[Timmy]

Originally Posted by OneEyedFatMan

Well, since much of this seems to be spawned by me, I'll answer.
First.. I was not abused. I was tired of nonsense. Tired of "Christians who weren't" Tired of Hypocrites, tired of going to church to hear the never ending money beg and things from the pulpit instructing members to go take out a loan and give the money to the church.

Tired of three services a week that went three hours long each and being blasted if I missed.

And yes tired of people on these forums with the disposition of alligators. Cross their preconceived notion and they bite your head off.

None of those things let to the state of not believing.

I was also tired of the lies, giving some god the credit when the problem was fixed by science and medicine. and etc etc.

While I was in church, I was miserable. I hated every second of it. My blood pressure was through the roof, I was moody, grouchy, and hated getting out of bed in the morning.

In the months since I bailed, I feel good, my bp is normal and I was able to reduce the meds, I wake up happy and in a good mood and it stays with me all day. Leaving the pentecostal religion was the best move I ever made.

None of the above was the result for dis-believing. That comes from sitting and being sold a bill of goods about this prayer answering god who never answered one of mine... not for 22 years.

Oh the religionists say, "he always answers, he is just saying no." Well, when you don't even hear "No," and instead get nothing but silence, anfter long enough you get convinced there ain't nothing out there listening.

So, the combination tired of overbearing church, fake people led me to leave that.
The lack of any response from out there helped with the rest.

So, sorry, but nothing will make me step that way again except absolute irrefutable PROOF. And NOTHING AT ALL will lead me to put myself under the thumb of a church or pastor again.
Caio

A lot of this resonates with me. With a few edits, it could be my story. (E.g., I didn't hate every second of church. Actually enjoyed some of it. And I couldn't say whether God answered any of my prayers. More like, sometimes what I asked for happened and sometimes not. And none of the granted requests could definitely be said to be divine intervention -- after all, people do get over sickness, e.g.)