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Amanita86 said:

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Amanita86 said:
You ever read what Jesus said?

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It was more of a "he said she said" kinda thing.

The "she" being Jesus, "he" being the various authors of different books in the new testament...written several decades to half a century after she died, and then arbitrarily chosen to become the canon texts from a slew of other different/contradictory accounts of her words some 2 centuries later.

But yea, I grew up in a Christian family, I've read it all and sat through Sunday school and sermons, then later catachism classes and "camp meeting" community revivals for some chick I was dating. I was always iffy about the whole thing, and became much more sure that christianity was not for me about the time I was in middle school.

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You never gained even a tidbit of positive direction or just ‘in general’ good advice from what Jesus was quoted as saying?  Not even a hint?  Not even a weeeee smidgen?

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Of course I did, I never said it was all useless. Most religious writings can offer up some general advice on being a good person or living a good life.

But they can also be used to justify judgement and persecution. They can offer solace and justification for being a shitty person, and their teachings can be warped and misapplied in a society for power. You know, the general arguments for why religion can suck.

Growing up in the bible belt just showed me that most Christians want you to believe and "never question god's word", but then will actively cherry-pick what parts of god's word will never be questioned, ignore contradictions or hypocrisy within their ranks, and use their religion for power and social rank manipulation. There are surprisingly few Christians willing to admit the human origin and historical context of their religious teachings, and willing to accept that religious faith is not universal and should not be mandated in a secular nation.

I understand feeling a certain way about the universe, and I understand the strong gravitation spirituality has toward religion. I also encourage the use of religious texts as input and general framework for one's own spiritual journey, regardless whether that journey is confined to a certain religion. But, I feel like that journey is a purely personal one, and doesn't require the shackles of yet another social structure to gain benefit from. Just as One can build their own personal philosophical beliefs using a combination of the teachings of many philosophers and One's own critical thought, so too can One's spiritual beliefs be obtained.

I appreciate some of the teachings and the social network religion has to offer, but I personally refuse to abide by one human religion that isn't free of logical contradiction.