Do other non-religions people have this feeling?

Alright, I was raised by a Christian family, everyone in my family is Christian. I went in a different direction at the age of 14 to discover other religions, my mother didn't like it but she supported me and said as long as i know right from wrong than it's ok. Well first i discovered paganism, then read up on Wicca, and now I'm just spiritual, I don't really have any religion, but I still have thoughts about Christianity and wander "Am I going to hell because i'm not Christian.", i guess it's more based on fear, because I have it so engraved into my mind that I will if I dont straighten up because that was just the way that I was raised, I feel like these beliefs aren't mine but they keep bothering me, does anyone else experience this?

Luckily, no. But I had no religious indoctrination when I was younger in the family, although a bit at school.

I would tend to think you will lose this cognitive schema over time. I guess like CBT, you'll be changing the way you think over time, and like a fading memory, the meme will weaken. Depends how well-ingrained the schema is.

i simply believe the afterlife (or, in my case, the lack thereof), is what you make it

When i was younger i was very much against religion (and debated until I was blue in the face about it) because science taught me that the big bang created the universe, not god, and it was evolution that put me here. I believed religion was a means to keep people in line through fear of something they could not see nor prove didn’t exist.

I noticed that there were so many religions around the world that one or most must be wrong. I concluded that if you were raised in a strict religious family and that religion was wrong in its beliefs but unknown to the young follower (brainwashed into believing it was the only correct religion by the parents) then surely god (if he/it) existed could not punish that person. And if god did punish that person, then that’s not the god I had been hearing about, all forgiving and loving etc. And by that way of thinking i thought to myself, as long as i am a good person ie not hurt others etc then if heaven does exist i wouldnt end up in hell just because i wasnt a Christian or whatever.
I don’t think it matters what religion you follow (if any) , as long as you are a good person then you cannot go to hell (im sure some disagree with me but anyway).

Christianity hasn’t been around that long in the grand scheme of things so just because you arent Christian I don’t think means you will go to hell. If that were the case hell would be well over populated, maybe that’s why there are so many people on earth lol. None of my friends are religious in any way but they are good people, so I doubt they’ll end up in hell purely because they arent religious, science taught them exactly what it taught me when I was younger (science could be seen as the brainwashing parents if you like).

I think ive always been somewhat spiritual in a sense, I knew science didn’t fully understand the universe and ive always been 'in touch' with nature (as in I respect it whole heartedly) and considered nature to be my god if you like. I was open minded but just not towards religion (based on the fact i had to blindly follow it) and its sort of fear mongering and lack of information as to what god was, what created god etc. The thing that annoyed me so much about religion was that i was always told that god is not to be understood, it doesnt matter where god came from or what created god, just have faith in god. That really put me off of religion, because of having to follow something through blind faith and all.

Saying all that, in my early twenties I was very much into documentaries about space and the universe and there was one program which quickly changed some of my views for me. PBS Nova elegant universe, which spoke of string theory and other dimensions (my god, science talking about other dimensions, surely not). When I saw that I immediately saw a relationship between some religious concepts and science, that is, other dimensions and that heaven could be a higher dimension and hell being a lower.

Im still not religious although i religiously browse the net hehe but im not going to go to church and pray etc. im much more spiritual and now believe in an afterlife (other things have happened for me to believe this). I dont think I believe in the fiery hell depicted by Christianity but i believe something else about hell.

I think I’ll leave it at that lol and im sure the above doesnt sound coherent anyway =/


[edit on 2-11-2007 by rapturas]

Originally posted by Uniceft17
I still have thoughts about Christianity and wonder "Am I going to hell because i'm not Christian?"

There is hopefully a point you reach at which you are able to figure out the message buried underneath all of the nonsense stirred up by political and personal agendas. One of the things people should hopefully figure out is that it makes absolutely no sense for a loving God and Creator to toss you into a firey pit of eternal torture because of things you did resulting from the ignorance he/it gave you. And once you figure that out, there is no need to fear death.

Some people, however, will never see the glimmer of light that so many people have tried to bury over the years. My grandmother, for instance, who wasn't any more evil than anyone else I ever met, spent her last hours on Earth in terrified, frantic prayer, convinced that pain and torture awaited her after death if she didn't die in a state of grace. She just didn't know any better, and tended to believe what other people told her, rather than what she could understand deep down if she just thought about it a little.

And there are probably quite a few people out there who think it was right for this little old woman to be terrified. Too sad for them. I guess some people get so enamored of the torture found in this life that they have to project it on past death, too.

Personally, I think this existence is full of enough misery and fear and agony that I like to think it thankfully ends, one way or another, upon death.


[edit on 2-11-2007 by Nohup]

reply to post by Uniceft17



To keep it brief. Yes. The programming one recieves from childhood can be hard to remove for the simple fact it has had time to lay down roots. I usually just ignore it.

Originally posted by Uniceft17
...and now I'm just spiritual, I don't really have any religion, but I still have thoughts about Christianity and wander "Am I going to hell because i'm not Christian".

I am also spiritual, but not religious. IMHO, anything that TELLS you HOW TO THINK, is a mind control tactic created for another's personal agenda.
My beliefs are that you are here to learn spiritually, and to learn the difference between right and wrong yourself, using your own judgement. I also DO NOT believe in the "angry god" theory. It's not about God forgiving you, you HAVE TO FORGIVE YOURSELF. Anything that installs fear is evil.

As a former Christian, it is my honest opinion that if the Christian God is all-forgiving as long as that person shows remorse for their 'sins', then why must one be so afraid of going to hell? Not that I believe in hell, (nor heaven for that matter) just from an outsider's perspective on Christianity, their God is the only higher being that loves his creations... then why is there such a feeling of fear being invoked?
Personally i can't understand why an individual would be punished horrifically for all of eternity as a result of 60/70 years of 'imperfections' that their God is apparently willing to forgive without a moment's hesitancy.
I think this immense feeling of fear and hostility is mostly due to the organized religions that derive from Christianity. If these Christians could abandon their fear of potential abandonment and punishment, following rules and showing respect, and focus about what their religion is really about, -'love'- then maybe each individual can learn to enjoy their spirituality and appreciate their bond with God, and lessen the feeling of fear.

[edit on 2-11-2007 by Ride The Spiral]

I did for awhile, but I got over it. I'm so glad to finally be free of that superstition.

I'm having more trouble "getting over" astrology. But I'm losing the knee-jerk response to finding out when someone's birthday is -- "That makes you a Pisces!"

Thank you everyone for the well thought responses, i'm hoping one day I will get over this 'fear', and not let others beliefs influence my thinking too much. Thanks!

Now i'm not bashing, so don't think that i am.

I don't think you know what you believe yet. Just from simple contradictions such as, you believe not in religion, but fear going to hell.

I'll admit that i too have had such "self arguments", internal conflicts, what ever you call them. And I have reached a conclusion that you believe what you will, and that is your religion.

I can not stand people who claim to be "christian" or other religions. In my opinion, a relgion does not define a man, but the man defines his religion. In other words, my religion is not "insert said relgion", but rather my religion is myself. This is hard to say and even harder to understand.

My advice to you would be to take a day off. Sit and meditate. Collect all your thoughts and beliefs. What you want to believe and what you do believe. Write them down and practice them day to day. Or in a sense, create your own religion.

Wow...my opinion sure is different from everyone elses.

I am a Christian and I believe completely in God, Jesus, and all the promises he made to us. Because of him, my soul has been saved and I have no fear of death, because I know I will end up in heaven.

I went to church as a kid, but as I grew up I began to see all the crap that was/is going on in the churches today. I want nothing to do with the religion...my faith and love is in God...not religion.

Did it ever occur to the OP (and others) that maybe...just maybe the thoughts you're having that you seem to want so badly to repress could be God trying to talk to you? Even though you may have given up on him, he won't give up on you. There is only one sin that the Lord cannot forgive and that is when someone willingly turns their back on him...he can't forgive you if you don't believe in him.

Listen with your heart instead of you head...you might just hear what your soul is longing for.

Marilyn~

Originally posted by Marilyn
Wow...my opinion sure is different from everyone elses.

I am a Christian and I believe completely in God, Jesus, and all the promises he made to us. Because of him, my soul has been saved and I have no fear of death, because I know I will end up in heaven.

I went to church as a kid, but as I grew up I began to see all the crap that was/is going on in the churches today. I want nothing to do with the religion...my faith and love is in God...not religion.

Did it ever occur to the OP (and others) that maybe...just maybe the thoughts you're having that you seem to want so badly to repress could be God trying to talk to you? Even though you may have given up on him, he won't give up on you. There is only one sin that the Lord cannot forgive and that is when someone willingly turns their back on him...he can't forgive you if you don't believe in him.

Listen with your heart instead of you head...you might just hear what your soul is longing for.

Marilyn~

How i wish to get off topic =/ but ill stay on topic

I just wanted to say your last line "listen with your heart instead of your head...you might just hear what your soul is longing for."

Is probably the best advice any of us can give, no matter your religion.

This is just my opinion, but I consider myself to be pagan as well but i follow more of a buddhist type of philosophy in the way I research spellcraft and its uses. I would think that the Christian "burn in hell and damnation" was created to keep people from straying away from Christianity. Again...just my opinion. I do not mean to offend anyone. After all a lot of the religious holidays are based on Pagan ones.. I follow my own path...I do not worry about the way others perceive things. You cannot have Heat without knowing Cold...Good without knowing Evil...So I try to strive a balance between the two. This is the way I see the universe and its surroundings...thanks.

I'm more of the spiritual and nature type myself. I think everthing you see in nature and the way things work is more god than any religion. But I used to think that way all the time OP. I was really confused when I was young and the adults I saw at my church I saw later at the bars in town. One of my friends parents were good going church members but when they were home they drank, cussed and everything else you wouldn't expect from someone like that.
I'm still searching my soul and heart for answers but I'm not reading man made writings anymore. To me it's just another man's opinion. I feel you do your best in life and do good things. Don't treat people bad and have fun too! Keep searching and you'll hopefully figure it out. I'm still trying myself.

I was raised in a very religious home as well. Both of my parents were hell fire and brimstone pentecostal ministers. I actually lived in the church. I questioned religion from a young age though and could never really buy into the idea that life was nothing more than a chess game between God and Satan.

When I left home and left Christianity behind I began a search that took me to many spiritual places, none of which I felt any more comfortable with than the one that had been instilled in me from birth.

I eventually became a Spiritual Anarchist. I believe deeply in God but I also believe that religion, ALL religions, are a form of control created by man to cheat you out of your money and support the clergy who are too lazy to get a real job.

Free the chains on your mind and the chains on your soul will melt away.

Now, to your question.

I no longer believe in Christianity or any other religion, but that doesn't mean I can't find comfort there. I still love the old religious hymns such as, "The old rugged cross" and "how great thou art."

Though the religion that I was raised in is no longer a part of my belief, it will always be a part of my life. It's in my memories from early childhood, My first girlfriend was from those early years, my first search began there, my beginning of this journey started in those sacred halls.

It's ok to go home, to those earlier times, to find comfort there. I do.

Just don't let them stop you from the journey you walk now.

Just my thoughts on it,

wupy

Originally posted by Uniceft17
Alright, I was raised by a Christian family, everyone in my family is Christian.

Question. If you were raised in a muslim country, would you have been raised muslim and have a muslim family?

One terrifying thing that I've been recently shown and I constantly pray that it's a lie, but it ain't going away. Is that most "christians" have nothing more than religion. Dead religion. Just as a muslim has nothing more than religion. Or a catholic or a you name it.


I for one can say that if my family were somehow supernaturally transformed to a muslim country most of them would be just as muslim as they are christian. Has nothing to do with Jesus Christ or the bible. Simply traditions of men.

Christianity in it's true sense is having a personal working relationship with Jesus Christ. I mean literally know him closer than anyone you know on earth.

Not knowing the bible or knowing "church". But him. Literally, and it's no fairy tale.

Those who don't know him have rejected him and there has been a veil placed between he and them because of their own choice.

What the natural man sees from birth is not a fraction of what is here.

Some hear, understand and grow. Some reject and wither and die.

Originally posted by Uniceft17
I don't really have any religion, but I still have thoughts about Christianity and wander "Am I going to hell because i'm not Christian."

Nobody goes to hell as a result of subscribing to or not subscribing to a religion. They go to hell because of what they are.

About the most beautiful illustration of how man is, is a computer's operating system.

Everyone is born with a corrupt operating system. We weren't originally created that way, but it was after man had sinned (corrupted his operating system) that he reproduced (children corrupt operating systems), therefore reproducing corrupt seed. It's handed all the way down from Adam.

Any computers remaining with the corrupt operating system get burned in the end. If this concerns a reader any, seek GOD for understanding.

Being Born Again is a work of GOD. It is when he installs a new clean operating system in you. Hardware starts to be detected and work that you never knew was there, because the corrupt operating system couldn't connect to it.

Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of GOD.

Originally posted by Uniceft17
i guess it's more based on fear, because I have it so engraved into my mind that I will if I dont straighten up because that was just the way that I was raised

You can't straighten up. A corrupt operating system can't reinstall itself and transform itself into a new clean one.

Only the one with authority to format the hard drive and repartition it can do that.

Originally posted by Uniceft17
, I feel like these beliefs aren't mine but they keep bothering me, does anyone else experience this?

This could be healthy. You've heard it said to you that Jesus died for our sins.

If Jesus died for us, that means only one thing. That we ourselves are sentenced to execution for what we are.

The only way to fulfill that is to die with him now and be born again. Anyone who believes on him will not taste death.

If any of these things concern you and you see that you have a corrupt operating system and seek a new one. Seek GOD for understanding. Don't dare let men trap you in a church.