I was raised Catholic, went to a Catholic high school (was voted most likely to become a priest), and now I’m firmly an atheist. I read the bible multiple times and had a few bible study classes.
It’s consistently amazing to me how little most christians know about what’s in the bible. It’s always entertaining to see their reactions when I correct them during an argument, or even when they say things like “The Bible says God won’t give you more than you can handle” or “God helps those who help themselves.” Those things, and lots of others that people attribute to the bible aren’t in there anywhere. A lot of times it feels like I’m discussing a movie with someone who only read a review of it.
I was raised catholic. Nursery, primary, high school and sixth form. Church every week. Extra lessons at the church in preparation for the sacraments. I was even an altar server for a time. I think I must have pretty lucky with the parish priest/my teachers though because I the most important thing that was drilled into us was the “golden rule” - treat others as you wish to be treated. Even as a child I knew the Old Testament stories were just that - stories. We were never ever taught that god hated anyone no matter what. We were also taught about other religions and not in “these idiots got it wrong” way. Judaism and Islam were taught as basically the same as Christianity but with a different idea of who Jesus was. I took Christian theology and philosophy A level and had a fantastic teacher. We spent hours debating the existence of god and we were never told we were wrong if we no longer believed by then. There’s a name for it I’ve forgotten now, but we compared the gospels to look for inconsistencies and examined what that meant for their validity. You were never expected just to believe for beliefs sake. I’m not catholic anymore, I have too many issues with the Church. But it’s shocking how unchristian the current brand of American fundamental/evangelical Christians are. It’s just so far from anything I was ever taught.
Most, if not all, monotheistic religions can be very loving or very hateful, depending on what the people make of it. At least that is my personal experience in Catholic Christianity and Islam.
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I was raised Catholic, went to a Catholic high school (was voted most likely to become a priest), and now I’m firmly an atheist. I read the bible multiple times and had a few bible study classes.
It’s consistently amazing to me how little most christians know about what’s in the bible. It’s always entertaining to see their reactions when I correct them during an argument, or even when they say things like “The Bible says God won’t give you more than you can handle” or “God helps those who help themselves.” Those things, and lots of others that people attribute to the bible aren’t in there anywhere. A lot of times it feels like I’m discussing a movie with someone who only read a review of it.
I was raised catholic. Nursery, primary, high school and sixth form. Church every week. Extra lessons at the church in preparation for the sacraments. I was even an altar server for a time. I think I must have pretty lucky with the parish priest/my teachers though because I the most important thing that was drilled into us was the “golden rule” - treat others as you wish to be treated. Even as a child I knew the Old Testament stories were just that - stories. We were never ever taught that god hated anyone no matter what. We were also taught about other religions and not in “these idiots got it wrong” way. Judaism and Islam were taught as basically the same as Christianity but with a different idea of who Jesus was. I took Christian theology and philosophy A level and had a fantastic teacher. We spent hours debating the existence of god and we were never told we were wrong if we no longer believed by then. There’s a name for it I’ve forgotten now, but we compared the gospels to look for inconsistencies and examined what that meant for their validity. You were never expected just to believe for beliefs sake. I’m not catholic anymore, I have too many issues with the Church. But it’s shocking how unchristian the current brand of American fundamental/evangelical Christians are. It’s just so far from anything I was ever taught.
Most, if not all, monotheistic religions can be very loving or very hateful, depending on what the people make of it. At least that is my personal experience in Catholic Christianity and Islam.
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