Are you an ex Christian?

There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

Distinctly an ex Catholic here. Where do I begin?
Ok, has anyone seen The Keepers on Netflix? It's a horrific tale of the abuse of young girls by a priest called Maskell. He was the school chaplain ! This happened in the 70 s I think in the Boston Diocese.
The Church actively protected and colluded with Maskell. They denigrated and disrespected the victims and used the full forceof their lawyers to silence them.
The abuse did not end with Maskell sexually molesting children. A nun, Cathy Cesnik was about to reveal the abuse, and she was murdered. No one has yet been jailed for that heinous crime.

Their opinions , I do not share them,

This is how Prof Brian Cox put it: if someone told you there's 95% chance that there are no such thing as witches or ghosts would you still opt to believe in them? I doubt it somehow! But God is sacrosanct despite the low odds of his existence.

Almost most certaintly ?

www.edge.org/conversation/richard_dawkins-why-there-almost-certainly-is-no-god
If anyone's interested.. but if people aren't open to ideas they won't like it!
And btw I have had many discussions with Christians and have read about the benefits of faith but I just don't get it and I know I never will now.
And you know what they say about discussing religion and politics ?

The balance of probability ?

*Spot and Serkeen..... do keep believing. It does not matter how our lives and destinies are perceived.
There must be 'something' that created the big bang start of the universe billions of years ago.
We can call this God, or just science, but 'something' made everything that we now know in the universe, happen.
What the purpose is can be puzzling. We may never know.
Best just to keep on being a good person and helping others where you can.

The Love of GOD is pure and unique.

I am a catholic and have been my whole life.

I do not always agree with priests however I still remain catholic because my religion is between me and GOD

I want to say that I feel sorry for people that do not believe in GOD I know that might not sound too good but it is how I feel an that's because I get so much from believing in GOD.

People say that if there is a GOD why do people suffer..is it GOD'S fault that there are evil people in the world, no it is not.

I have had GOD in my life since I was a child and I feel his love every single day in many ways.

But there's nothing whatsoever that can prove there is- the scientific balance of probability apparently points to there being no 'god' Love is a brain thing designed to encourage procreation and the nurture of children, which can actually be shown by scientific studies.
Of course violence and intolerance is down to the human race but has often been fuelled both now and in the past by religious differences and fervour.
I only mentioned that I was brought up as a Christian because I did actually believe in it when I was an impressionable child.

Science cannot prove there is no God ,

Smileless. Your son may well still love you and your DH. Undoubtably he has hurt you enormously but there may be reasons which you will only know about in the fullness of time. I pray that eventually you will be reconciled. May you travel hopefully.

I'm sure you have people in your life Speldnan who you love and love you in return and doubt that that love could be proved scientifically.

I agree that people can be deluded. I blindly believed in our son's love for us, which couldn't have been proved scientifically either until he cut us out of his and our only GC's lives almost 5 years ago.

Religion is not the root cause of many of the world's conflicts; man kind is and IMO your post illustrates why. You say that to "be able to understand that compassion and understanding between races and 'others' is a human trait to be nurtured for its own sake" yet you have nothing but derogatory comments when it comes down to a religious faith.

Why is your being Christened and brought up in the
C of E of any relevance to your post? Neither of those would make you a Christian, only a belief in God and Jesus makes you so.

Love your neighbour as yourself is mumbo jumbo ?

Sorry Spot you are deluded, as are all people who blindly believe in something which cannot be proved scientifically and has no real relevance in a modern world which can now be largely explained. Religion is and has been the root cause of many of the worlds worst conflicts and the sooner people are disabused of the arrogant idea of something watching over them and controlling their lives the better. Only then will they be able to understand that compassion and understanding between races and 'others' is a human trait to be nurtured for its own sake and not down to the teachings of mythical 'gods' and religious leaders spouting what amounts to little more than 'mumbo jumbo'.
And yes I was christened and brought up in the church of England.

I do think that each of your sentences should be prefaced with "I believe."

I became a Christian at a Billy Graham crusade in 1966. Now, more than 50 years later, and all kinds of horrific life events, I still love Jesus. I love Him even more than I love my husband. I wouldn't be without Him for anything.
However, Atqui, were you just following a trend, or did you actually encounter Jesus? Did you have a personal revelation of what Jesus did for you, just you personally, on the Cross?
If you have spent most of your adult life ignoring God, then of course He won't seem terribly real. That doesn't mean He isn't real. You need to make a decision, (and it isn't really a lot to do with the question: "Does God exist or doesn't He") whether you want a relationship with God or not. Do you choose to let Jesus into your life, not as your pet but as your Lord, even though such a decision runs counter to what society now thinks is right or wrong?
He does exist, and He is ultimately in control of what happens to the human race. I know this because I've known Him personally for a long time. But I wouldn't say He is easy, and a lot of suffering can be involved. But He's worth it!

And the churches wonder why no body goes anymore!

Retrolady, please don't let fear creep in , no matter if you decide to abandon your faith don't be fearful . The second shortest verse in the bible is - God is love , where there is such great love there is no reason to be fearful

HellBells, I so agree with you on fundamentalists, they are so much - my way or no way, so wrong, faith is so personal to each person , and they put people off questioning

Jinglebellsfrocks - I'm with you on this one. I was brought up to be a nominal CofE member. (I think Mum and Dad wanted some 'time to themselves' while we littlies were at Sunday school), I was confirmed, went along on Sundays etc..., then teenage activities got in the way. I was married in Church, because 'everyone' was in those days, went a few times, then more or less stopped. I flirted with the idea, even thinking of becoming Catholic a few years ago, then got my head sorted and more or less accepted that it's no more than a lovely story. HOWEVER ... I can't quite let it go ... not really sure why - fear maybe? The sensible side of me says there's nothing, the hopeful side says 'well, maybe'. I worked in a Catholic school till recently and, when my mum in law was gravely ill, likewise my own mum, my first thought when contacting work was to ask for prayers ....still not sure why.
Also, (I shall stop in a minute), having worked in a Catholic school, I must point out that it was noticeable that the Catholic members of staff who were actual card-carrying Catholics, absolutely sure in their beliefs, were the ones who accepted questioning from doubters like me. It was 'nominal' Catholics who were merely going along with the ethos of the school who didn't like questions.

Whether you believe in God or not the Christian principles are a helpful way to live your life - I try to follow these as it is my tradition. I believe all faiths are acceptable to God but sadly fundamentalists in religion drive us apart as a human race.

Good idea vampire queen, be a great help to lesser mortals , I will leave you to continue the discussion with your intellectual equals

I have on this thread, and on others, referred to religions - not specifically the Christian religion. I expressed a view re Christianity because Anniebach specifically refers to Christianity.

It seems to me that most, if not all, mainstream religions are male-dominated and have been instrumental in maintaining inequality, particularly in relation to women who have been excluded and marginalised.

In the past, anyone who questioned Christianity or who followed a branch of Christianity that had been outlawed was seen as a malign force and was shunned, or put to death. Fortunately, at least in this country, we are now allowed to have different views and to express concerns about how various sorts of power, including political and religious ones, are being exercised.

I'm afraid I assumed that Christians would understand the teachings of JC. I didn't realise that I had to explain myself at primary level. I will bear that in mind in the future.