I grew up in a strict pentacostal household with my grandparents . Really old fashioned snake handling and speaking in tongues . I was made to go to church everytime the doors were open . It all scared me more than anything . When I grew older it was hard for me to believe everything that I had heard , been taught , seen was real . Did anyone experience this growing up and what are your religious views now ?

I am agnostic . I believe that with infinite arms Nature embraces the all that there is no interference no chance that behind every event are the necessary and countless causes, and that beyond every event will be and must be the necessary and countless effects.

Is there a God? I do not know. Is man immortal? I do not know. One thing I do know, and that is, that neither hope, nor fear, belief, nor denial, can change the fact. It is as it is, and it will be as it must be.

We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know.

I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a God or otherwise that there is a God.

I too was mader to go to church every time the doors were open and for many years I ran in the exact oposite direction of anyone who tried to talk to me about God, church etc.
It has never been my pratice to shove anything down anyones throat or make them see things the way I do. Everyone has to find their own way in their own time.
All I can tell you is my personal belief, and the faith that has grown in my heart in the last few years because of personal experiences.
I do believe in God, I see evidence of His Presence in my life.
I just wanted you to realize that I do understand about the whole being forced to go to church, I think sometimes in well meaning, ppl tend to push too hard and actually can do more damage in the long run. Im sure others will relate too.
Maybe in time, God will reveal Himself to you and your faith will be restored. Thank you for your post and for sharing your views. It is always eye opening to hear what other people think and why.
have a great day.

Brandy,

My experience is entirely different from yours, but your worldview is very similar to mine.

>> We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know.

Nice.

brandynicole,

I had similar experiances with my family, which is why I don't have a lot of love for the Pentacostal church. I can remember all of the people jumping up and chanting in tongues. One time, my brother spoke in tongues and a member of the congregation who had the "gift of Interpretation" explained what my brother was saying. Later my brother told me that he was just speaking jibberish so that they would stop praying over him.

I believe in gifts of the spirit, but I don't believe that the Spirit was very welcome in that church.

After years of looking for the truth and finally putting my own pride behind myself, Jesus entered my life. I tried the Hermetic tradition, I studied Crowley, eastern mysticism, Kabbalah and science, but only Jesus was able to give me the peace at heart and the firm faith in the truth that I was searching for.

I wish you good luck in your spiritual journey. Please remember that Pentacostalism isn't was Jesus wanted from his followers. If keep an open mind and an open heart, Jesus will pull you to Himself.

>> Later my brother told me that he was just speaking jibberish so that they would stop praying over him.

somehow that didn't post right... there were a whole bunch of laughing faces before the

Well, they told him he couldn't leave until he spoke in tongues and he wanted to leave quickly, because he had a date with a girl who "puts out". True story.

BrandyNicole writes:

" I grew up in a strict pentacostal household with my grandparents . Really old fashioned snake handling and speaking in tongues . I was made to go to church everytime the doors were open . It all scared me more than anything . When I grew older it was hard for me to believe everything that I had heard , been taught , seen was real . Did anyone experience this growing up and what are your religious views now ? "

I had similar experiences growing up with Born Agains. To this day, I vividly remember being told of Fire and Brimstone as a sensitive five yr old, of being so scared I cried. Of having nightmares and panic attacks into my adult years and of doing therapy to finally rid myself of these memes.

I think everyone needs a little of the spiritual in their life and organized religion has never and will never fill that void for me. It's all too savage for me. Rather, I'd suggest reading Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet"-- IMHO, it's probably the most spiritual book ever written, and not a bad template on which to base your on upon in the pursuit of what the Buddhist call 'lovingkindness'.


-Kerry O.

Now I lay me down to sleep
To the lord, my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
To the lord, my soul to take ..

WTF ... Why are we getting our children to think about dying?? Holey monkey-sh1t!!!

Read "The God Delusion" by Dawkins.

Very enlightneing book, by one of the 3 men reported to be the most intelligent men in the world.

Thanks to all of you for your responses .

Ultimately everyone is agnostic whether they admit it to themselves or not.

I view it this way:

If there is a god I can be absolutely certain that she’s nicer than I am. Otherwise I would be compassionately superior to my creator.

That’s really all I need to know. If she’s as nice as me I’m home free!

"The Prophet" is amazing.

http://leb.net/gibran/works/prophet/prophet.html

Abra;

Actually - I have to disagree with your "everyone is agnostic" statement. I have absolutely no doubt that there is a God. I've had it proven to me time and time again. However, because my qualifications for proof or evidence may not fit your standards, it doesn't make me any more an agnostic. There is one thing we do agree on though - I don't believe in the God you don't believe in either.

lj

Eljay dont confuse being agnostic with being an atheist .
Religious people can be agnostic .
Although I have doubt that doesnt mean that I deny there is a God .

" I have absolutely no doubt that there is a God."

That means nothing. It's about as useful as a blind man saying he's absolutely no such thing as color.

That is, just because you want something to be true doesn't mean it is no matter how many times you say it. Hey, you can even be thoroughly 100% convinced (IE crazy) that something is true when it isn't.

When I was a young boy, I asked myself, what if all this stuff was not real. I came to this, it is better to have hope of a better thing than to live without the hope. It makes the heart lighter. I also came to this, it is a good way to live if done as it should be. I also saw all of the bad things that was being done in the name of God. In reading and learning I knew it was not to be as it most commonly is. In reading I found much wisedom and a mind behind the words that is constant in ways and thinking that could not come from so many different fairy tales joined together. I now have a believing (faith) that there is a real and solid substance there. If it is fake...it is still a wise way. To have a chance of better than to not...is a wise choice. Some that can't find it within their able or desire....choose to call it lies. I tried to prove many things wrong, but always found the truth that was even better.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. How can one understand unless one hears and searches to see if these things are so. If not done...there is nothing within but an ignorant ranting. (Ignorant = without accurate knowledge of subject.)

So you basically made **** up and believed everything men in funny hats told you because you were tired of not knowing things? Gotcha.

ChrisJJ;

What are you talking about???? Abra said that ultimately everyone is an agnostic - meaning that everyone is unsure that God exists. My response was to tell him that this is not true. I have no doubt that God exists. That means I am NOT an agnostic. So what was your post about?

lj

Brandy;

I don't confuse being agnostic with being an athiest. I also agree with you. Believing in God does not necessarily mean that one believes it can be proven he exists. My comment to Abra was concerning his understanding of God being a she. To me - that God does not exist. That was my only point.

lj