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Hi Harv,
You are probably right that my early religious training was improper. But by the time I abandoned my beliefs in Christian doctrine I was aware of much more of the teachings than I was taught as a youngster.
As for casting a whole religion in the doghouse, I don't have that much power, or I might be tempted. I labeled my post as a personal testimonial and that is all it was. Other people should decide for themselves what they want to believe and it is not my intent to influence anyone. On the other hand, I don't think I need to keep my opinions under a bushel either.
Warm regards,
Paul
P.S. I almost hit the Post button, but I decided to re-read your post once more just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Good thing I did.
"Of course, casting off this belief for another is understandable"
I think I misread your intent the first time. Reading this again, I think you simply meant "casting off this belief for another belief". When I read it the first time, I thought you meant what was really my case: "casting off this belief for another person, or on behalf of another person". That is what really got me. I was baptized, repentant, pious, assured, etc. etc. The problem was my Dad, my Grandfather, my brother, my friends, along with the millions of people who never heard the Gospel, who were all doomed to eternal torment, that weighed so heavily on me. I think I told you once that when my brother was tragically killed when he was 16, I had a frank talk with my pastor. From what I knew of my brother, and from what I knew of Christian doctrine, there was a better than even chance he had gone to Hell. I asked my pastor if I wasn't right, and he said he had to agree, my brother was probably in Hell. It was about then that I decided to turn in my ticket to Heaven. I have had a great and joyous sense of relief ever since. |
