I grew up in church, was in the choir, was an usher, wrote for the church magazine, participated in bible quizzes, sword drills, prayed, read the bible, and even once had the nickname pastor.
Now everything doesn't make any sense anymore. First, I'm in hiding because this would just devastate my family, and second, religion is too big in Nigeria that it's the worst crime someone can commit in this country. It seems Nigerians would relate more to a killer or scammer than an atheist. It seems like Nigerians would even prefer if their relative be gay than not believing in God.

Anyway, I just wanted to hear comments, questions, and of course hateful/rude responses.

Peace!

omo.olomo:

Anyway, I just wanted to hear comments, questions, and of course hateful/rude responses.

Peace!

If those three are the things you're interested in then this thread should do. It has enough of all three. It might take you a while to read through them though.

God's peace! _hehe

@topic,

Anyway, I just wanted to hear comments, questions, and of course hateful/rude responses.

It's so easy to be hateful and rude in responses because it requires very little, if any intelligence. I hope such responses become increasingly rare on nairaland.

omo.olomo:

I grew up in church, was in the choir, was an usher, wrote for the church magazine, participated in bible quizzes, sword drills, prayed, read the bible, and even once had the nickname pastor.

If Apostle Paul should write out his own religious CV, yours will pale into insignificance but as Christ was able to open his eyes and make him the 1st messenger to the gentiles so shall your own testimony be in Jesus name.

You are passing through a phase . . . christianity to you has been all about activities and very little personal relationship with the Lord. Get a friend who is strong in the faith and have a chat with him, forget about church activities for now . . and spend a little more time praying that God will reveal Himself to you anew.

omo.olomo:

I grew up in church, was in the choir, was an usher, wrote for the church magazine, participated in bible quizzes, sword drills, prayed, read the bible, and even once had the nickname pastor.
Now everything doesn't make any sense anymore. First, I'm in hiding because this would just devastate my family, and second, religion is too big in Nigeria that it's the worst crime someone can commit in this country. It seems Nigerians would relate more to a killer or scammer than an atheist. It seems like Nigerians would even prefer if their relative be gay than not believing in God.

Anyway, I just wanted to hear comments, questions, and of course hateful/rude responses.

Peace!

omo.olomo please check out ROBERT INGERSOLL FOR MORE ENLIGHTENMENT

omo.olomo:

I grew up in church, was in the choir, was an usher, wrote for the church magazine, participated in bible quizzes, sword drills, prayed read the bible, and even once had the nickname pastor. Now everything doesn't make any sense anymore. First, I'm in hiding because this would just devastate my family, and second, religion is too big in Nigeria that it's the worst crime someone can commit in this country. It seems Nigerians would relate more to a killer or scammer than an atheist. It seems like Nigerians would even prefer if their relative be gay than not believing in God.

Anyway, I just wanted to hear comments, questions, and of course hateful/rude responses.

Peace!

To anyone who is confident in who he or she is, what other people think should not even matter for much. The fact that you spent a lot of your life pretending to know what you do not know and decieving others speaks more of what may be going on inside of you than what other people do to you. Life is 99% what you make it and 1% external. You, my friend need to come to terms with who you really are and accept that people do not need to like you for you to exist and that is 100% FINE.

If atheism is the way you choose to go now, I suggest you accept it and focus on other things rather than announcing to people who believe in God that you do not believe in God so as to get a reaction from them. People do not need to know if you believe in God and you need to also learn to respect the fact that those who you are around would rather be around those who believe in God and not those who do not. Accept it and move on to find those who are like you instead and you will find that there is nothing wrong with people not agreeing with you in this.

@ poster , bibl says you are the kind of persons who claim a form of spirituality but deny the power thereof.may God help you.

need not be scarred, believe in God, believe also in christ Jesus.

We all have different roles to play in this world.

IDINRETE:


omo.olomo please check out ROBERT INGERSOLL FOR MORE ENLIGHTENMENT

I can't believe I had never heard of him before. The quotes I've seen so far are great. I'll look for some of his works. Anyone in particular that's really good?

Thanks.

@omo.olomo,

omo.olomo:

I grew up in church, was in the choir, was an usher, wrote for the church magazine, participated in bible quizzes, sword drills, prayed, read the bible, and even once had the nickname pastor.

This is where it should begin to make sense to you:

davidylan:

. . . christianity to you has been all about activities and very little personal relationship with the Lord.

In other words, as the adage goes: the cloak doesn't make the monk.

Even worse than your own case omo.olomo, some that I have known (believe it or not) have actually performed miracles in Jesus' Name - with incontrovertible evidence. Today, they have abandoned the faith, and even now pouting that it didn't make any sense to them from the beginning.

There is a great divide between "religious activities" and a living relationship with Christ. Many people have confused the two; and this is where we need to ask again and again: what actually makes you a Christian?

In all the arguments that could be advanced on either side, there's no need to be "scared" (as suggested by your topic). Until one has a true relationship with Jesus Christ, everything else is empty - which is what you have discovered for yourself.

Now it's up to you where you truly want to go from here: either (a) take a detour in order to get away from Jesus - if that was what you set out at the beginning to accomplish; or (b) get done with the cover of cheap substitutes and activities and go on to discover a living relationship with Christ.

@exbogus,

exbogus:

I can't believe I had never heard of him before. The quotes I've seen so far are great.

No offence, but how do "quotes" answer to the deepest spiritual needs of one's heart?

exbogus:

First, I really believed in the whole Christianity thing when I was growing up. It was all genuine then, giving my life to Christ, the emotions, seeking a revelation/touch from Christ etc. It all just doesn't make sense anymore. I feel like I understand religion, and I know how important it is to those who truly believe, which leads to the second problem.

What actually would you say was missing here? How could you explicate for us how what you affirmed to be "GENUINE" suddenly "doesn't make sense anymore"?

exbogus:

Everyone around me is a strong Christian. I LOVE my family and friends and do not want to hurt them in any way. I'm guessing my sole hypocrisy is a fair trade for the happiness of those close to me. Right?

But who actually is asking you to remain in your sole hypocrisy so you can blame it on others?

I grew up in church, was in the choir, was an usher, wrote for the church magazine, participated in bible quizzes, sword drills, prayed, read the bible, and even once had the nickname pastor.
Now everything doesn't make any sense anymore. First, I'm in hiding because this would just devastate my family, and second, religion is too big in Nigeria that it's the worst crime someone can commit in this country. It seems Nigerians would relate more to a killer or scammer than an atheist. It seems like Nigerians would even prefer if their relative be gay than not believing in God.

My prayer for you is that May you not be lead into Temptation and May you be delivered from evil.

Forget Religion, Only beleive in Jesus christ as your Lord and Saviour. then Join the assembly of true believers. then your situation will change.

Nobody can force you to believe what you don't want to.Faith is a matter of opinion,what you choose to believe.Furthermore,what you believe or disbelieve must come from within you,and not from without.
If you feel that your relationship with your loved ones will be endagered by revealing how you truly feel about their belief system,then act prudently and keep it to yourself.The right time to reveal the truth to them will present itself sooner or later.

omo.olomo:

I grew up in church, was in the choir, was an usher, wrote for the church magazine, participated in bible quizzes, sword drills, prayed, read the bible, and even once had the nickname pastor.
Now everything doesn't make any sense anymore. First, I'm in hiding because this would just devastate my family, and second, religion is too big in Nigeria that it's the worst crime someone can commit in this country. It seems Nigerians would relate more to a killer or scammer than an atheist. It seems like Nigerians would even prefer if their relative be gay than not believing in God.

Anyway, I just wanted to hear comments, questions, and of course hateful/rude responses.

Peace!

Wow, ((((pilgrim.1))))  your words are a good sign (matt 12.35) and i yet learn.

And yes if we had pastors/teachers who taught us to be closer to Jesus and His life rather than involvement in hypocritical activities/programs we would have been better people with genuine christian characters and a peaceful nation.
There is a big difference between knowing and doing, some don't find the will to do after knowing.

There is one that after knowing and doing gets tired and begins to slide backwards not having enough steam to continue. This is what i think is the state of our omo.olomo. So i advise a closer relationship and return to the savior once again and ask for strength because this feeling of 'it does not make sense anymore' is just a display of a state of maya.

shalom

@namdo,

How body? God bless you for that post!

This is what people should begin to understand in their walk with God:

namdo:

And yes if we had pastors/teachers who taught us to be closer to Jesus and His life rather than involvement in hypocritical activities/programs

There's nothing that can take the place of a genuine and real relationship with Christ.

Activities are good and have their valued place in the Christian life; afterall, the Bible admonishes us that, as believers we are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Eph. 2:10); and faith without works is a useless venture (James 2:26).

However, good works only follow (and are sustained by) a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the starting point - and to assume any other position will lead to a burnout.

pilgrim.1:

What actually would you say was missing here? How could you explicate for us how what you affirmed to be "GENUINE" suddenly "doesn't make sense anymore"?

Perhaps, what he really meant there was, "everything seemed genuine".  I strongly disagree with those who think he was being hypocritical in his religiosity before now.  As I always say, people change, mentalities change, afterall, CHANGE itself is the only constant thing in life.

Obviously, goodguy is speaking from personal experience (I saw another statement you made elsewhere). What extenuating circumstances (or is it notions), if I may ask, brought about this sudden change (or was it gradual) in your case?

Methinks, your clarification though is more to the line of what David and Pilgrim have argued: things seemed genuine, in other words, you touched an appearance of reality rather than the very real thing itself.

If there is any place where one can be in the midst of reality and still not be influenced by it, that place is christianity - and that is because the individual has to make a personal effort, but many of us just assume that it is sufficient to get carried along or sustained by the group, whearas when circumstances (and thoughts) get really difficult, such group sustainance, fails to prove sufficient. It is what is IN you which matters at those times, not necessarily what is AROUND you.

Cheers

Wow man, I love your reply.  Short, simple and precise.

ricadelide:

Obviously, goodguy is speaking from personal experience (I saw another statement you made elsewhere). What extenuating circumstances (or is it notions), if I may ask, brought about this sudden change (or was it gradual) in your case?

Good observation, and a very good question as well.  The change was a gradual one, but unlike the poster here, I still believe in God (or simply put, a supreme being), but just as he said, a lot of things don't make sense anymore.  I've become rather skeptical about a lot of things regarding Christianity and religion as a whole.  There are different factors that influenced this change actually, but I'll put forward a major one here.  Check this thread: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-43442.0.html

As I said before, the change may not necessarily be as a result of having being hypocritical in the past.  At least, for me I'm sure my previous posts on this forum prove that. . . if  anyone feels otherwise, well na them sabi.  I really don't know how to explain this myself. . you know, it's more like having a kind of mind renewal.   Like, all of a sudden, you begin to realise that all those things you once accepted hook, line and sinker weren't really meant to be, now that you reason it out logically.  I know someone will say spiritual things are not meant to be discerned logically.  But even then, there are practical stuffs in religion that really are illogical/irrational when viewed properly (objectively actually).  Some stories in the Bible are just totally absurd, and really leaves me wondering if this is the same God that is supposed to be omnibenevolent.  Just recently, I came across a passage in the Bible where God gave the Isrealites a go-ahead to go to war, kill the men and marry their women thereafter.  I was totally miffed.  Maybe I read it out of context, I don't know, or it wasn't meant to be taken literally?   Just last week too, I read this article on wikipedia and I became more confused??: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_consistency_and_the_Bible.  I'm quite a lazy reader, but I was surprised I could read the whole of that long piece to the end.  There are some stuffs I myself don't agree with there, I believe they did some pretty poor exegesis in some parts of that article, but for most parts, I agree with the writer.
 
However, the only reason I still haven't ruled out the possibility of the existence of a supreme being is because I still think theism is a more rational position to hold than atheism.  I'm not trying to start a debate here anyway, just dey yarn my mind.  Actually, I've been hoping earnestly that I will find a solid reason to come back fully into Christianity,so I've been doing more of reading than posting on this board.  You and pilgrim.1 have been very helpful so far, but when I just read all these Christian vs Muslim threads it arouses my skepticism the more. . . just as Jagunlabi would say, two deluded fellows arguing over which delusion is better. .  but hey, that is just by the way.

ricadelide:

Methinks, your clarification though is more to the line of what David and Pilgrim have argued: things seemed genuine, in other words, you touched an appearance of reality rather than the very real thing itself.

If there is any place where one can be in the midst of reality and still not be influenced by it, that place is christianity - and that is because the individual has to make a personal effort, but many of us just assume that it is sufficient to get carried along or sustained by the group, whearas when circumstances (and thoughts) get really difficult, such group sustainance, fails to prove sufficient. It is what is IN you which matters at those times, not necessarily what is AROUND you.

Cheers

Ummm. . .  I'll see if I can work on this.  t'was really helpful.  Thanks.

I don't know how to explain to you guys that I had that REAL relationship with Christ. It was really genuine. I still get shivers sometimes when I hear some of the good old worship songs: they remind me of the good old times. I still remember arguing in support of God's existence, I fervently believed that Christianity is a way of life and not a religion.
It just happened that my personal experiences and my personality has made me come to the realization (or false realization) that the god portrayed by religions does not exist.

I still cherish the good times I had with my religious beliefs and appreciate every moment of my religious past, but now it's time to move on.
The problem is that I'm afraid religion would eventually create a barrier between me and my family.
Sometimes, I wish I could change my experiences, and sometimes I think maybe I'll be an example for other people that choose to shake the status quo.

omo.olomo,

Your life story in a way reflects mine. I am a Cameroonian who now lives in the UK but lost my faith at the age of about 15. I have very close family ties and friends with Nigeria/Nigerians and have witnessed both countries slowly metamorphosize into a de facto civil theocracy, almost blindfoldedly. In my immediate community of family and friends I know of but two people who are not religious. I can relate with your fears of "coming-out" for fear of being ostracised. It is up to you what you decide to do, but have courage. I have been self-declaring as a non-believer now for 20 years, with some small strain with my relationship with my friends/family. So you are going to have to be very tactful and diplomatic with your relationships if/when you make you lack of belief public. Have courage.

There are great resources on the internet for atheist, freethinkers,agnostics. I encourage you to check them out. Here are some of them;

http://www.richarddawkins.net/
http://www.samharris.org/
http://www.buildupthatwall.com/
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/
http://rationalrevolution.net/
http://www.jesuspuzzle.com/
http://ffrf.org/radio/
http://www.infidelguy.com/
http://midwestatheist..com/
http://newhumanist.org.uk/1637
http://www.atheistnation.net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjJAWuzno9Y
http://www.youtube.com/user/
http://www.youtube.com/user/potholer54
http://www.youtube.com/user/ProfMTH
http://www.youtube.com/user/AronRa
http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnLArmstrong
http://www.youtube.com/user/Netwriter
http://www.youtube.com/user/Thunderf00t

The Youtude videos are GREAT. I cannot urge you enough to watch them. You will be amazed by the depth of feeling and knowledge out there.

Now, my two great freethinking heros are Thomas Paine and Ingersoll. Listen to these podcast by Ingersoll. That are magnificient.

http://www.podcast.net/show/64460

Enjoy.

Also watch this video of a Christopher Hitchens debate. Great.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnMYL8sF7bQ


There are many video of Hitchens debate on YT. Check them out.

You are confused and no one can help you until you are ready to help yourself.Search for knowledge not only about christianity but Islam too.I am sure this will help solve your problem.and with this,the truth is not far away.

You are confused and no one can help you until you are ready to help yourself.Search for knowledge not only about christianity but The Great Religion too.I am sure this will help solve your problem.and with this,the truth is not far away.

y should she limit her search of knowledge to only Christianity and the Great Religion??

aha, how many links for one person?

first thing is that you've lived a lie for pretty much all your life, n' majority can identify with that?, wh do we scare you?, because we believe in the existence of a supreme being, GOD?

surely you have acknowledged his presence even without realising it. when ure in a fix and youre confused, do you not find urself prayin? , why do u pray?, cuz it feels gud?, wrong, reflex? , yea n' u have them because u know dere is a god, but something [and i'm guessing science or tech or oyibo power, no maybe even stubborn 'ol u dat has created that impression for yourself] wont let u see dat.

oh and surely surely there are certain things you do not do in church, not because the ushers(one of you) are watching or, whoever, but because somewhere within you u know it aint ryte, not because it jus isnt, but ma dear u do acknowledge the presence of a supernatural supreme being (i prefer to call him God)

Now then, if you really wanna do something about it there are countless places to go to, but u can start by rephrasing your post,

when ure in a fix and youre confused, do you not find yourself prayin? Shocked , why do u pray?, because it feels good?, wrong, reflex?

this is a gross assumption. there are no studies to back up this statement.

, but something [and i'm guessing science or tech or oyibo power, no maybe even stubborn 'ol u that has created that impression for yourself] wont let u see that.

no reason and logic, shows the abrahamaic God doesn't exist. just because u pray to an imaginary being doesn't mean it's real. i may force myself to believe there's 1billion dollars in my account but that doesn't I'm really a billionaire.

but ma dear u do acknowledge the presence of a supernatural supreme being

how do u know this, are u a mind reader or something??

What do you want exactly?, to stop living your lie? and/or start believing in God?

omo.olomo:

I don't know how to explain to you guys that I had that REAL relationship with Christ. It was really genuine. I still get shivers sometimes when I hear some of the good old worship songs: they remind me of the good old times. I still remember arguing in support of God's existence, I fervently believed that Christianity is a way of life and not a religion.
It just happened that my personal experiences and my personality has made me come to the realization (or false realization) that the god portrayed by religions does not exist.

I feel almost exactly the same way.

Goodguy, you are different from how you were before. What happened? Im curious

@ poster

You still believe in God or else you wouldn't be scared. Why should you be scared of something that doesn't exist?

@ Poster

you can alr see u'r nt alone. you nt first to be in the situation and sure wldnt be the last. Wld imagine you knw the implications of turnin ur back on Christ whom u once defended. Hate to say this, but it wld hv be better if you neva knew christ at al. I'm afraid the consequence of your decision to turn ur back will be more than just what u finkin but then I gs u knw more than I do. I pray the good Lord reveals himself to u like neva before.

Its a free world people wld say but Ideally, its alr too late. Plz dont turn ur back on God, its the greatest mistake u probably wld make. Its easy to say I feel exactly the same way but I have tasted the Lord's goodness so many times that even in my adversity, I cant help but to believe that he wld see me thru. May God be wit u.

I'm scared of people not God. I don't want to lose my religion because of some superstition I no longer subscribe to.

What is Christianity in the first place?

[list]
[li] Attributing every good thing that happens to you to God's love (We serve a living God, )[/li]
[li] Attributing bad things to the devil or as God's will (All things work together for good to, )[/li]
[li] Worshiping Jesus because he said he died for you. MLK died for a good cause, people take bullets for other people. There are so many martyrs, but that doesn't warrant worship.[/li]
[li] God only loved the Israelites for generations and all of a sudden, you worship his son and you'll get some love too. [/li]
[li] Sermons are basically finding ways to relate a book written long ago to present day events [/li]

[/list]

I really don't want to get started on my many reasons for not believing in God anymore.

But no matter how convinced I am that the religious God does not exist, I still live in a society where most people want their lives to be directed fully by God. Their religion tells them that if they love me, they should do all they can to "bring me into the light."

So am I scared of God? - No. What I am scared of is breaking family ties and friendship bonds that took years to build.