When reading the posts of the AVs listed on SAV, I sometimes reflect on the reason for the human susceptibility to religious cults. It seems to be a very old mechanism as ancient human groups even have had their shaman or religion.
How did you grow up and how were your decisions relating to religion?
Thanks much for this post and to all who have shared tales of their journey! Shout out to Avery, you're my kinda parochial girlfriend. I so appreciate you sharing such a memorable sweet moment in time with the lying nun!
My background growing up as a christian specific to the Roman catholic system of crapola is proof positve that surely I was filled with the deviI from conception, given that I was a bastard child in the truest sense hehe+. Having been instructed in all things catholicism did not deter me from utilizing my free will & engaging in dirty deed escapades aka sinner me. Things good little catholic girls weren't supposed to do, but many of us did. Truth be told, given ample opportunity, some indulged in catholic sins more so than others. Hence wicked fun times for me, just saying lol. With no regrets, given that I wasn't struck by lightening or anything.
My thoughts on attending parochial schools for too many years can go dark fast. Except for the learning to read part and winning the spelling bees, I remember always liking that. There was no religious follow-up at home, which probably saved me from the cultism of it all. I've never held truth to a heaven/hell mantra, except to say the nuns always were a hellish mob, for certain. Some meaner than others, all dressed to the max in black habits, head to toe. They were the old time ones seeking to instill the fear of their god and guilt in young minds. Had to have been hot under those mega garments. I always wondered why they dressed like that. Little did I know at the time how hot hot some of the rooms in the convent, with unmentionable acts occurring behind those closed doors, were rumored to be. Not getting into the pedo priest boys shenanigans, too early on this fine day for that heavy load of thought, it's a forever burns.
Religion for me never entered the to-do or not-to-do equation then or now. I interpreted bible stories as fables or fairytale type writings. I do think Jesus may have lived as a man only, no superpowers, perhaps it's stuck residual bs in my brain from back in the day, don't really know. Cognitive reflection skills showed up a bit as I matured. I subscribe to a no worries conversion version of my own making, let the universe do its thing. I find meaning in science, nature, innate virtues and other such beautious wonders. My nonbeliever mindset fits me quite comfortably, like my favorite slippers. Universal action is how I would describe my views. No supreme being or beings are in charge.
One of my older sisters was severely disabled, though I knew she could tell who was sitting by her bedside reading to her, I’m sure I was her favourite, she only smiled and laughed for me!
She got pneumonia at 17 and was very sick.
I was young and believed in god and I talked about her to one of the nuns who was my teacher, she told me if I prayed god would save her .
Well she died a few days later and my nun teacher said I hadn’t prayed hard enough!
I refused to go to church much after that because I figured out that if god existed he was indeed an asshole to kill someone who had never harmed anyone in her life.
From then on I would make a mental note of all the times the catholic god didn’t lift a finger to help stop the suffering of others.
Then I started wondering about the people who were not Catholic, say some tribe in Africa where the husband does his duty by his family, doesn’t hurt his wife or kids, and is a good neighbour. He prays to the sun perhaps or the mountain, is he going to hell because he’s not Catholic? How was it possible if god existed that all those people were not worthy of going to heaven.
Then when one nun-teacher told students another nun had seen a statue move, I said “well if I hadn’t had sex in 50 years I’d be seeing statues move too”. I got detention but it was totally worth it.
I had pretty much decided that religion was not for me. Funny though I’ve never killed anyone or become a thief, and I’ve been faithful to my husband of 36 years. I’ve rescued animals, fed my disabled father in law and neighbour until their deaths. So who needs religion eh?
... and then there are these people which have an "awakening". May be they are the most bounded to their church.
Dad raised Seventh Day Adventist, left the church as an adult. Mom raised Presbyterian. My dad had enough religion but my mom and I went to church and Sunday school. My favorite part of Bible school was the kool aid and grocery store cookies. My least favorite part? Being told I would burn in hell if I wasn't baptized. I became a Humanist late in life after seeing so much death and suffering. Read a lot about Buddhism and saw the Dalai Lama at an event.
Came from a long line of Catholics on my mom's side and that's the way I was raised. We'd go to church every Sunday because it was expected tradition. But there was none of that religious stuff for us at home.
My mom's skeptical attitudes have influenced my shunning of the church. She had a love–hate relationship with it, especially around pregnancy. When birth control pills first became available in 1960, she wanted in, after 4 kids. The church doesn't allow it and the doctor refused her a prescription. After 2 more kids she told the doctor: "The next one I'm dropping off on your doorstep." She finally got the pills. She has also suggested abortion to various family members whose pregnancies were inconvenient.
I got my 2 sons baptized, then a few years later stopped going to church altogether. When the child-rape scandals hit, an article in our newspaper listed all the area priests who were credibly accused and told where they were moved around to other parishes to keep the secrecy. Two credibly accused priests were in charge of the family church at the time my older son was baptized there in 1976.
One thing about churches I think is valuable (if it weren't for all the harmful dogma, fantasy thinking, and risk of child rape) is the fellowship. The feeling of belonging where you can drop in once a week or so and get to know your community. My dad had that kind of experience with Alcoholics Anonymous. The concept is good, but the reality is something else, especially now that so many of the churches have been coopted by politics.
My mom was really religious but not crazy kind of really religious. My dad just wasn’t interested. Somehow I never fell into the religious thinking and ended up getting jaded over religion as I saw so many using it to grift, exert power, or get fame.
After that, years of religious scandals, cults, and scams pretty well convinced me the bigger the preacher’s following, the more likely it is just another scam.