praying #Deconversion #Deconstruction

Reading up about manifestation & magical thinking today made me think about "thoughts & prayers". So I wrote a blog post about it:

https://oblivionwithbells.com/2024/10/19/thoughts-and-prayers-is-really-just-thoughts/

#ExChristian #PostChristianity #postChristian #Exvangelical #prayer #Lawofattraction #belief #religion #superstition #magicalthinking #positivethinking #positivity #Christian #Christianity #faith #manifestation #newage #newagethinking #luckygirlSyndrome

My latest blog post is about how over two weeks in 2017 my Christian faith slipped away from me:

https://oblivionwithbells.com/2024/04/14/losing-my-religion/

#Belief #Faith #ExChristian #Christianity #Atheist #Atheism #Agnostic #Agnosticism #PostChristian

Many of us understand that there is one side of the US political spectrum that has turned truly awful, but what a lot of people don't seem to understand is how that got that way and why they are so adament about their beliefs. Of course there are pragmatic reasons (people who are wealthy and in charge of things want to stay that way) but still it is truly astounding that so many people who are not among the category of "rich white men" will still cling to those who probably despise them, or if not them then people they know and maybe even love. There is a person I know who is employed at a public agency and his direct boss is probably the biggest Trump supporter in the building - oh, and she also happens to be a lesbian. How does that make any sense at all, given what Trump and his followers have said they want to do to #lbgtq people?

Well, a big part of it is religion, and in particular the Christian religion. So many of those people have somehow been convinced that to oppose Trump would be to oppose "God's annointed" even though it is obvious to most of us on the outside of their bubble that Trump is not a God-fearing man, and would probably be among the first to have Jesus shot to death if he ever came back.

But step back a bit - where did this idea of just unconditionally obeying a "man of god" come from in the first place? Well, that is certainly nothing new, after all the early church required its followers to obey the Pope and all the bishops and cardinals and priests and so on. But where did that ever come from? After all, Jesus for the most part condemned organized religion, especially the scribes and the Pharisees of his day, according to the Bible.

So where did #Christianity go off the rails? Well, for years I have been saying that it's because Christians, and especially modern #evangelicals, stopped following the teachings of Jesus a long time ago. Sure, they pay lip service to him and pray to him, but for the most part they follow the instructions found in the writings of the "apostle" Paul. And that is a real problem, because Paul was probably just as deluded ans any guy who's ever started his own cult or sect that is loosely based on Christianity. There are many cults that use the Bible AND other writings (but mostly the "other" writings) as the basis of their religion, the only difference is that the extra writings of Paul (and possibly others who used his name) got included in Biblical canon by the early church. But that doesn't mean they are writings that Jesus would have in any way approved of. In fact, there are cases where Paul's writings directly contradict the teachings of Jesus. Here's a good video on the topic:

7 Times Paul Contradicted Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNDsaPoeuzk

Why is this important? Because most of the hate you see coming from the so-called "religious right" is not a part of their religion if you leave out Paul (and also the old testament, but that's another discussion). I have said before, they seem to love conspiracy theories, and you could make a great conspiracy theory that the early church included Paul's writings in the Bible even though they knew he was a "false christ" because if you wanted to control the masses and make them subserviant to the church hierarchy, teaching only the words of Jesus simply would not do. But if you wanted to replace the Christian religion with something that was in many ways the polar opposite of what Jesus taught, then Paul was your guy. And that is as true today as it was hundreds of years ago, and it is the reason so many Christians are deluded about who God has chosen to lead them (and yes, I realize they are to some degree deluded because they want to be, because the delusion reinforces their prejudices and their hatred of those who are not like them). But when they try to stand on their religion as justification for what they believe or do, maybe it is worth asking which religion they are talking about, the one taught by Jesus or the probably totally fabricated version made up by Paul?

EDIT: Here's one more (this reminds me of some dishonest preachers):

The Dishonest Apostle | Was Paul Caught in a Lie?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wGNsRCiTTY

#biblecontradictions #deconstructionism #exvangelical #counterapologetics #USpol #ReligiousTrauma #ptsd #ChristianNationalism #Christofascism #deconstructing #evangelicalism #postchristian #postchristianity #exchristian #EmptyThePews #exvie #AbuseCulture #politics #mysogyny #homophobia #racism

It can take decades to recover from Fundamentalist Christian indoctrination. For some people it can take their whole life.

#Christian #Christianity #Agnostic #Agnosticism #Atheist #Atheism #Religion #Indoctrination #Evangelical #Evangelicalism #PostChristian #PostChristianity #Exvangelical #ExChristian #EmptyThePews

Christmas is a weird time when you have transitioned from a Christian faith to more agnosticism (possibly pantheism) as family and friends continue traditional Christmas celebrations per their faith, in the past it was hard to participate. This year I said, if I can believe in Santa during the Christmas season, why not believe in Jesus, like I do Santa. While religion is complex, I can have a fantastical belief in someone pure and good, for a month

#christmas #postmormon #postchristian, #santa

I deconverted from Christianity approximately 6 years ago and I've realised that a key book in helping me process what I was experiencing and helping me to deprogram myself from Evangelical Christianity was the book Leaving the Fold by Marlene Winnell.

I was just wondering if any ex-Christians out there are aware of any other books of that calibre worth reading?

Thanks.

#ExChristian #Atheist #Agnostic #Exvangelical #PostChristian

Oh? Sure. Do tell 🙄

#ExChristian #Agnostic #Humanist #Humanism #Exvangelical #PostChristian #Atheist #Atheism