Sent in by Harrison McNichol

Hey everybody. Me again. :) I wrote recently in "What Am I?", saying that I really didn't know all the answers and that I wasn't sure what I was, but that I was having trouble with the Concept of Hell, and all that other stuff. I was confused and scared and thought the world was falling apart on me.

Today I have finally realized my answers. I'm not neccessarily rejecting "God" as a life-force inside us all. What I am rejecting is the "Christian God". I am saying farewell to religion, farewell to Christianity. In saying that, I do not mean now that I am anti-religious. I know that it plays a role in society and benefits some people and I respect people whatever faith they have or don't have.

As it stands now, I no longer believe in that invisible man in the sky who created an imperfect creation and sent his son to try to fix things by being sacrificed. I no longer believe that God is a malicious being who tells his followers to kill other people because they are evil.

There are too many contradictions in the bible and in the church doctrine to believe that it comes from a perfect being (God). The bible was man made, and thus is imperfect just like me. A perfect God wouldn't have had imperfect people write a book. When Jesus speaks in the new Testament it is as if words are being put into his mouth.

If there is a God, then God is that higher power inside us. That life force that connects us with everything else in the universe. Moreover, there is not this place called hell that God sends us to because we disagreed with Him/Her/It. And that's another thing too, if there is a God, God has no gender. God is merely a life force as I said, and when I die I will go back to the source, to that life that gave me life inside myself.

When I first came to this site a long time ago, I thought that is was an evil place because non-christians congregate here. Over time I have grown up and learned that one doesn't need Christianity or Religion to live a good and happy life.

I admit that in the back of mind there is this little tinge that says "what if you're wrong about your disbelief?....what if Christianity is the real religion and you will burn in hell when you die because you rejected God?" As I"m sure most of you reading this will tell me, those tinges will dissipate over time and I will awaken to the real me. The me that doesn't need a book or a church to tell me what to do. The me that says YES to living life and treating others with respect. The me that says NO to living in fear and believing all non-Christians will burn in hell for eternity.

If there is a God, I think God would judge all people based on how they treated their fellow human being, not on what religious rituals they adhered to. I have a hard time now believing in the doctrines that I was taught in the Bible College. I have a hard time believing that my newfound free thinking is such an evil thing.

Can I live a good and happy life without Christianity? Yes, indeed, and I am not the only one.

The reason I am not going full-tilt and saying that there is no God (ie. Athiesm), is that I believe in my recovery program and that there was a higher power in me that helped me to overcome my addictions. That higher power can be whatever concept I think it to be. I know that other people in recovery programs don't feel the need to believe in a higher power and they still recover. Thank God my higher power will help me overcome my addiction to religion. :)

Peace out, and peace within.

I can now say with the rest of you that I am, an Ex-Christian. :)

Regina
Canada
Joined: 4
Left: 26
Was: United/Evangelical/Muslim
Now: Truth Seeker
De-converted because:
Could no longer buy the illusion
email: spare AT accesscomm DOT ca