Jesus can no longer hurt me (mentally)

I've overcome feeling hurt by Christians talking to me about Satan and Hell. Every time anyone does so I just say "Those are empty threats. You cannot back up your words with anything" Although it is still hurtful if your immediate family think you're going to Hell (except for spouses. If your husband or wife thinks you are going to Hell, divorce them). No matter how much I accomplish in life or how many lives I uplift, my mother still thinks I'm going to hell. That's just sad.

The reason Hell and Satan can no longer scare me is because I do not believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God.

As of today I am a spiritual free thinker, not an atheist. Which is why this next decision I took was a very difficult one: reject Jesus. Atheists might not easily understand this struggle I had to go through. Jesus is the personification of the highest in human ideals for many people. Jesus the the ideal we seek to be the best human beings we can be. Most religions even Eastern religions give reverence to Jesus as some kind of prophet or saint or great teacher.

Recently though I've been attacked with the following:

If you follow religion x or believe x about Jesus, that is a false Jesus. Only the Jesus of the Bible is the TRUE Jesus.

One Orthodox Christian said to me: If you have a problem with the authority of the Church, you have a problem with the authority of Jesus.

One Mormon defended their secret Temple rituals by invoking Matthew 17 where Jesus gave his apostles knowledge that nobody else may know.

One person in this forum said Jesus believed the Noah's Ark narrative so I should as well.

And the most common one: If you don't accept Jesus as your lord and savior for what he did on the Cross for you, you will lose your salvation.

It is with great difficulty I must say: no I am not a follower of Jesus. But with that done, nobody can ever again invoke Jesus to attack me.

 

As my buddy god told me the other day he prefers people like you because you won't be wasting his time any longer begging him for things that he has absolutely no intention of providing.

Now go and live your life to the fullest by doing what is right for yourself and others because that is who you are and not because you will be "punished" if you don't.

The time you save that you were otherwise wasting in meaningless worship and prayer can be better spent by helping a kid with their homework or doing the grocery shopping for an elderly person or volunteering to help clean up your local park.

Best wishes and take care.
DT

 

Congratulations. I know the journey was difficult but I think you will feel the relief of not being emotionally blackmailed by some imaginary punishments that allegedly awaits us, How wonderful is that?!

Please feel free to pm me if you ever need a sounding board. All the best to you.

 

Good stuff. I totally agree with you that organized religion monopolizes god. Jesus' teachings have been hijacked for many centuries to control people. People have weaponized Jesus. The best place to find God, or the the universal mind, or whatever you want to call it is to look within yourself. Tune out the craziness of this world, ignore the little babbling voice that is the ego, and you can find the only connection to god that you will ever need.

 

I hear that. It's an escape from brainwashing. That's what Christians do to people, to children..

 

Well, I wouldn't say ALL of them. Some of the most wonderful people I know are big time christians. I think it all depends on if you are truly spiritual, or if you are using religion as a tool to influence others.

 

Christianity is founded on telling people they'll live forever if they believe and be punished if they don't. That by itself is coercion. It's not like people believe in it because it's obviously true. The primary reason is the fear of death and that combination of promise and threat associated with it.

 

First of all, only you can allow yourself to be hurt mentally. Jesus has been dead for almost 2000 years.

Second, for the first several centuries of Christianity's existence, eternal damnation in Hell was not a part of Christian doctrine and teachings:

How & When The Idea of Eternal Torment Invaded Church Doctrine
https://medium.com/@BrazenChurch/ho...-torment-invaded-church-doctrine-7610e6b70815

I don't recall reading in the Gospels that Jesus ever preached such a thing, either.

This raises the questions of 1) whether or not the concept of Hell and eternal damnation is a legitimate element in Christian doctrine and orthodoxy and 2) if not, why should any Christian (or anyone else for that matter) believe in Hell and eternal damnation?

It appears that the answers are 1) No and 2) they should not.

By all means, believe what you will about Jesus, Christianity and the Bible, but I don't see how Jesus is responsible for what other people have done.

 

That right there is something I totally agree with, and I think it is one of the ways the Bible was corrupted. In the gospel of Mary Magdelene, Jesus teaches her that no one can judge the soul, because the soul is not part of what the ego does while it is incarnate. This tells me that Jesus probably did have other teachings that man was not to be judged by other men, and not accountable for what was done on earth. The spirit is separate from the body.

Gospels that did not teach the lessons that those in power wanted taught were removed. The plan was to unite people under a power on earth, with threats of damnation. Teachings that spoke of freedom from damnation and judgement did not play into the plans to control people with religion.

That being said, there is still lots of good stuff to be found in the bible, along with a lot of crap. Once you are aware of it , it is easy to separate the junk from the wisdom.

 

Tell your old lady to go hike a glacier, Green.

This jesus character is just another long-dead preacher dude.

Like old George used to say ... "religion is BULLSH*T"...

 

I essentially agree with OP and responses so far. My addition- religion is the attempted collectivization of spirituality. Authoritatively dictated interpretations of scripture (and anything, really) are worthy of being rejected. However, I believe there is still much wisdom to found in the Bible and in Jesus' teachings. It seems tragic to me to toss out those teachings and wisdom along with the authoritatively dictated interpretations of it, but I do understand that reaction, imo its a normal and healthy one. I hope you are someday able separate what other people tell you the Bible is supposed to mean from what it actually means to you and embrace it on a personal level while rejecting the 'religious' level of it. But I also believe that no matter what you do, it will still be your choice and yours alone whether you end up in 'hell.' And you don't seem like the sort of person who would volunteer for that

 

No one in history has ever had faith in the Jesus character because no one has ever been able to do what he said a person with faith could do. And even he didn't do it to show that it could be done. The other wizards were more convincing even though the village idiots didn't remain convinced.

 

Christianity without the coercion is nice enough, at least apart from its condoning slavery as an institution and maybe a few other things due to its being a product of its time. It can't really be ignored, though, that it began as an apocalyptic cult promising an imminent end of the world and trying to get people to follow Jesus so that they could be saved.

 

Congratulations on your escaping the brainwashing. I was lucky to never be indoctrinated into it as a child, so didn't have to escape. But I truly admire those who do, surrounded by loved ones who push it on them, and who are themselves stuck into it. I also feel for these loved ones, who actually believe you could be hell bound etc and that they are powerless to save you from this imagined damnation.

When a Christian tries to "save" me, I am struck by both the arrogance of them imposing their beliefs onto me, and by their kindness and caring in trying to save me from the imagined threat. It leaves me unable to decide what to think of them.

 

You were born with the gift of thought and the choices that come when you think. Ultimately your thoughts, your decisions, begin and end with you. No one but you, requires you to believe or disbelieve anything. In that sense you are "God" the creator of anything that was, is or could be. What you choose to create, comes from you.

Religions are just people getting together in packs. You know we humans are homo sapiens, apes, pack animals. We are We were created originally to live in packs with an Alpha male ruling each collective pack. To prevent packs from eating their own pack members or screwing each other and becoming too inbred and dying out, we then created group rules to prevent cannabilism, screwing out sisters and mothers. It was nature's way of assuring we survived and did not die out.

So in that sense religion like any group rules came about trying to control our primal tendencies to kill, rape, our fellow apes.

So with that in mind why all this talk of Jesus? You know Jesus is one of thousands of stories we homo sapiens h ave created to try explain rules of behaviour and civility to try get us to be civil right?.

So with that in mind, I do not know aboout you but I wouldn't get caught up too much in the words, symbols or stories people use particularly if you don't agree with them. We'z just apes making noises and chattering.

In fact I would suggest you find a way to get a laugh about it and find a banana to enjoy. I mean I come from a people where we believe one of our Alpha males could part rivers and talked to burning bushes and that his rod turned into a snake. (I have seen porno movies show that too)

You have to take these things with a bit of humour. That's why a lot of my people become stand up comedians. I mean think about it. Think about Noah's ark. Where the hell would all the **** have gone from all the animals?

 

I think you're ignoring a big piece of the pie, why Christian theology believes you will go to hell.
It isn't just some arbitrary rule a mean and capricious God made up.
This is something not even many Christians really understand, or could articulate to you.

If it makes you feel any better, see Matthew 25:34-45.

I don't know, but it might be that you don't absolutely have to accept Jesus in this life not to go to hell, at least theoretically.
I suppose the bigger question is would you accept Jesus, if all information were available to you, is the state of your heart in a condition that that would be the case.
And it's not so easy to change your heart at the last minute, that takes a lot of time to get it ready.

Many people claim to have accepted Jesus, or even believe that they have, but are going to go to hell. So I suppose you should not feel too bad.
I suppose the question is what exactly does it mean to accept Jesus. If it is possible for Christians to not accept, and possible for non-Christians to accept, well then, the doctrine might need a closer look.

 

A man of your stature shouldn't tolerate being tormented like that, Green.

Swat away the delusional jesus freaks like the annoying little gnats that they are...



lol

 

Just to be clear, what I am talking about was not a de-conversion/awakening from Christianity. That already happened to me in 2012. This was more a realization that I needed to find another focus than looking to Jesus for meaning.

The years from 2012 to now is another story entirely which I've already discussed in other threads. In 2020 I had an existential crisis and descent into depression. I then found a purpose for having some kind spirituality.

Say what you will about the rest of the Bible, the things Jesus said in the 4 gospels are profound and inspiring literature (let he who is without sin cast the first stone, turn the other cheek etc.). The problem was Jesus also said a handful of objectionable things as well. This became clear to me (only very recently) as well when Christian opposers to my way of thinking pointed out that Jesus also believed in things that are against science (Noah's Ark), promoted secrecy and exclusivity (don't preach to the gentiles, telling his apostles not to tell anyone of the transfiguration) and warned of hell.

Shrugging off threats of hell was one thing. Letting go of hero veneration (after noticing the problems with said hero) is another.

So I either needed to find another Master/Guru, or ignore all past spiritual and religious texts and leaders (prophets, saints, enlightened masters etc.) and find peace of mind and purpose all on my own. For me it's the latter.

 

Smart choice.

 

If 'believing' brings you happiness and inspires you to be a better person (for yourself and to others) then it shouldn't be mocked or cause anguish. If, however, your 'believing' inspires you to judge others, I'd have to wonder about the source of your beliefs.

Sounds like you're on a great path to happiness and personal peace. Kudos!!

 

This is the most ignorant reason I've ever read for someone to denounce their testimony of Jesus. Blaming everyone but yourself to start with. The only way to actually receive truth and a testimony of Jesus is through the influence by the Holy Ghost. In James 1:5 - 8, " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraidith not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
So, you can take each statement from someone who thinks they understand Jesus and the Bible and by yourself ask the Father in the name of the Son and do so with complete faith not wavering and without a double mind or two-faced and the Holy Ghost will answer you. Instead, you became a double minded person lacking any faith because you got shook up by other human beings.
By the way, Temples that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints build are not secret. The ordinances and endowments are sacred, not secret. Get some guts dude and stop playing the victimhood game. I don't feel sorry for you.

 

The whole problem with this "Holy Ghost" or burning in the bosom thing is that the answers everyone gets is very different. Then with 100% conviction others tell you how wrong you are based on their own experience and some go as far as saying you are under the influence of your own delusions or even a demon or Satan. How can you possibly know you are right yourself? And if this is the whole "Your own truth" thing, let me remind you that most practicing Christians HATE moral relativism.

If I am not allowed to know something, it's a secret. I'm not going to play word games with you. I don't believe in a God that gives you esoteric knowledge just because you are a member of and living up to the standards of an earthly institution (the church). Such a God is not worthy of worship anyway.

I'm not playing the victimhood game anymore because Jesus is not my friend and Hell does not exist.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch NewNameNoah on Youtube just to annoy some Mormons.

 

But, you can know what goes on in the Temple and I can get you there. You just have to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost for a year and you can attend and receive that which is in the Temple. Again, it's sacred, not secret.

You can try to test me but again, I don't play the victim game based on what an irrational human being would say to me.

 

You just want the last word on the whole sacred not secret thing. Even Muslims whom I have only marginally more respect for allow cameras to film their sacred ordinances in Mecca that being the Hajj for non Muslims to see but not participate.

Putting you on ignore.

 

I guess Muslims don't believe what they do in their places of worship as sacred. They let unrepentant sinners in. Not a true religion of God then.