Ex Fundamentalist: March 2010

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

The Skeptic's Annonated Bible... 1-10 Absurdities

The first 10 Absurdities in The Bible... Genesis From...
The Skeptics Annonated Bible

1.God creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn't make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day (1:14-19). 1:3-5

2.God spends one-sixth of his entire creative effort (the second day) working on a solid firmament. This strange structure, which God calls heaven, is intended to separate the higher waters from the lower waters. 1:6-8

3.Plants are made on the third day before there was a sun to drive their photosynthetic processes (1:14-19). 1:11

4.In an apparent endorsement of astrology, God places the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament so that they can be used "for signs". This, of course, is exactly what astrologers do: read "the signs" in the Zodiac in an effort to predict what will happen on Earth. 1:14

5."He made the stars also." God spends a day making light (before making the stars) and separating light from darkness; then, at the end of a hard day's work, and almost as an afterthought, he makes the trillions of stars. 1:16

6."And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth." 1:17

7.God commands us to "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over ... every living thing that moveth upon the earth." 1:28

8."I have given you every herb ... and every tree ... for meat."
Since many plants have evolved poisons to protect against animals that would like to eat them, God's advice is more than a little reckless. Would you tell your children to go out in the garden and eat whatever plants they encounter? Of course not. But then, you are much nicer and smarter than God. 1:29

9."He rested."
Even God gets tired sometimes. 2:2

10."The tree of life ... and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
God created two magic trees: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. Eat from the the first, and you live forever (3:22); eat from the second and you'll die the same day (2:17). (Or that's what God said, anyway. Adam ate from the tree of knowledge and lived for another 930 years or so (5:5). But he never got a change to eat from the tree of life. God prevented him from eating from the tree of life before Adam could eat from the tree, become a god, and live forever.) 2:9

Hey ho, and this is just the beginning!!!

Sunday, 28 March 2010

Protesters call for Pope to quit - Topix

Pope accused of failing to act on sex abuse case

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8587082.stm

Group takes its anti-religion message to billboards

Saturday, 27 March 2010

Winner of £1m Templeton prize attacks ‘fundamentalism’ of Dawkins - Times Online

Monday, 22 March 2010

Jill Mytton Interview - Richard Dawkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXA7GA9yntc

This is a link to the Uncut interview from channel 4 TV program 'The Root of All Evil' hosted by Richard Dawkins.

Jill Mytton left a religious cult as a young adult, and now helps counsel people who are struggling with life after leaving cult environments.

Friday, 19 March 2010

Religion Is Bullshit - George Carlin

A Mixed Marriage (Comedy)

Ex Fundamentalist

Susan C

Saturday, 13 March 2010

My Destructive Indoctrination

The following text was taken from the book "Depression" by Dorothy Rowe.
But I have adapted it to fit with my life at the time of my depression.
Because Dorothy understands Depression so well, I thought she was writing about me...
I would like to take this opportunity to thank her by helping me understand what my
illness was all about.

My Destructive Indoctrination
Depression for me was a period of unhappy withdrawal, an uncomfortable hibernation.
And I didn't know it.
No compassion could pierce the wall that separated me from the outside world.
Depression is a prison where I was both, the prisoner and the cruel jailer.
The turmoil of my feelings was so great, that it was impossible to know where to begin to describe them.
So I stayed silent.
I was enduring a lonely isolation.
Inside the prison (depression), I had the feeling of imminent death.
When I told my friends that I was damned, they told me I was not, that God was not like that!
They did not know what it was like! "The Fear". In the middle of the night,
When all was quiet and I could only hear my thoughts!.
The fear of God in my life! Undermining my confidence, until the smallest decision;
What shall I think? "What shall I wear? What will I eat? Who will I talk to? Became an impossibly difficult task.
Sometimes the fear brought guilt, I felt as if I'd failed as a mother, sister, wife, daughter, friend.
I felt guilty for being depressed. I longed for death to bring me peace, and feared death,
that it might bring something worse than life itself.
I hated myself for being unable to love my husband!
Irritable and miserable, I pushed people away from me.
I tried to smile and be ordinary but the pretence is so wearing and inside I was silently screaming.
My family couldn't understand my anger, fear and emotions!
The smallest thing like an unmade bed, a loud noise, could provoke me into a rage.
Till it got that it didn't matter anymore.
I had so many mood swings.
I thought that when they got angry with me, that they disliked me and would never forgive me.
I very rarely forgave myself.
I very soon spent more time in my bed. I was weak and scared. So I built a wall around me.
I felt an empty void inside me.
Felt guilty so punished myself by staying in bed as much as possible.
Felt frightened, angry, guilty for feeling angry.
Blamed myself, felt more guilt, anger, fear and so on forever and ever.
It felt like no-way out, and I forbid myself the key that would unlock the door.
I would know no peace until God forgives me and I forgive myself.
The one torture (punishment) that I allowed myself was "Solitary Confinement"
When Isolated I suffered. The longer I stayed in solitary the greater the torture became.
I thought I deserved it!
And didn't want to face anything anymore.
I went through most of my life believing that I was not good enough!
I was always being told that "I was filth before God".
I felt nervous with outsiders, just in case they took the Lord's name in vain,
or made a joke about God.
I dare not laugh, always solemn. I didn't want to put my life or rather 'soul' at risk!
The burden on my heart became the prison walls of depression.
I could not find any relief or peace in my life, the feeling of fear and hell NEVER went away.
I lost interest in everyday things, cooking, cleaning, reading, eating and TV.
I felt very sensitive and hurt easily. People did not understand how I felt.
I didn't know I was suffering from depression! I just felt so alone.
I could not cope anymore. I stopped eating and lost a lot of weight and no one noticed.
That made me feel more worthless, but my family were to wrapped up in their own lives and I suffered silently.
When I realized that I was depressed! I was afraid.
Afraid that I'd plunge further into a bottomless pit of complete destruction, madness and death.
Dangers threatened me if I left this depression because I'd have to start dealing with things.
I didn't know how to deal with things anymore!
It wasn't comfortable but at least it was 'safe'! Decisions, Decisions!
I was scared to make changes, especially in my marriage;
I found it hard to admit that my marriage was not everything that I wanted it to be.
I knew I had to stay within the marriage in the eyes of God!
The effect depression had on my body was bad.
Tremors, headaches, stomach pains constipation, weight loss, forgetfulness etc.
I had panic attacks, thought that I was dying with any and every pain I had!
I ended up in a psychiatric Hospital from Dec 1998 -Feb 1999.
I had to fight the demons! But my demon was God!
I look forward to the day when the prison walls come tumbling down.
One day I will look around me and find the walls have gone
and the world is right there, near me and that I am part of the world.
Being more aware of the present, instead of thinking of the past or worrying about the future.
Just paying attention to the here and now, the flavor of food, the sound of the birds,
listening to people, just being part of the "normal world" again.

Susan Casey 1999

A CRY FOR FREEDOM
A million thoughts race through my head.
Can't concentrate, on what's being said.
Don't feel hate, don't feel love.
Don't even care about God above.
What's happening around about?
Don't want to know, just blank it out.
Deaf ears and tunnel vision.
Has become a conscious decision
Whose life is it, without a doubt?
Same routine, day in day out.
I've got to get out of this dark hole!
And pray to God to save my soul.
I won't feel guilty all the time.
Just to live! Is that a crime?
I need forgiveness, a need to be free!
Please! I only want to be me!
Susan Casey (c) 1999

Inside
Frantic thoughts inside my head
Especially when I'm in my bed
In the darkness, no one can see
Inside my head. but only me
It's like the wires have crossed and fused
So many colors all bemused
One by one, I'll put it right
I know it'll be a long hard fight
What will I do? Where will I go?
I'll have to learn to take it slow
Because only I know what's in my head!
Especially when I'm in my bed.
Susan Casey (c) 1999

My Story

Are you trying!

To walk away!

From your belief's?
You do not have to -

Feel guilty!

This blog is not meant to

Destroy Your belief in God

"If your are happy with your god"!

It is more to do with the:-

"Fundamentalist way of preaching".

I do not now believe in the

"Fundamentalists God".

I leave my mind open to

"All possibilities"

After all,

No-one has came back

To tell us

"The Truth"

Have They??

1976

This is where my nightmare began!

When I was 17 years old, I was relatively care free and didn't think much
about God. I was dating my then boyfriend, since I was 16. I used to
go to visit my older sister often who was into 'contacting the spirits'?
It was just a bit of fun...or so I thought! Strange things did happen,
but I never took it seriously. At that time there was, a group of :-

Born Again Christians in the area where I lived. I'd never heard
anything about them before, although I knew them as old neighbours.
I didn't know that they were part of the group until one day I was
approached by one of them.

I was asked, "what I thought of God?" Etc. To which I replied, "I didn't

know but told them that I was contacting the spirit world". Well!...
Shock, horror! I was told that it was very dangerous and that I was really
contacting 'Satan' himself and that I was being deluded into thinking
that it was one of my family. They told me I'd better stay clear of all
that stuff. They invited me to one of their house meetings. I admit, what
they said did frighten me, but, did I believe in God??
I thought about it and went along anyway I just thought it was going to be
your everyday kind of church, singing hymns and reading phrases out of
the bible... 'God loves you' and all that!

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm