Do you go to church?

Post Reply New Topic

I want to start my own church because many of the churches I have gone to have subtlely gotten away from the Bible, and specifically, the teachings of Christ.

I am not really a religious person.
My parents aren't either.
There are even older relatives of mine who were not at all religious.
i went to church as a child as part of the "Take a Godless Heathen Child to Church" program with my neighbors.
My parents thought that my sister and I could experience the whole church thing and decide on religion for ourselves.
Unfortunately it was a Baptist church where I went a lot of the time. I was a huge embarrassment to my host family..I could not conform. I was ostracized by the other kids..I unintentionally disrupted Sunday school class...could not sit still during mass...I even wrecked my portion of the Christmas recital.....AND then the icing on the cake was when I learned the part about how everyone who was not a Christian was in danger of going to hell unless they converted...I was maybe around 7....that started the whole domino effect of my questioning religion and the whole concept of the vengeful anthropomorphic God...and I took my questions on this stuff to my parents who didn't believe it either.
I remember once coming home from Sunday school and being given a weird psychedellicly illustrated children's book about how God was neither male nor female and existed in everything...

I continued to go to church for years after having my epiphony ....but I could never believe in any of it again.
I went for the cookies.

I attended lots of different churches besides the Baptist one. Every summer, there was vacation bible school..but mostly these were activities to get me and my sister out of the house.
My best friend when I was in Jr. High was Catholic, and I attended church with her alot...but we spent a lot of time debating on religion..I was openly a staunch agnostic/borderline atheist...still am.

I'm a church organist and on my Sunday mornings/evenings off, I go to other churches

been there, done that. i often got an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia, nausea and the impression i made a huge mistake in going.
most of what passes for religion is inherently disgusting so no, i don't go to church on a regular basis.

for me, being religious is diametrically opposed to being spiritual. religious people go to church and practice hypocrisy. spiritual people connect with whatever makes them feel whole and for them church can be anywhere.

i can't stand church but maybe one day i'll go to one that makes me feel whole rather than disgusted...

disclaimer: this is only my opinion and not meant to disparage anyone's beliefs or practices.

When I was little, I lived in Barrington, RI and never cared for church. There was a little pond out in back that I would like to go down to and play around in. Have not been to a church in years. My spirituality is best when I am alone meditating in my thoughts, not singing hymns. If I were to go to a church it might be a Unitarian Church.

Somewhat, depends. More issues at the Baptist Church (Outreach) than the Unitarian Church I went to for anti-war group meetings and (Sometimes) going to their services. They're friendlier at the Unitarian Universalist places, no suit or other BS, less focus on hell, less 'you have to do things this way', etc....wear jeans or whatnot, they don't care!

Also, I'm going to the aforementioned Black Baptist Church tomorrow-lol apparently most people left due to internal schisms. Well I'll probably end up wearing a suit, only no Afro

What is so disgusting about going to church?

well, I thought up of some...

The building can scare you, depending on design.
The people inside can be harmful to you (say, paddling and whatnot in some religious schools)
People threatening you with hell.
And other things.

Maybe you should become a properly ordained minister before making high-handed judgements like that.

^^Agree with Maditude, disagree with slowmutant.

Ridiculous.

What a coward you must be, Warsie, to be afraid of buildings! And why would a good person fear hell in the first place? Unless you've done some things you know are bad ...

I went to religious schools, and I was never paddled.

Just plain ridiculous.

The hypocrisy, the cliques, the facade, the politics, the pastor wrongly thinking he's both a psychologist and a financialist when he clearly isn't giving people bad advice harmful to their lives because they stupidly believe him to be a good man of god, etc,.

In short, people. At first you are faced with the illusion that everyone is nice and friendly, then you get to know them and you see the cliques and the politics and hear the rumors about the assistant pastor and the girls he brings to his office and the lawsuits against the pastor and those against the church then you see what people do to get into the cliques and you start to notice things that aren't right and when everyone notices your unwillingness to play their sick games and that you don't approve of them they shut you out. Then you notice how most of the good people you knew seem to have disappeared or to be leaving in droves or get run out and that the few good people in the church seem to be out on the fringes, outcasts that refuse to leave only staying there for the services.

don't entirely know why but can speculate. please try to understand that i mean no offense.

me and church are mutually toxic. whatever is going on in church is the opposite of where i need to be. artificiality is encouraged. i could loathe church for the same reason many church-goers loathe me...or they would if they knew me better. artificiality is not only encouraged, it is required as the acceptable and appropriate mode of behavior. many seem to enjoy this charade. i do not. i find it toxic. but hey, whatever floats your boat.

here's liberal paraphrase of a rather well-known statement attributed to Jesus:

there will be those among you who will say, 'Lord, Lord'....and I will say to them, 'Depart from me, I never knew you'. ...the implication here is that Jesus may well be disgusted by hypocrisy and his so-called followers being satisfied by superficial nonsense. one has to be careful though, because some of those who appear hypocritical are doing the best they can while others may know better. it would take masterful discernment to tell the difference.

when people seem to love a good show and that is how they express their spirituality--it drives me crazy and makes my solar plexus burn. when people enjoy being spoon-fed, it makes me afraid to be around them because i don't trust people who refuse to think for themselves. and where the routine of some kind of empty [to me, not to them] practice is comforting to some, it makes me extremely sad and sickened.

i think of myself as a deeply spiritual person who loves jesus as well as other great spiritual masters. whatever disgust i feel in going to church is reciprocated towards me when i divulge my true beliefs. it is a mutual disgust.

Yes, but only because I never go to one.

You see, I'm a devout Atheist who worships at the altar of Santa Claus (the one true God) every Christmas.
And you know what ?
I get better results out of my prayers than I EVER did with Jesus' dad.

Yes, but only because I never go to one.

You see, I'm a devout Atheist who worships at the altar of Santa Claus (the one true God) every Christmas.
And you know what ?
I've had much better results out of my prayers since converting, than I EVER had with Jesus' dad.

Oh my.

Your acute misanthropy prevents you from seeing clearly, I think. Such hate-filled people like yourself are irrational and addled by emotional frustrations.