Are you bitter?

[BadPoison]

Okay, if we're talking bitter toward the religious in a current sense, yes... I'm bitter toward everyone and everything religious or related to god because of what they want to do to my life NOW.  

I'm not bitter toward my mom or dad because of my religious indoctrination as a child.  They believed and taught me to believe as well.  They weren't lying to me because there wasn't an intent to lie or intentionally mislead.  They truly believe what they were telling me is the truth, factual and real.  They did so with the best of intentions, wanting me to be a good Christian.

Yes, I know... people NOW do things with the best of intentions, but the contemporary atmosphere is different, at least IMO.  I can't really explain how I have it compartmentalized... but I do.  If a woman puts her hand on my shoulder and says, "I'll pray for you," I take offense.  If my mom does it, I don't.  I KNOW my mom means it, thinks it will do me good, and means no disrespect.  The other woman, I do believe she means disrespect, like she's better than I am because she has god and I don't.

Did that make sense?

So yes, whenever I see a billboard posting some religious garbage, or the news report about the GPS devices in the religious symbols donated (but not to any atheists, I'm sure), or even see the Gideon bible in a motel room... I'm very bitter.  Why do they have the right to put all of their beliefs out there but if I (or someone with my beliefs) does the same thing, we are vilified and told it's wrong and we're evil, even if we don't believe in that concept?

My upbringing?  No, not bitter.

Current religiosity of my country?  VERY bitter!

rlrose, I couldn't agree more. I don't have any hard feelings towards my fundamentalist family, though I do feel annoyed, and sometimes uncomfortable when they take obvious passive aggressive action - like the topics they publicly pray for at family get togethers, and even the gifts they give. (They gave me Lee Sobel's book...) But I tolerate it because the only other choice is not having a family...

I definitely feel differently about any non family member. My family gets off the hook for their BS because I love them - but not anyone else.

[Wechtlein Uns]

Well, I was pretty angry at religion for a while. I don't want to say I'm freed of bitterness. But I really don't mind religion too much. At other times, I am very annoyed. Luckily for me, I like to show my obvious disapproval for all things religious. That fact that other people get uncomfortable and some even argue with me is fun.

-_-;

[Sophus]

It was a joyous day for me... finally, a day without the noise of religion in my heart and head.  I could rest easy knowing it's all crap.

Same here. I think I am able to appreciate being an atheist more. Freedom tastes so much sweeter knowing what it is like to be oppressed. In many ways I am thankful. I try not to think about how differently some things in my life could have played out in the past had I been faithless.

[NearBr0ken]

I'm not bitter.  Annoyed maybe, but not bitter.  I mean, if there really was a hell, I'd want someone to do everything in their power to save me from it.  Where it gets irritating is when they refuse to even countenance an alternate point of view.  Everything except exactly what they believe is wrong.  I don't mind the superstition.  That's just ignorace.  I hate the closed-mindedness.  That's stupidity.  BIG difference there.

[BadPoison]

It was a joyous day for me... finally, a day without the noise of religion in my heart and head.  I could rest easy knowing it's all crap.

Same here. I think I am able to appreciate being an atheist more. Freedom tastes so much sweeter knowing what it is like to be oppressed. In many ways I am thankful. I try not to think about how differently some things in my life could have played out in the past had I been faithless.

Agreed Sophus - there is surely a sense of self liberation in coming to an atheist perspective after previously being so misguided.

[brekfustuvluzerz]

hi, this is my first post! i grew up in a christian surrounding my whole life and in my late teens, my sense of reasoning was strongly opposing my religious beliefs. i ignored my better judgement for a while out of fear of hell, but eventually i decided that god would not be angry with me if i was honestly searching for truth. i mean, after all, it would lead me right back to "him," right? imagine my surprise! within a year of exploring, i realized how ridiculous the christian religion was. i have never felt bitter about my skewed upbringing. for me, my path through ignorance has given me compassion for christians. they dont choose to wallow in their ignorance, it is simply the best explanation they can come up with to explain the world around them. i have met and am friends with a lot of christians who i respect despite disagreeing with nearly their entire world view. i do have a problem when religion causes people to make decisions. i have a cousin who is married with two young children. he recently felt "called" to become a chaplain in the military. this makes me angry. he is choosing to go into harms way to be an intermediary between soldiers and their imaginary friend, meanwhile leaving his young family behind and risking death resulting in his wife having to raise his children alone. i have nothing but respect for people who want to protect their country, but this decision should not be based on a "calling."
to your question about feeling joy, i felt a mixture of emotions. i felt free of so much fear and free of the unattainable standards, but at the same time, i felt like i had lost a friend. as a christian i believed that god loved me and was helping me find a path in this life. suddenly this highly connected friend was gone. it was very comforting to believe that god was up in heaven watching over me, pulling strings in my favor. if i, for example, was in a car wreck, i could quiet my worrisome feelings, telling myself that god was in control. if i passed a tough exam, then god helped me, if i failed, then it was for his glory and my benefit in the long run. now its just me, figuring it all out on my own, but "it is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, no matter how satisfying or reassuring."

[karadan]

hi, this is my first post! i grew up in a christian surrounding my whole life and in my late teens, my sense of reasoning was strongly opposing my religious beliefs. i ignored my better judgement for a while out of fear of hell, but eventually i decided that god would not be angry with me if i was honestly searching for truth. i mean, after all, it would lead me right back to "him," right? imagine my surprise! within a year of exploring, i realized how ridiculous the christian religion was. i have never felt bitter about my skewed upbringing. for me, my path through ignorance has given me compassion for christians. they dont choose to wallow in their ignorance, it is simply the best explanation they can come up with to explain the world around them. i have met and am friends with a lot of christians who i respect despite disagreeing with nearly their entire world view. i do have a problem when religion causes people to make decisions. i have a cousin who is married with two young children. he recently felt "called" to become a chaplain in the military. this makes me angry. he is choosing to go into harms way to be an intermediary between soldiers and their imaginary friend, meanwhile leaving his young family behind and risking death resulting in his wife having to raise his children alone. i have nothing but respect for people who want to protect their country, but this decision should not be based on a "calling."
to your question about feeling joy, i felt a mixture of emotions. i felt free of so much fear and free of the unattainable standards, but at the same time, i felt like i had lost a friend. as a christian i believed that god loved me and was helping me find a path in this life. suddenly this highly connected friend was gone. it was very comforting to believe that god was up in heaven watching over me, pulling strings in my favor. if i, for example, was in a car wreck, i could quiet my worrisome feelings, telling myself that god was in control. if i passed a tough exam, then god helped me, if i failed, then it was for his glory and my benefit in the long run. now its just me, figuring it all out on my own, but "it is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, no matter how satisfying or reassuring."

Wow. You will make a great addition to this forum!
 

[brekfustuvluzerz]

thanks karadan! glad to be here. and honestly, when i saw the smiley you left for me, i put down my laptop and went to the fridge! back at ya!

[Arthur Dent]

wonderfully put, brekfustuvluzerz! I can relate to so many things you mentioned.

I suppose that in the end, I am not bitter towards my parents, but rather the nature of what took hold of them and took advantage of them with false promises and stories (lies) of a glorious future.

I can definitely agree with you on despising when it comes into decision making. My family was hesitant to let me attend college due to fear of the "end of the world" and things of that nature. Everyday I see life-changing decisions being made on faith, against all logic.

[brekfustuvluzerz]

yeah im with you, aurthur. its also scary when those decisions are made by people with power and they effect a lot of lives. but i guess that is the world we live in. people have been doing that throughout history (witch burners!). i am also particularly angry with how much interesting culture was destroyed in the name of the christian god. the vikings of northern europe come to mind. i live in the states and once i met a very interesting guy from norway. he explained to me that in their country, christians are the bad guys of history. its always good to get other perspectives on life.

[karadan]

yeah im with you, aurthur. its also scary when those decisions are made by people with power and they effect a lot of lives. but i guess that is the world we live in. people have been doing that throughout history (witch burners!). i am also particularly angry with how much interesting culture was destroyed in the name of the christian god. the vikings of northern europe come to mind. i live in the states and once i met a very interesting guy from norway. he explained to me that in their country, christians are the bad guys of history. its always good to get other perspectives on life.

Funnily enough, there weren't that many witches burnt in the middle ages. The figure is more like 500, not the millions Dan Brown suggested in his awful book 'The da Vinci Code'...

The usual thing to happen to suspected witches was that they were let off due to lack of evidence.

Tis true

[Arthur Dent]

Hey I kinda liked The Da Vinci Code, but I was with Teabing..

[brekfustuvluzerz]

Funnily enough, there weren't that many witches burnt in the middle ages. The figure is more like 500, not the millions Dan Brown suggested in his awful book 'The da Vinci Code'...

The usual thing to happen to suspected witches was that they were let off due to lack of evidence.

Tis true

i havent studied much on the actual events, what information i have, i got from carl sagan's demon-haunted world. according to him, there were "hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions." killed in europe for being witches. then he goes on to say "billions and millions of billions, perhaps a million billion billion, literally billions and billions were killed," just kidding he didnt take it that far. but he did say perhaps millions. you wouldnt be disagreeing with father sagan now would you?    idk, either way, one was too many.

[Tom62]

Witch killing is still being practiced in the world. There are horrible accounts of witches being killed in Africa, a practice that is on the rise there (South Africa, Tanzania. Ghana etc.). In early modern Europe the estimated number of people executed for witchcraft vary between about 40,000 and 100,000 (source: Wikipedia).

[Arthur Dent]

Witch killing is still being practiced in the world. There are horrible accounts of witches being killed in Africa, a practice that is on the rise there (South Africa, Tanzania. Ghana etc.)

Ignorance: NOT bliss...