Christian bronies: meet, greet, and mingle!

[MaestroNep9997 26]

@Sterling Crimson

 

I know! I'm really happy too!...

Well... Maybe God has a plan for us being friends here, probably to strengthen each other's faith, perhaps?... 

Anyway, really glad to have met you on the forums too!

[GreyScholar 1,584]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explaination, I had never previously considered Nontrinitarianism (say that three times fast!) before. EDIT: Oh, wait, I think I misunderstood your first explanation. When you say an "actual father and son relationship", do you mean physically? Like a human father and son? Please excuse my sluggish mind.

Yes I mean an actual physical father son relationship, Mary bearing God's son the power of the Holy Ghost. When Jesus speaks of his Father he actually means father

Edited August 19, 2013 by EquestrianScholar

[Flutterspark 48]

Yes I mean an actual physical father son relationship, Mary bearing God's son the power of the Holy Ghost. When Jesus speaks of his Father he actually means father

 

Thanks for clarifying.

 

 

I don't quite understand your sibling situation, due to poor syntax.

 

I have two older brothers. The younger of those two likes ponies as I do (though does not browse forums), and the older one doesn't care at all for it. I also have a younger sister, who isn't all that much of a fan but is aware of both me and my older brother's interest.

 

You should make it clear to him that Bronies is a very large and broad term-- "Bronies" includes everything from casual interests like myself to fanatics who spend every waking moment thinking about ponies, or clopping to them or buying all the merchandise. It is a bit unfair to state that that all bronies exhibit such fanatical behaviours when in truth only some (indeed few) of them actually do. For which reason, I personally refuse to be classified by my interest in the show as a primary description. If anyone says that I am a brony, I correct them saying that first and foremostly I am a Christian, and then agree with the notion that yes I am a confirmed fan of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but how much of a fan I am, is limited in scope, and compared to many, exercises a great deal of restraint.

That all said, the whole paragraph I just gave was a comparison to myself, in regards to those with knowledge of extreme fringes of the Brony fandom. The whole argument would be different if he's simply hating on 'bronies' from the basis of a handful of details or few reports.

Brony-ism, is like space (sort of). The reality of it can get pretty complicated to understand, and it's really easy to just grab on to simplified, oversimplified, or overblown details.

 

Nice explanation!

 

I found the example you gave of yourself very encouraging. I think a lot of the fandom needs to realise that liking the show does not equal needing to define yourself on the basis of that like, myself included. There was a period I went through where I was thinking about ponies a lot more than God, and I required a figurative slap on the face to snap out of it. I'm grateful to people like you setting an example for other Christians to follow.

[CaptainCanti 5]

I don't think I could ever be a Christian. Simply the idea of anyone other than me controlling my future sounds like fucking hell. Plus, being a Christian would make me have to give up my music, which isn't an option. A lot of the kindest people I've met, however, are Christians.

 

God wishes he was me.

[Flutterspark 48]

I don't think I could ever be a Christian. Simply the idea of anyone other than me controlling my future sounds like fucking hell. Plus, being a Christian would make me have to give up my music, which isn't an option. A lot of the kindest people I've met, however, are Christians.

 

God wishes he was me.

 

Nice to meet you. I appreciate your honesty.

 

I can see where you are coming from with the "future controlling" thing. Think about this, though. If God is real, then He has power over your life whether you choose to be a Christian or not. Just like whether you believe in gravity or not has no affect on what happens if you jump off a cliff. So if God is real, being a Christian won't put you in "hell", but it can change you into a person who does not consider it "hell".

 

Give up your music? Actually, you'd have to give up your entire life.  In fact, we all would, and some, those who call themselves Christians, actually have.

 

But really, I see where you're coming from.

 

Again, nice meeting you.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Flutterspark

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

I have a question for all the Christians in here of all types of denominations. What do you think of this website? And try not to interpret anything into something else.

 

 

http://www.evilbible.com/

[GreyScholar 1,584]

I feel this site is a very strong hearted and wonderful community. Perhaps not all members are those I get along with but admittingly I don't know most the members here. from what I've seen the people here are good people, despite any quirks are flaws they may have or perhaps because of them.

 

Finding common ground is important but in many ways we should also celebrate each other's differences. Though that does not always mean we have to agree with all the choices others make.

Edited August 22, 2013 by EquestrianScholar

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

I feel this site is a very strong hearted and wonderful community. Perhaps not all members are those I get along with but admittingly I don't know most the members here. from what I've seen the people here are good people, despite any quirks are flaws they may have or perhaps because of them.

 

Finding common ground is important but in many ways we should also celebrate each other's differences. Though that does not always mean we have to agree with all the choices others make.

 

If you're responding to me I don't think you actually clicked the website I intended for you to click on in my post. I posted a link in it.

[CaptainCanti 5]

Nice to meet you. I appreciate your honesty.

 

I can see where you are coming from with the "future controlling" thing. Think about this, though. If God is real, then He has power over your life whether you choose to be a Christian or not. Just like whether you believe in gravity or not has no affect on what happens if you jump off a cliff. So if God is real, being a Christian won't put you in "hell", but it can change you into a person who does not consider it "hell".

 

Give up your music? Actually, you'd have to give up your entire life.  In fact, we all would, and some, those who call themselves Christians, actually have.

 

But really, I see where you're coming from.

 

Again, nice meeting you.

See this is why I love the brony communitty. If I'd posted this onn a normal forum, there would be a bunch of people raging at me.

[GreyScholar 1,584]

If you're responding to me I don't think you actually clicked the website I intended for you to click on in my post. I posted a link in it.

Oh did you mean the 'Evil Bible' link? I thought that was part of your signature.

 

Well I have heard of the site, and I've even looked into it a bit. I admit I'm not very impressed by it but that's just me.

Edited August 22, 2013 by EquestrianScholar

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

Oh did you mean the 'Evil Bible' link? I thought that was your part of your signature.

 

Well I have heard of the site, and I've even looked into it a bit. I admit I'm not very impressed by it but that's just me.

 

I'm not that mean to just have that link in my signature xD, even I have my limits when it comes to matters like this. 

 

It's understandable that you're not impressed by it.

[GreyScholar 1,584]

I'm not that mean to just have that link in my signature xD, even I have my limits when it comes to matters like this. 

 

It's understandable that you're not impressed by it.

We I'm glad for that

 

Part of my problem with it is the general negative nature of it. That and I believe cultural situation/mindset is not taking into consideration.

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

We I'm glad for that

 

Part of my problem with it is the general negative nature of it. That and I believe cultural situation/mindset is not taking into consideration.

 

Here's the thing though.

 

The nature of of it of-course is going to be negative from all the quotes cited from it, they are generally terrible events. 

 

Of-course times have changed, but something set in stone doesn't change if that makes any sense. Now days I don't even think people worship the technical Christian god and they have unknowingly made an entirely new Religion because they completely ignore all these statements on that website which are all cited directly with no changes or they interpret it in some other way that makes very little sense.  

[GreyScholar 1,584]

History has shown that life can dangerous, with selfishness and greed and the general brutality how things had to be done back then.

 

Governments, kingdoms, nations, empires rose and fell. Battles, wars, an racial tension being very common. Things that could be considered acceptable by us would not be considered acceptable back then and vice versa.

 

Live was not sunshine and roses, our world is nothing like Equestria.

 

I blame people for the bad things that have happened, past and present, and the way things were back then as well as now.

Edited August 22, 2013 by EquestrianScholar

[Flutterspark 48]

I have a question for all the Christians in here of all types of denominations. What do you think of this website? And try not to interpret anything into something else.

 

 

http://www.evilbible.com/

Good to meet you!

 

I can't believe how long this thread this been active for. It's impressive!

 

I was not very impressed, however, with the website that was linked to.

 

Here are my arguments against Evil Bible.com:

 

1. This guy uses the New Living Translation for some of his Bible verses. This is a paraphrase translation. It is only an interpretation of the original text, not a direct translation. It should certainly not be used for refuting the Bible.

 

2. Our God is not a namby pamby baby. He is the perfect, holy, righteous King of the Universe. He does not stand for evil. It is not His nature. In our modern Western culture, we often play down who God is. We tend to forget about the fact that He sometimes chooses to show his wrath. You'll notice that all of the times God did something "evil", it was a result of judgement. There are also many cases in the Bible where God actually holds back his judgement because of repentance. The story of Jonah is one example.

 

3. One of the examples the author of this website used was God killing the Israelites because of a census that King David commanded. God killed the Israelites even though they were innocent, right? Nope. They had also refused to obey a law about a ransom to God that was supposed to be given during every numbering of the people. The Israelites knew there own laws very well, they would also have known very well that they were disobeying. See David's Census and the Plague.

 

4. Now let's look at the "Ritual Human Sacrifice" page. It says God is a "big fan" of it. Unfortunately for the validity of that page, there was never a case of a human being sacrificed to God in the Bible. The one time God commanded it, God caused the sacrifice to never actually be carried out, as the website states.

 

From Evil Bible.com:

 

"Abraham takes his own son up on a mountain and builds an altar upon which to burn him. He even lies to his son and has him help build the altar. Then Abraham ties his son to the altar and puts a knife to his throat. He then hears God tell him this was just a test of his faith. However, God still wanted to smell some burnt flesh so he tells Abraham to burn a ram."

 

Abraham never lies to his son. If you read the passage in depth, Abraham trusted that God would not allow Isaac to be sacrificed.

 

Additionally, sacrifices in the Old Testament are symbolic of the Sacrifice that was to come. That is, Jesus Christ dying on a cross so that we might be saved. God does not care about the smell.

 

See The Sacrifice of Isaac.

 

I think the fact that this site uses this as an argument against the Bible demonstrates that this guy is just out to pick fights. I mean, the site is called "Evil Bible.com"...Does that tell us something?

 

5. The section titled "Japheth burns his daughter". Japheth makes a really silly promise to God, and he ends up having to kill his own daughter to keep that promise. Rash words -> Big negative consequence. The Bible never suggests that Japheth was supposed to make that promise, but he did do the right thing in choosing to keep it rather than let his daughter live. Why? Because the God who created the universe is worth more than anything else. The story is a lesson that we should not make those kinds of promises:

 

"But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." - Matthew 5:37 (NKJV)

 

...And yet, the author of the site has attempted to use it to show that God is evil because Japheth did the wrong thing. Yes, it's not a secret, Christians sin sometimes. It's unfortunate, but it doesn't make God any less righteous.

 

6. Then the page goes on to talk about God's "obsession" with first-born sons. It says:

 

"Even more peculiar is God's obsession with first-born sons. In Exodus 13:2 the Lord said "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me." It is clear from the context that "consecrate" means a burning sacrifice."

 

It is not clear from the text that consecrate means a burning sacrifice. It completely depends on the thing that is being consecrated. Note how the author does not give any scriptural reference for the context. He is again demonstrating that he's just looking to pick fights, not to consider the text seriously.

 

"A human sacrifice is a human sacrifice, and it is just sick."

 

...said the author as he failed to demonstrate any Biblical cases of human sacrifice.

 

For more info on consecration, see What does the Bible say about consecration?

 

7. Back on the homepage: The site claims that Jesus said men should castrate themselves. And how does the site support this? They take a Bible verse out of context. And not only that, it quotes the American Standard Version. Hmmm? I wonder why he's swapping Bible versions like that? Maybe the author is interested in misleading us?

 

Let's look at the passage that the author talks about in more detail, shall we?

 

"His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

 

But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”"

 

- Matthew 19:10-12

 

Jesus is teaching on celibacy. Whatever your interpretation of this piece of Scripture, Jesus is clearly not commanding anyone to abstain from marriage or sex. He is simply stating some facts.

 

For more on eunuchs, see What is a eunuch in the Bible? What does the Bible say about eunuchs?

 

8. I could go on and on about these poor arguments, but I'll stop. I need to direct attention to the main reason that website is rather silly. The big illogical argument that is sitting right in front of us.

 

The title of the website is Evil Bible.com. On the homepage, it says:

 

"This type of criminal behavior should shock any moral person."

 

But here's the thing. Where does the author get his definition of evil? Where does his idea of what is moral even come from?

 

Obviously, he is measuring Bible verses against some sort of moral scale, otherwise he wouldn't call the Bible "evil". But what is this scale? Does he subscribe to some other religion, that he holds as the definition of morality?

 

Ah ha! Here on the "About" page, the author writes:

 

"EvilBible.com is a non-profit web site which was developed to promote atheism by revealing the wicked truth about the Bible and religion."

 

So he promotes atheism, I see. ...Wait a minute, I thought atheism disregarded concepts like "good", "evil", and "morality" altogether, because it says that there just is no higher power?

 

You see, if there is no such thing as perfect, then there can be no such thing as imperfection. If there is no such thing as good, there can be no such thing as evil. If there is no such thing as morality, there can be no such thing as immortality. This is the belief atheists are forced to subscribe to by the very nature of atheism itself.

 

Can you see the illogicality of this statement now?

 

The author of this website is calling the Bible "wicked", even though he himself does not hold to any scale that defines "wickedness". The ruler that he is measuring the Bible with is an object that he doesn't even believe exists.

 

Christians on the other hand, hold God as the definition of goodness, morality, purity, love, and righteousness. The Bible is good, because it is the word of the one true God, who is good. When we call something evil or wicked, we are comparing that thing to the nature of God. Lying is evil because God is truthful. Mercy is good because God is merciful. Love is good because God is love.

 

Evil Bible.com is a misleading website standing on a shaky foundation, and I would just ignore it, if I were you.

 

EDIT:

 

I may be beating a dead... tree... here, but I just wanted to shamelessly advertise for a bit. Please stop reading now if you really don't need another book on your reading list that you'll never get around to finishing anyway.

 

C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, does a really good job of explaining the morality stuff that I fumbled around with in section 8 above. He makes very clear that all of humanity seems to compare "good" and "evil" by some invisible law, and then goes on to blow the reader's mind.

 

If anypony's interested, I found an (unfortunately poorly formatted) online version:

 

http://lib.ru/LEWISCL/mere_engl.txt

 

You have to scroll down for a bit to get to the start of the book. The part before the index is just a preface.

 

Ok, I'm going to give everypony some peace and quiet now.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Flutterspark

[Vinstar59 59]

 

 

That was just plain, flat out impressive, Flutterspark. I applaud you on a job well done. I need say nothing else. Outstanding job!

[SongBrony 419]

Christian brony right here. Everybody at my church knows I'm a brony too thanks to my youth minister. When I graduated high school he did a slide show of how I'd grown through my time there. Guess what was there? Me in a Derpy hoodie with rd pajama pants on from one of our lockins...it was awesome XD

[Null_user 126]

@Flutterspark, If I could post another applause gif, I would. That was both thorough and impressve. Whether someone is a Christian or not, whether they agree with your points or not, I think most would admit that you did an excellent job of rebutting that site's claims.

 

Seriously, thank you for putting that much time and effort to your reply. I--and many others, I'm sure--deeply appreciate it.

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,364]

I'm an atheist but my family is very Catholic. (I promise I won't be hateful or anything, I swear.)

 

Like I said before, my family's very Catholic and my parents don't know that I'm atheist. My parents are very church going, so I get dragged to church against my will almost every Sunday. My dad takes the Sunday off from work just to go to church. In church, I just sit there and daydream about random stuff, I never sing, and I'll only cross myself if my mom gets mad at me for not doing anything. I really don't like going to church, it's just very alienating and depressing. I don't feel very welcome at church. My dad is always complaining about how my two older brothers don't go to church (they moved out of the house), and this other time he was talking smack about atheism. So I'm kinda scared to tell him "Dad, I don't believe in God". I also don't tell anyone IRL about my extremely complicated and label less sexuality but that's a different story. My mom is also pushing me to make my Conformation and I told her "No, I have school to worry about", she wasn't pleased. She was also not pleased when I told her that I didn't want a crucifix in my room, and she hung it anyways. My grandma is also VERY religious, she ALWAYS prays whenever she come to our house. I also have an uncle who's also very fond of his religion and a lot of my cousins are very fond of their religion as well. I have many uncles and aunts who enjoy their religion, I remember an uncle of mine sat in his car reading the bible all alone. I just feel like I don't belong with the rest of my family, and sometimes I wish I didn't have such a religious family. Anyways, I've been an atheist for about a year now. For me, being an atheist feels very liberating and I really like that feeling of independence and freedom.

 

So do you guys think I should be more open about my religious views with my family, or should I keep quiet for now? 

[Part3Pon3 1]

I am a non denominational christian and I personally believe that I love ponies so much because the show really exemplifies many things we should be doing as christians such as loving others and cherishing friendship! I really love how the show has brought me closer to God and made me a better christian as well.

[Vinstar59 59]

I'm an atheist but my family is very Catholic. (I promise I won't be hateful or anything, I swear.)

 

Like I said before, my family's very Catholic and my parents don't know that I'm atheist. My parents are very church going, so I get dragged to church against my will almost every Sunday. My dad takes the Sunday off from work just to go to church. In church, I just sit there and daydream about random stuff, I never sing, and I'll only cross myself if my mom gets mad at me for not doing anything. I really don't like going to church, it's just very alienating and depressing. I don't feel very welcome at church. My dad is always complaining about how my two older brothers don't go to church (they moved out of the house), and this other time he was talking smack about atheism. So I'm kinda scared to tell him "Dad, I don't believe in God". I also don't tell anyone IRL about my extremely complicated and label less sexuality but that's a different story. My mom is also pushing me to make my Conformation and I told her "No, I have school to worry about", she wasn't pleased. She was also not pleased when I told her that I didn't want a crucifix in my room, and she hung it anyways. My grandma is also VERY religious, she ALWAYS prays whenever she come to our house. I also have an uncle who's also very fond of his religion and a lot of my cousins are very fond of their religion as well. I have many uncles and aunts who enjoy their religion, I remember an uncle of mine sat in his car reading the bible all alone. I just feel like I don't belong with the rest of my family, and sometimes I wish I didn't have such a religious family. Anyways, I've been an atheist for about a year now. For me, being an atheist feels very liberating and I really like that feeling of independence and freedom.

 

So do you guys think I should be more open about my religious views with my family, or should I keep quiet for now? 

If you don't mind me asking, what has brought you to be atheist? I can understand what it's like feeling alienated from your own family, or society for that matter. And I appreciate the honesty you've put into this. I know this couldn't have been easy for you to type and I can tell how you feel right now. It's a feeling I'm all to familiar with...  

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,364]

If you don't mind me asking, what has brought you to be atheist? I can understand what it's like feeling alienated from your own family, or society for that matter. And I appreciate the honesty you've put into this. I know this couldn't have been easy for you to type and I can tell how you feel right now. It's a feeling I'm all to familiar with...

In eighth grade I had a really awesome English teacher and he would always tell us "Question everything", and so I did. I questioned a lot of things and the existence of God just happened to be one of them, so I became agnostic. I thought about it for hours everyday and after a few months is when decided that there isn't a God. And ever since then I've been an atheist.

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

@@Flutterspark

 

Alright I will entertain your argument. I will use direct quotes from my personal Bible, Kings James Version.

 

You have one major whole in you're opening argument and that is with the translations, take a look back at what from my experience is the most commonly used Bible the Kings James Version. I will compare one from the New Kings James Version and one from the Old King James Version.

 

Old - 

 

Leviticus 20:9 - For everyone that curseth is father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be spilled on him

 

New - 

 

Leviticus 20:9 - ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.

 

Not to much difference between old and new editions right? It is simply changed up so it's more easy on the reader but it still gets the same message across. Now that's some ancient text, you can look at it many ways but basically it means if you break tradition (AKA disobey parents) You should be killed.

 

Now for some more evidence I'll quote some more from the new age 'junk' there putting out these days

 

Same scripture New International Version -  Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.

 

It's a quite sick statement in modern society to condone putting that in you're holy book? And even more hypocritical to say our god is a loving benevolent god, sure I'll give you that you have many scriptures about him being a loving and great. 

 

But I'll do the same thing, quote the KJ Bible with some of my favorite scriptures of him being a little bit nasty.

 

King James 

 

Deuteronomy 22:20-1 - But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

 

New International Version

 

Same Scripture - If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.

 

Some fucked up thinking eh? To think the people who were the precursors and delivered the word of 'god' thought this is how he wanted society to play out. We stone impure non-virgin woman, not only is this just sick, it's actually still happening to this day. All in the name of "God" well they call him "Allah" but the thinking is similar.

 

I can go on for a really long time just quoting bad scriptures from the Bible but in the end of the day we can go back and back with all these little translation miss-steps and all that. A good example would be a scripture where I found the word "Sword" to be translated back through plenty of loops to mean "Joy."

 

What does that mean in my case though?

 

So many translations that you all so easily cherry pick to prove you're cases, do they have any validity after being messed around with for years and years on end? If this was some normal Book it'd be discredited immediately for accuracy, but nope. It brings people 'comfort' from some chosen verses so it has to be true. Do you all really need that much of a purpose? To be so narcissistic to think we are so important to have some astral grandfathers attention?

 

Whatever makes you guys sleep at night...

 

And it does nothing to predict the future like some say, it has been used to predict the obvious for hundreds of years. It tells of Earthquakes and Natural Occurrences that tell of the end of the world, all it tells is some afraid persons observations that he 'thought' was going to kill us all.

 

In the end I can't change the way you guys think... I think you're way of thinking is pretty dumb too. I can't say much though because I literally filled the gap of religion in my life with Celestia and Luna in a metaphorical sense so.... I'm pretty dumb too. In the end everyone is dumb for thinking the way they think, but we all need a little faith to get to the end of the day. It's just the way we evolved/were created.

 

Please excuse some of my poor writing, I wrote this on short notice.

[akalink 163]

In eighth grade I had a really awesome English teacher and he would always tell us "Question everything", and so I did. I questioned a lot of things and the existence of God just happened to be one of them, so I became agnostic. I thought about it for hours everyday and after a few months is when decided that there isn't a God. And ever since then I've been an atheist.

Well I hope you did your research properly. A lot of people turn away from God because they only think about it internally. Conversely there are many atheists who are turned to Christianity because they did good research and did it questioning their worldview and assumptions. Questioning everything is a two way street, and I respect for thinking about something as big as your religion and inadvertently your worldview.

[Flutterspark 48]

I'm an atheist but my family is very Catholic. (I promise I won't be hateful or anything, I swear.)

 

Like I said before, my family's very Catholic and my parents don't know that I'm atheist. My parents are very church going, so I get dragged to church against my will almost every Sunday. My dad takes the Sunday off from work just to go to church. In church, I just sit there and daydream about random stuff, I never sing, and I'll only cross myself if my mom gets mad at me for not doing anything. I really don't like going to church, it's just very alienating and depressing. I don't feel very welcome at church. My dad is always complaining about how my two older brothers don't go to church (they moved out of the house), and this other time he was talking smack about atheism. So I'm kinda scared to tell him "Dad, I don't believe in God". I also don't tell anyone IRL about my extremely complicated and label less sexuality but that's a different story. My mom is also pushing me to make my Conformation and I told her "No, I have school to worry about", she wasn't pleased. She was also not pleased when I told her that I didn't want a crucifix in my room, and she hung it anyways. My grandma is also VERY religious, she ALWAYS prays whenever she come to our house. I also have an uncle who's also very fond of his religion and a lot of my cousins are very fond of their religion as well. I have many uncles and aunts who enjoy their religion, I remember an uncle of mine sat in his car reading the bible all alone. I just feel like I don't belong with the rest of my family, and sometimes I wish I didn't have such a religious family. Anyways, I've been an atheist for about a year now. For me, being an atheist feels very liberating and I really like that feeling of independence and freedom.

 

So do you guys think I should be more open about my religious views with my family, or should I keep quiet for now? 

 

 

Firstly, I want to say that I'm very pleased with your openness. I think it's really cool that you feel comfortable asking for advice on this thread.

 

Secondly, Woah. Catholic, eh? Yeah, I understand how that can be distancing. I'm a Christian and even I feel estranged from Catholics due to their many traditional practices sometimes.

 

Now, I'm afraid I cannot advise you on timings. I do not know if it is best for you to inform your family of your beliefs now, or to wait, but I can tell you some things that I hope will encourage you.

 

Your family thinks you are Catholic, but you aren't. While you don't say anything about it, you are letting them believe something that is not true. I think that you should probably reveal yourself sooner than later, so that the situation does not fester. Basically, in a way, you are lying to them, and I think that you should tell them the truth before that lie has gone too far. I would personally tell my family before I was confirmed into the church. I'm not a Catholic, but as far as I see it, Confirmation is the point of no return.

 

But I think you already recognise this, hence the reason you are asking. xD

 

Now, you say your family is very Catholic. Catholicism, as of course you know, is a denomination of Christianity. If your family is Catholic, they should be Christians.

 

In the Christian Bible, Jesus says:

 

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”" - Mark 11:25 (NIV)

 

The Bible also says:

 

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." - Colossians 3:12-14

 

God calls Christians to forgive. To love.

 

When you tell your family that you are an atheist, they will be shocked at first. They will likely get quite angry. They may be angry for a long time. And it might take them an even longer time after they have settled down, but if they are Christians, they will forgive you.

 

Maybe your telling the truth about yourself will be a test of their faith, I don't know.

 

So yeah, sooner rather than later, would be my advice, but I am not all knowing.

 

Thanks again for your honesty, I'll pray for you.

 

EDIT:

 

@@MichaelxXxTrixie,

 

Look, I can see that you are only here to pick a fight. That's not what I'm here for.

 

I like a good debate as much as the next high schooler with time to waste, but I'm not going to debate with someone who isn't out to actually learn anything.

 

I'll still be here to answer any questions you have concerning the Bible, if you are willing to consider my answers. Just shoot me a PM.

 

EDIT 2:

 

Ouch. What I wrote above seems rather angry, reading it again. I apologise, I meant what I said, but annoyance or anger is not what I meant to convey.

 

Good talking.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Flutterspark