#religious-fundamentalist

[alienbycomics]

Gender Nonconforming Jesus: A look at art history. CW: religion, transphobia, artistic nudity, depictions of open wounds (Long post)

Here’s a link to the original comic: Trans Jesus

[fire-to-fire]

Actually, ex-Christians have earned the right to make fun of Christianity. It comes free with the religious trauma.

[deservedgrace]

something that's really been bothering me lately is how the church i was a part of would like... repackage doctrine to make it sound nicer and more acceptable. like, the belief that all humans are evil by nature and deserve eternal torture for the crime of existing is inherently violent and cruel. but my church didn't frame it like that. they framed it as "yes we're ALL evil and wicked and we ALL deserve hell to atone for our sin (being human) BUT god loves you despite you not deserving love or happiness or anything good at all and all you have to do to avoid the pits of hell is accept jesus as your savior isn't that so amazing????" and they framed the crucifixion as this beautiful, selfless act of god by taking our place on the cross instead of "this all-powerful being who created all the rules decided that he required torture, death, and human sacrifice to be able to tolerate us". and it's not "women will be viewed as lesser than men" it's "women must submit to their husbands the same way we all must submit to god it's not dehumanizing it's holy and yes women have different roles but that doesn't make them lesser than and sure we don't have any women in leadership positions in the church and we would never even consider it, come on now that's ridiculous, but that's just because men are supposed to lead because men and women are different and created for different purposes it's just biology". and there are plenty others! i know that the reframing of everything is part of how they can even get people to accept the doctrine in the first place, but being on the outside of it is kind of horrifying. when you get down to the actual beliefs that are held without the distortions and manipulation, so many are violent, cruel, dehumanizing, abusive. but they distort and manipulate these beliefs to make them seem acceptable, morally correct, and redefine what love is and should look like.

[theshoesofatiredman]

It's really fucked up how Christianity teaches that some people can only be reached for Christ when they hit rock bottom. Christians will pray for people to endure tremendous suffering simply so that the non-believers can hear the voice of god. Truly an abysmal failure in imagining a loving god.

"he's so loving because he caused me to experience the greatest pain of my life so that I could finally listen to him"

Absolutely insane move on the part of an all powerful, all knowing, all loving deity. You're telling me the ONLY WAY was the road of agony? Unrelenting love, kindness, and divine revelation weren't options?

[hulahoopsoupgroup]

the seven deadly sins are such bullshit fear tactics. if youve left the church, embrace them.

be proud of who you are. be happy when you look in the mirror and see how hot you are. yeah i see you flexing in the mirror after a workout. nice progress btw honey you look nice today.

dont worry about getting seconds, or thirds even, at dinner. dont worry about eating what society says is "too much" or "too little". eat until youre full. set aside what you cant finish for later so you dont waste food.

its okay to be greedy. its okay to want things for yourself. sometimes we see things that people have and we're like "dude i wish i had that." thats just human. envy and greed on that level are normal.

take a rest day. dont bother going to church this sunday. take a shower, read a book, drink some tea, eat some good food, pet a cat or dog. take care of yourself; its not lazy.

be angry with those who wronged you. punch a punching bag, write about how much you hate them, go work out aggressively and take care of your emotions in a way that doesnt hurt yourself or others. its okay to not forgive the people who hurt you. you arent doing anything wrong, babe.

embrace your sexuality (or, if it applies, asexuality, cause yall need love too). stop feeling shame for wanting pleasure. go read or watch something that turns you on. explore your body. ask your partner to try something new. if youre asexual, then fucking step on the people who say you need to have sexual attraction to be human. you dont. you dont need to be allosexual (or alloromantic) to "qualify as a human." we all experience life in different ways. find your way to experience it.

thought crime isnt real

do no harm but take no shit

[whats-a-human]

shoutout to everyone forced to go to church, church events and/or interacting with people you don't want to.

you are not "failing to stand up for yourself" if you can't say no. I know how terrible it is to balance the harm of going to church, etc, and the backlash if you don't.

you are not a failure if you are an adult living with a toxic family. Not at 18, not at 19, nor 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 + !!

you are not a failure if you are an adult living on your own but can't go non-contact yet

you are not a failure if you are a minor and are not as "brave" as you wished to be, or believe you won't be able to move out at 18

you are not a failure if you moved out and had to go back. No matter the reason!

whatever your situation is

you are not a failure

don't victim-blame yourself

❤

[sleepymick]

hey!! your lack of understanding of science is not proof that science is unreliable, a conspiracy, nor evidence of a god existing. thanks.

[redditreceipts]

how about the men who are apparently weak enough to "stumble" when seeing an underage girl's developing breasts are just not fit for Christian heaven and by constantly accomodating them, you are actually getting in the way of God's plan to send only the righteous to heaven? Because a guy who puts his own comfort over the safety of another person isn't that righteous after all and won't get into heaven either way.

(I don't really believe in Christianity btw, I am just trying to follow the argument of not cause men to "stumble" instead of teaching them how to be a righteous person. in my opinion, the latter would get them into heaven at a much higher rate than just making girls vulnerable to car accidents)

[apostateoverrubies]

It's funny how certain religious people act like accepting LGBTQ rights will lead to paedophilia being normalized when they've already let that shit slide for centuries.

Then again, what else do you expect from people who value religion over the rights of children?

Don't let them trick you into thinking they care.

[woodsfae]

When I was a kid in a religious cult, I didn't actually want the rapture to happen and for jesus to come back before I had a chance to grow up and choose how to live my life. It actually really freaked me out how much the adults around me professed to long for the world to be destroyed and everyone to be either damned or raptured. And it upset me to think that I would be forced to be happy with my family in heaven when all I wanted was the opportunity to go live my life away from the church. and my mother especially.

I also organically developed the belief that when the rapture happened, that jesus would descend from heaven in the most beautiful cloud to ever cloud, so I would get deeply and horribly anxious whenever I saw really gorgeous sky.

But then. Something occurred to my pedantry-loving little rules-lawyering legalistic brain. I remembered that the b*ble also says no man knoweth the day or the hour that the big man would return. So whenever I saw a really pretty cloud that made me anxious that god was about to end the world, I'd make a verbal prediction that it was the day! And jesus would come back That Very Day! Then I rested happily in the knowledge that, if making deliberately false predictions that the rapture was nigh was a sin, it would be covered in my mandatory, nightly prayer for forgiveness.

anyway, I wore that neurological habit in SO DEEPLY that to this day I occasionally find myself predicting the rapture when I see a beautiful cloud and I've been an atheist for over a decade.

[goose-onthe-loose]

Happy Tears

[deservedgrace]

one of the cult scholars i listen to said "most children are not being raised to die" months ago and i still think "being raised to die" sums up growing up in fundamentalist christianity so well.

my friends and i didn't know if we would grow up to be adults. we would have conversations about wanting the chance to be an adult and knew we were """selfish""" for wanting to live if it wasn't in god's plan. we were raised to believe that we would either be killed for being a christian (in the us no less) or that jesus was coming soon (rapture/end times theology). we knew it was "sinful" to want something outside of god's plan but we couldn't help ourselves.

we were members of the lord's army. we were to obey orders and lay down our life if necessary. "this life is just a test" they'd say. "our real life is our eternal life with the lord." none of this is real, it's just a test. if you pass, you get into heaven. if you fail, you're sent to eternal damnation and hellfire. this is an open book test, we've been given all the answers already. if you fail, it's your own fault.

being raised to die means that your future doesn't matter. jesus is coming soon. jesus is what matters. "set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. for you died, and your life is hidden with christ in god."

i've been out for years. i'm in my late 20's. i still don't know how to set my mind on earthly things. i still struggle to believe i have a future.

[dee-boop]

i'm forever trying to understand and process just how dehumanizing being a christian was. who can know your heart? the heart is evil, you don't want to know it. don't trust your own thoughts. you're prone to do bad things. do what you're told as soon as you're told don't question anything or you're bad and wrong and that's the devil trying to lead you away from god. the sermons shame you. the body is the worst thing to ever happen to you, but it's a gift from god. you are an uncut diamond and "god" (your pastor, your parents, your sunday school teacher, and then, eventually, you are the one giving yourself a thousand cuts) is trimming and trimming away until you're something "he" likes. don't trust your own thoughts (you don't). don't trust your feelings (you don't). punish the body if you have to (you have); it is separate from your soul and it's not yours anyway. it's god's and then you get married and it's your husband's. the only thing a girl is good for is being a cheerful little servant. your little anger is funny. your little anger is silly. your little anger is annoying, i don't want to hear it. being angry is a sin. if you complain i'll hit you. i have to hit you. you'll thank me when you're older (the pastor's daughter has publically done this at church). you cry too much. why are you so serious? and then when they've worn the expression of negative emotions and critical thinking out of you you're stupid (enough to make fun of) and secondary (as you should be) and an accessory (so pretty on his arm, pretty in his kitchen, pretty in his bed, pretty in unmedicated labor). you're anxious all the time. every night you ask god to forgive you for any sins you didn't know you committed, or forgotten (you never forget, but just in case. does that even count? you apologize for not being sincere enough). you are crippled by indecision. you blindly trust any authority figure in christian circles and plenty outside those circles, too. they mold you into something you don't recognize when you finally leave. you feel like someone not from earth but from the uncanny valley. you are so fucking ancient but also a child. you are nothing like your nonreligious peers and you have to grieve, there is so much grief. who am i outside of the pain?--you're dissociating again--I don't know.

[theshoesofatiredman]

Idk call me crazy but I don't think you should worship a god who says you can't kiss someone before you're married. Like you'd think he'd have his hands full with the wars and the famine and the fuckheads causing them, but no for some reason the lord god above is PRESSED about where and when you're pressing lips together. I feel like if we just take a step back for a moment and look at the world, all presumably a result of the divine plan, we might be able to start weighing the divine planner's opinion on kissing a little bit less. Let's get this universe a little peer review

[sadieshavingsex]

I’m tired of healing I’m tired of waiting to heal I’m tired of researching what’s wrong with me I’m tired of feeling pathologized im tired of pathologizing myself im tired of not feeling safe im tired of overanalyzing everything im tired of not being able to make a decision im

[connieaaa]

For some people giving up religion is like giving up a shirt that is too small. It was tight, and itchy, and a hand me down that you didn't like it much to begin with.

For some people it's like tearing off your skin. Sometimes you can pull off larges patches in one go, others you pick at constantly. And sometimes the process restarts and you have to do it all over again.