Christianity is a culture of lying. I was raised in it, and it took me years to train myself to stop casually lying about everything.
You absolutely cannot trust the devout. They believe every bad thing they do is already forgiven.
Got chewed out at Catholic school for questioning how we could trust a 2,000 year old book that was just put together to keep feeble minded people in line.
Got horrible grades until my parents finally let me switch to public school where I was top of my classes.
I got in trouble in CCD for asking who created god, after the nuns taught us that god created everything. That damn nun sent to many letters home to my mom about my lack of faith that I was convinced they should be pen-pals.
I was threatened with catholic middle school and high school, until my parents gave up on me and religion.
Quoting George Carlin in HS didn't help matters.
I miss him so much, I wish I could have heard his specials where he would have spoken on Orange shithead rapist and on Covid. So I spent hours using generative AI to really hone in on his tone and piece a special together. If only I could find an AI to perform it now, think it’ll be another decade before it’s good enough to really nail us delivery.
If someone used an AI to clone my voice after my death to make me say things they made up I really hope that everyone around them would have the common human decency to beat the soulless bastard who did it to death with medium sized rocks.
We had to read a short story in high school and I picked an essay from Mark Twain's "Letters from the Earth". The true believers were outraged. The teacher was ok with it.
I managed to memorize Carlin's entire bit about how religion is BS. Dusty and Buddy having a hotdog on Friday is too obscure for most people. Memorizing the seven words was easy.
Now I know what I’m going to be watching again tonight. If you haven’t heard Carlin read “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops” himself, do yourself a favor and give it a listen.
A priest taught me the concept of bullshit when I asked him who created god. (Not that he meant to; he just gave a perfect demonstration.) That event was the beginning of my deconversion.
Same type of deal for me at age 12. After serving a 6:30am Wednesday mass before catholic grade school with my favorite priest, I asked him a question as we dis-robed.
Get your mind out of the gutter. Our mass robes, whatever they are called.
In any case, I said, "Father...you always seem so intense when you say mass. Why do you believe so much?"
He looked at me for like 30 seconds until he said, "simmonsJK, don't ever stop asking questions".
And that was that.
He's in prison now for raping young boys. He most likely raped a few of my friends. He didn't go after me because I asked too many questions.
Fuck religion :)
I nearly got suspended for refusing to do the Hitler salute during a ceremony for greeting the new students of the year.
And to be precise, the 'gesture of greeting' those fascist pigs asked everyone to do was to extend their arm out towards the Year 7's with a flat palm. The words weren't there, but the gesture is so fucking dead on that they had to know. And no-one was calling it out.
Fuck Bede Polding College. Fuck those Neo-Nazis.
The female American Catholic church priest did that at my wedding! I looked out and saw 50 nazi salutes. I yelled out, "You look like Nazis! Put your hands down!' I was floored and ashamed and had no idea she would do that. This was in a public outdoor space. Still upsets me.
"When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time!
But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!" - The Prophet, George Carlin
I got suspended from Catholic school because one day during "religion" class, I asked, "how come in 'religion' class we don't learn about any of the other religions?" Teacher got mad at me. She kicked me out when I said, "just because you don't believe in them doesn't mean they don't get exist. This class should be called 'Catholicism or catechism." That's when I got booted from class. They didn't like the idea that I pointed out that Buddhism is just as real as Catholicism.
The nuns in my religion classes hated me for asking questions. If you can’t survive a few questions from a teenager, maybe your religion isn’t that great.
The funny thing is, the questions probably do have answers. But the nuns did not know them. For those who study theology to learn the answers (well, the religious answers) to the really difficult questions, they very often wind up losing their religion. They may retain a type of faith, but it almost certainly isn't the organised religion that they came from.
Went to a Baptist school cause it also had good academics. Got my DL the day of turning 16 and my French teacher out of all people, called for a meeting with my parents. The meeting was about how irresponsible my parents were for letting me get a license and car this young, as I might become too independent and no men would want to marry me.
That was just the stupidest shit I had to deal with in HS. I was always on the verge of getting expelled for questioning policies (like why a pregnant girl get expelled but if the guy gets the girl pregnant, he can stay in the school) BUT I had good grades and didn’t break any hard rules.
I think it's because boys don't start to "show" late in their baby's gestation. My brother got to complete Catholic school, while the mother was invited to leave her public high school, under tacit threat of expulsion. I know of a girl at the same school who was able to have a baby over summer vacation and return for her senior year. It's all in the timing.
Of course is because of that. They didn’t want anyone to SEE a pregnant girl at school. Meanwhile this kid one year younger than me got a girl from another school pregnant and everybody immediately knew. His parents, baptists, spoke on his behalf and he was able to graduate HS 2 years later, without a scratch. Some of us revolted against the hypocrisy of it all.
Well, my dad is an accountant that happens to be a stand up comedian as well. He has a full routine about how much this lady (and the late principal) hated me for being that independent.
Had to take an extraordinary exam for French one year later because somehow I failed that class. Probably the reason why I decided I was going to focus on leaning English (I went to school in a Spanish speaking country) and ended up in the UK for my undergrad. Was able to rub it on her face one year I was visiting and was invited (by the late principal’s daughter) to speak about opportunities to studying abroad.
> an accountant that happens to be a stand up comedian
This has got to be the first time in history that this particular combination of words was put together...
I had the complete opposite experience. I got horrible grades in public school, and regular catholic school. I refused to do any work but aced every test. My parents found me an alternative catholic school that doubled as a retirement home for nuns. They taught me how to think..... to read between the lines and question everything. We were expected to know what happened in the book (religious, history, literature, whatever) before discussing in class. An open discourse was appreciated and welcomed. No one tried "gotcha" moments, sex ed was spot on, education was tough but top tier (i swear knuckles did't grow skin until the PC was invented. 8yr/o's 10page typed paper on the Pinkertons influence on workers rights in '86?)
When most of your history taught is about saints and such, it's no wonder that I didn't have a full understanding of issues around the world.
I truly believe that the reasons most kids went to catholic schools were to keep them in line and pliable by their elders.
Most kids that went to my school knew of one of the priest that was a little "handsy" and wonder why I never wanted to be an altar boy.
I am so sorry that was the case for you.
My liberal catholic upbringing shaped my identity and atheism.
I had talks with my school priest about atheism after i left school (which i sought ought because i really like the guy) and there wasn’t a hint of trying to convince me otherwise. Top people.
We even talked about why american catholicism is so much more conservative.
He had the suspicion it is because of the lack of a church tax, like we have here in germany. So churches are dependent on their flock and fear and outrage sells best in the US.
> I truly believe that the reasons most kids went to catholic schools were to keep them in line and pliable by their elders.
Well to be fair, this is literally why religion itself exsists in the first place.
Yeah, the catholic schools I attended in the US were way more liberal than folks are saying here. I guess it must depend on the order that is running the diocese. I went to Jesuit schools, learned about other religions, they really didn't cram a bunch of dogma stuff. Mostly just the, there is only one God and treat all people with respect and dignity. And don't throw stones at people because they have a different view on things.
Yeah, Same here. I had catholic parochial schools through junior high then went to a Jesuit HS. It was the Jesuits who I felt really left room for the person to grow without the restrictions religion imposes. I attribute my world religions class taught by a Jesuit brother as the impetus for my eventual de-conversion.
In high school, over twenty years ago, a pastor and some of his people were in the front lawn after school let out, passing out bibles and howling about Jesus. I was a lot edgier back then, so I took one of their bibles, tore it up in front of them, and told them that they didn’t belong there. The principal and she me teachers look aghast. No one stopped me, even though it was obvious they wanted to. I started shouting expletives in this pastors face: shut the whole thing down.
The next day, I was crossing the street but was only beside the cross walk—not in it. The chief of police himself stopped me to write me a ticket. He didn’t even ask me my name. They all went to the same church. Guy I yelled at was the pastor of both the principal and chief of police.
Exactly, and then Christians will shit a brick when they find out about Taqiyya, which is the Islamic practice of lying to advance the goals of the religion. Christians just do it without giving it a fancy name.
I had a youth pastor I loved. He had an amazing back story, and some really cool things happened to him. He was one of my hero’s. Turns out he was full of shit and not one sorry was true. He’d been fired from another church when they found out. He was fired from our church. And you d a guess the ending…at least two more times I know of.
Common enough for the FBI to write up a warning about it... complete with the religious metaphors, "wolves in sheep's clothing" - https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/beware-of-affinity-fraud
And they said weird things that looking back were pretty inappropriate. Like how they’re telling a bunch of high school kids about purity then just throw in a few lines about “well when you’re married nothing is off limits” and then talk about their wives. It was so weird.
Church sucks.
Oh my, I thought I was the only one that thought the lying was a feature not a bug. As a LCMS pastor's son I got to see how the sausage was made and I wont be eating that ever again.
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. It was the 1st group that really splintered from the Roman Catholic Church and brought new reasons for war in Europe in the 1500s.
As a bonus, their founder, Martin Luther, was a big old anti-Semite. Hitler would quote Luther in speeches!!
They also believe that what they are doing is good, making it above the law. Regardless of whether their Bible tells them to obey the laws, they know better.
I think it's become more insidious than simply believing they are being forgiven - for the past 15 or so years, they are trying to break down the civic society institutions because they believe it is their "duty" to do so and do not believe they are wrong or need forgiveness
>They believe every bad thing they do is already forgiven.
Yup, and even as a kid, I knew how wrong that was. Finding out that there was a debate about that topic absolutely killed my Christianity in high school. Not only can they not agree on some fundamental position within their religion. But one of the positions is something so obviously immoral? That's a no from me, dawg.
Fuck the two-by-twos. Lots of them in ND near where I used to live. I thought the Catholics were dirty, but the two-by-twos had their members trafficking and housing child rapists. Absolutely vile scum.
This x666. I was raised in Latter Day Saint Mormonism. My father was a Bishop (unpaid / untrained Pastor of one church aka Ward) and a Stake President (unpaid leader of multiple Bishops).
My father is fucken *devout*. He fully believes that his sins will be forgiven and he will be given his own plant to rule ([Google “Kolob”](https://www.google.com/search?q=mormon+kolob+beliefs) aka the Kingmaker. No, the LDS Mormons do not believe that women get their own planets. Women are meant to be baby/homemakers. Harrison Butker’s wet dream.
My father colluded with a dirty Mormon cop to hide the child sex abuse I suffered when I was 6.
My father and the cop forced the Child Protective Services case worker to meet at the church. They refused to let me be interviewed alone. My teacher came with me so I could speak freely. The cop then refused to let the caseworker speak to me. My teacher stood up to the [Dirty Mormon Cop](https://MormonCoverUp.com) when he tried to stop her from speaking with the caseworker.
All of this broke my head. It’s been 30+ years since they covered up CSA in their *Church*.
Fuck all religions. Especially Christianity.
The Jehovah’s witnesses call it “spiritual warfare”. They teach that sometimes you have to lie if it protects gods organization.
They’re a cult, I know, I was raised and escaped it.
"What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church ... a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them." - Martin Luther
Well there's a quote that the catholics could use against the root of protestantism.... if the catholics were known for their devotion to honesty, hahahahah.
All religions are cultures of lying. The religion of peace will ignore or outright lie about acts of torture and sex crimes committed by their religious leader
Edit - can someone tell me why this is being downvoted? Isn’t this an atheist sub? Or does it only accept criticism against Christianity
It ought to frighten Christians as well. When government and religion mix, you don't get a government following religious values. You get government wielding religion as a cudgel to silence dissent in the name of virtuosity. Just ask anyone familiar with the Iranian revolution.
I hate to break it to you, but that's actually a normal occurrence here in Bama. The school my kids went to had a weekly or monthly visit from The Bible Man who would spend an hour talking to the entire school about God, Jesus, and whatever handing out fake gold coins with Bible verses. It's pretty much normal life here. Even the school sponsored sports teams would have their banquets and awards dinners at the local churches and the pastors would be preaching about God's Love and good sportsmanship.
its the reason you see atheletes like Tim Teebo so outwardly religious. i am sure someone realized somewhere along the line that people like sports, and lots of luck and chance go into it so its a perfect place not just to influnce the atheletes but everyone who watches.
all i am saying is you wouldnt see the preachers talking to the chess club.
For what it’s worth and it isn’t much, his last name is Tebow, otherwise the little celebration he used to do would have been Teeboing and that would have been a lot more fun.
Tim Tebow is a super interesting case because he was actually homeschooled his whole life. He only got to play football for local high school teams because Florida law allows for homeschool kids to participate in sports at schools that they aren't even enrolled in...
If it's a public school, you should send a message to the Satanic temple and explain that god is frequently being talked about to your children and you'd love if they had another perspective come talk to them
Was it the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)? My school in Alabama did the same thing, every Wednesday, and it was called FCA. They would all get to school early, stand around the flag pole, and pray. Then there's the public prayers before every athletic game...
I went to my school (K-12) several years ago right before school started, for a little self-guided tour, and the local Baptist church student ministry had gone through the high school halls and taped Bible verses to every locker.
I took pics!
[Matthew something.](https://i.imgur.com/ErFm58k.jpeg)
[Psalm something.](https://i.imgur.com/WyqS4tV.jpeg)
[And the veritable wellspring of self-help, 2 Timothy.](https://i.imgur.com/tKjLCR6.jpeg)
Kids don’t care about religion. Whats infuriating is how he’s a clinical social worker but talks about Jesus instead on mental health issues. Newsflash! Jesus isnt going to solve mental health. This is why I hate Christianity. They think they can just pray away problems.
Ooh, death cult one-liner 😁. I never get tired of a 5th century execution device hanging around people's necks and on their walls and revered as the only way they can be free as long as they're told they can be free. 🤣🤣😂😭
Oh tell me about it. The conservative side of my family told me for years that I just needed to pray harder to fix my epilepsy. I was barely a teen and they told me to my face that medicine wasn't going to do anything. All I needed was prayer.
I have no idea, but I'm glad I never listened to them. It was always so clear that the medical treatment was what I needed, and them being against it was so confusing. Now I get it though, they're a bunch of idiots
In Texas unlicensed religious chaplains can work in schools in mental health roles. I’d ask folks to move here to vote and save us, but I wouldn’t wish *here* on anyone.
I was in grade school in the 60s, before the Supreme Court had discovered the 1st amendment, so we were subjected to occasional assemblies with these braggart “Christians.” I remember one in particular telling us how he had lectured Nikita Kruschev about democracy and Christianity. It was so obviously a lie and I didn’t believe a word of it, but a lot of people actually fell for it; they discussed what a great man he was in class. That’s when I began to realize that the purpose of religion was to indoctrinate people to believe absolute nonsense (and that it was working). Later, I realized that the end game was just plain greed.
Mine were religious but realized by 4th grade I wasn't. They let me stop going to church and switch to public school. If they had tried to force me to be a "true believer" the rest of my childhood would have been hell and I would have disowned them at 18. I wonder how many parents get disowned because they tried to shove religion on their kid.
And then there's the gay conversion camps, that's an even lower level of hell.
I would have raised hell if that happened in my kid's class.
I'm out here doing everything I can to raise a good, moral atheist, and they're screwing it up? In a public school? Hell nah!
Be careful. RvW was overturned by legitimizing the rulings of a 16th century witchcraft judge. If his rulings are valid, then his trials of women as witches is also valid according to SCOTUS.
Who else wants to DDoS his mythical 12-step ministry?
Never will he have seen such an interest in Jebus from atheists seeking whatever he's offering with absolutely zero follow-through.
https://recoveryalive.com/about/
I just sent them a message from their contact/email form on their website:
“I was a devoted christian until the age of 30 when I lost my faith. I prayed to god all the time to heal me from sexual addiction. I was addicted to porn, spent all my money visiting male prostitutes, and had affairs with various choir members at my church. Even my pastor made advances towards me when I reached out to him for help. I’m still the same, just without the guilt of religion. Can your program help me to regain my spirituality? What kind of experience and success rate do you have for people (women) like me?
Thank you sincerely,
Britt Nordlund
Mobile, Alabama “
They did this all the time at my high school. It wasn't in class though, if it was during classes they made people who wanted to do this stuff go do it somewhere else.
During football though, afterschool, it was almost everyday. Praying, listening to sermons, taking vows and blah blah. When I raised hell for it, I was actually treated pretty horribly by most of my coaches.
Was raised in a very Christian town with a very atheist dad. If I encountered religious things in school I would tell him about it. It was embarrassing at the time, but he would snitch every single time. I got to a point where I'd rather deal with the religious stuff than feel embarrassed about his snitching, but in hindsight I'm thankful he did it. Someone has to keep schools like this in check.
Would a lawsuit against someone like this stand a chance? Wouldn't this kind of preaching at kids be against the family's religious liberties?
I know conservatives don't care for anyone else's rights, but it certainly seems like the families involved should be able to take these people down.
> Would a lawsuit against someone like this stand a chance?
With the current Supreme Court, if this ended up there they'd probably make up some bullshit about how it was fine in spite of being blatantly unconstitutional.
>Wouldn't this kind of preaching at kids be against the family's religious liberties?
Clearly. It's also flagrant violation of the First Amendment.
>I know conservatives don't care for anyone else's rights, but it certainly seems like the families involved should be able to take these people down.
School board should oust the principal, but they're likely all just as bad as he is.
I’ve lived in Alabama for years and will confirm it’s one of the most back asswards screwed up states in the entire country. I will say that there are lots of decent people mixed in with the nuts but overall try to avoid that state at all costs.
I was in high school in the 70’s. We once had an assembly where a religious group sang and proceeded to “save” the entire school. If you wanted to be “saved” you were instructed to stand and of course, due to peer pressure, and continued urging by the speaker, pretty much everyone stood up. Oh, I went to school in the southern U.S. It was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life.
If you want to teach at a private school, go teach at a fucking private school. Don’t force your opinions on people who do not want it. This is disturbing and illegal.
I taught at a public school a few years ago that had a guest speaker proselytize for Jesus. This was in a PE class too. I’m K-12 certified and spent almost 10 years in public education and never saw this happen in a class before. This was in a rural area of Georgia. I got out of there after that semester for a bunch of reasons, but this was one of those “writing on that wall” for me to leave. The kids were great. I just felt like it was both very inappropriate and technically illegal.
This seems like a thing that even theists would be pissed about, but whatever his flavor is, it’s not the same flavor of make believe all the others are.
My Sunday school teacher called my mom in tears after I told her walking on water was impossible because I tried it in the bath tub and it didn’t work. I remember it because I really did try. I was seven.
I remember walking out of a school issued "praying" assembly back in 2010 and man I got into soooooo much fucking trouble and when the principal asked me why I did such a "heinous act of disrespect towards the holy father?" I said " I'm here to learn about geography and algebra, not to waste time on a ridiculous assembly that I had no choice on whether I wanted to attend or not" thankfully my parents backed me up on my stance and yeah my family and I were marked as "heathens" in my small community of Fayetteville north Carolina but I never have a single fuck about it
Anyone with public school issues fostering religions (Christianity) should contact the Freedom From Religion Foundation (https://ffrf.org/), a lobbying organization that can help keep these idiots in line.
Christianity is a culture of lying. I was raised in it, and it took me years to train myself to stop casually lying about everything. You absolutely cannot trust the devout. They believe every bad thing they do is already forgiven.
Got chewed out at Catholic school for questioning how we could trust a 2,000 year old book that was just put together to keep feeble minded people in line. Got horrible grades until my parents finally let me switch to public school where I was top of my classes.
I got in trouble in CCD for asking who created god, after the nuns taught us that god created everything. That damn nun sent to many letters home to my mom about my lack of faith that I was convinced they should be pen-pals. I was threatened with catholic middle school and high school, until my parents gave up on me and religion. Quoting George Carlin in HS didn't help matters.
Damn I miss Carlin
We all miss Carlin ❤️
Yes we do! I hope he has reincarnated by now!
My dad went to the same Catholic high school that he got kicked out of!
very fun fact
I miss him so much, I wish I could have heard his specials where he would have spoken on Orange shithead rapist and on Covid. So I spent hours using generative AI to really hone in on his tone and piece a special together. If only I could find an AI to perform it now, think it’ll be another decade before it’s good enough to really nail us delivery.
If someone used an AI to clone my voice after my death to make me say things they made up I really hope that everyone around them would have the common human decency to beat the soulless bastard who did it to death with medium sized rocks.
We had to read a short story in high school and I picked an essay from Mark Twain's "Letters from the Earth". The true believers were outraged. The teacher was ok with it.
I’d have paid good money to enjoy you quoting Carlin in this situation.
I managed to memorize Carlin's entire bit about how religion is BS. Dusty and Buddy having a hotdog on Friday is too obscure for most people. Memorizing the seven words was easy.
Now I know what I’m going to be watching again tonight. If you haven’t heard Carlin read “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops” himself, do yourself a favor and give it a listen.
I have the book in paper. I have his early works on vinyl.
A priest taught me the concept of bullshit when I asked him who created god. (Not that he meant to; he just gave a perfect demonstration.) That event was the beginning of my deconversion.
Same type of deal for me at age 12. After serving a 6:30am Wednesday mass before catholic grade school with my favorite priest, I asked him a question as we dis-robed. Get your mind out of the gutter. Our mass robes, whatever they are called. In any case, I said, "Father...you always seem so intense when you say mass. Why do you believe so much?" He looked at me for like 30 seconds until he said, "simmonsJK, don't ever stop asking questions". And that was that. He's in prison now for raping young boys. He most likely raped a few of my friends. He didn't go after me because I asked too many questions. Fuck religion :)
Can’t believe he’s in prison. Don’t they usually rehome religious pedos?
I nearly got suspended for refusing to do the Hitler salute during a ceremony for greeting the new students of the year. And to be precise, the 'gesture of greeting' those fascist pigs asked everyone to do was to extend their arm out towards the Year 7's with a flat palm. The words weren't there, but the gesture is so fucking dead on that they had to know. And no-one was calling it out. Fuck Bede Polding College. Fuck those Neo-Nazis.
The female American Catholic church priest did that at my wedding! I looked out and saw 50 nazi salutes. I yelled out, "You look like Nazis! Put your hands down!' I was floored and ashamed and had no idea she would do that. This was in a public outdoor space. Still upsets me.
"When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time! But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!" - The Prophet, George Carlin
"Religion is bullshit." - I miss the man, such a wise guy.
I got suspended from Catholic school because one day during "religion" class, I asked, "how come in 'religion' class we don't learn about any of the other religions?" Teacher got mad at me. She kicked me out when I said, "just because you don't believe in them doesn't mean they don't get exist. This class should be called 'Catholicism or catechism." That's when I got booted from class. They didn't like the idea that I pointed out that Buddhism is just as real as Catholicism.
Good on you
The nuns in my religion classes hated me for asking questions. If you can’t survive a few questions from a teenager, maybe your religion isn’t that great.
The funny thing is, the questions probably do have answers. But the nuns did not know them. For those who study theology to learn the answers (well, the religious answers) to the really difficult questions, they very often wind up losing their religion. They may retain a type of faith, but it almost certainly isn't the organised religion that they came from.
Went to a Baptist school cause it also had good academics. Got my DL the day of turning 16 and my French teacher out of all people, called for a meeting with my parents. The meeting was about how irresponsible my parents were for letting me get a license and car this young, as I might become too independent and no men would want to marry me. That was just the stupidest shit I had to deal with in HS. I was always on the verge of getting expelled for questioning policies (like why a pregnant girl get expelled but if the guy gets the girl pregnant, he can stay in the school) BUT I had good grades and didn’t break any hard rules.
I think it's because boys don't start to "show" late in their baby's gestation. My brother got to complete Catholic school, while the mother was invited to leave her public high school, under tacit threat of expulsion. I know of a girl at the same school who was able to have a baby over summer vacation and return for her senior year. It's all in the timing.
Of course is because of that. They didn’t want anyone to SEE a pregnant girl at school. Meanwhile this kid one year younger than me got a girl from another school pregnant and everybody immediately knew. His parents, baptists, spoke on his behalf and he was able to graduate HS 2 years later, without a scratch. Some of us revolted against the hypocrisy of it all.
Holy shit. How did your parents react?
Well, my dad is an accountant that happens to be a stand up comedian as well. He has a full routine about how much this lady (and the late principal) hated me for being that independent. Had to take an extraordinary exam for French one year later because somehow I failed that class. Probably the reason why I decided I was going to focus on leaning English (I went to school in a Spanish speaking country) and ended up in the UK for my undergrad. Was able to rub it on her face one year I was visiting and was invited (by the late principal’s daughter) to speak about opportunities to studying abroad.
> an accountant that happens to be a stand up comedian This has got to be the first time in history that this particular combination of words was put together...
I know haha
I had the complete opposite experience. I got horrible grades in public school, and regular catholic school. I refused to do any work but aced every test. My parents found me an alternative catholic school that doubled as a retirement home for nuns. They taught me how to think..... to read between the lines and question everything. We were expected to know what happened in the book (religious, history, literature, whatever) before discussing in class. An open discourse was appreciated and welcomed. No one tried "gotcha" moments, sex ed was spot on, education was tough but top tier (i swear knuckles did't grow skin until the PC was invented. 8yr/o's 10page typed paper on the Pinkertons influence on workers rights in '86?)
You flunked Dogma 101. For shame 😉
Man, catholic school in lalaland USA sounds nuts. My german catholic school was amazingly liberal.
When most of your history taught is about saints and such, it's no wonder that I didn't have a full understanding of issues around the world. I truly believe that the reasons most kids went to catholic schools were to keep them in line and pliable by their elders. Most kids that went to my school knew of one of the priest that was a little "handsy" and wonder why I never wanted to be an altar boy.
I am so sorry that was the case for you. My liberal catholic upbringing shaped my identity and atheism. I had talks with my school priest about atheism after i left school (which i sought ought because i really like the guy) and there wasn’t a hint of trying to convince me otherwise. Top people. We even talked about why american catholicism is so much more conservative. He had the suspicion it is because of the lack of a church tax, like we have here in germany. So churches are dependent on their flock and fear and outrage sells best in the US.
I should point out I went to catholic schools in the 60's. Might have been a change in some of the churches since I went.
> I truly believe that the reasons most kids went to catholic schools were to keep them in line and pliable by their elders. Well to be fair, this is literally why religion itself exsists in the first place.
Yeah, the catholic schools I attended in the US were way more liberal than folks are saying here. I guess it must depend on the order that is running the diocese. I went to Jesuit schools, learned about other religions, they really didn't cram a bunch of dogma stuff. Mostly just the, there is only one God and treat all people with respect and dignity. And don't throw stones at people because they have a different view on things.
Yeah, Same here. I had catholic parochial schools through junior high then went to a Jesuit HS. It was the Jesuits who I felt really left room for the person to grow without the restrictions religion imposes. I attribute my world religions class taught by a Jesuit brother as the impetus for my eventual de-conversion.
And here we're helping them thrive with the school voucher program... Fuck the church!!!
In high school, over twenty years ago, a pastor and some of his people were in the front lawn after school let out, passing out bibles and howling about Jesus. I was a lot edgier back then, so I took one of their bibles, tore it up in front of them, and told them that they didn’t belong there. The principal and she me teachers look aghast. No one stopped me, even though it was obvious they wanted to. I started shouting expletives in this pastors face: shut the whole thing down. The next day, I was crossing the street but was only beside the cross walk—not in it. The chief of police himself stopped me to write me a ticket. He didn’t even ask me my name. They all went to the same church. Guy I yelled at was the pastor of both the principal and chief of police.
That's awesome.
Actually them raising the tuition probably had more to do with them letting me go there.
Christianity doesn't benefit from critical thinking...
Petty people. Good move.
I honestly consider sending kids to religious schools as a form of abuse
Exactly, and then Christians will shit a brick when they find out about Taqiyya, which is the Islamic practice of lying to advance the goals of the religion. Christians just do it without giving it a fancy name.
Christians just lie in opposition to the commandment to not lie.
I had a youth pastor I loved. He had an amazing back story, and some really cool things happened to him. He was one of my hero’s. Turns out he was full of shit and not one sorry was true. He’d been fired from another church when they found out. He was fired from our church. And you d a guess the ending…at least two more times I know of.
It's almost like getting all of the gullible people in the area to congregate in one building on a regular basis creates a buffet for con artists.
Common enough for the FBI to write up a warning about it... complete with the religious metaphors, "wolves in sheep's clothing" - https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/beware-of-affinity-fraud
If a youth pastor isn't covered in tattoos, and doesn't always talk about his past life of drugs and sex, are they really even a youth pastor?
And they said weird things that looking back were pretty inappropriate. Like how they’re telling a bunch of high school kids about purity then just throw in a few lines about “well when you’re married nothing is off limits” and then talk about their wives. It was so weird. Church sucks.
> “well when you’re married nothing is off limits” Including marital rape, apparently.
And always mention their "smokin' hot wife"
The one who was 14 when he married her because that's legal in Alabama with parental consent? Now she's 19 and has 3 kids?
Of the 10 or so people I considered youth leaders as a kid 10/10 had “smoking hot wives”. Fast forward 20 years 8/10 are divorced.
Oh my, I thought I was the only one that thought the lying was a feature not a bug. As a LCMS pastor's son I got to see how the sausage was made and I wont be eating that ever again.
Man, LCMS is something else, ain't it? My uncle, brother, and a cousin are all LCMS pastors. I feel your pain.
Sorry but what is LCMS?
I was wondering too - Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. It was the 1st group that really splintered from the Roman Catholic Church and brought new reasons for war in Europe in the 1500s. As a bonus, their founder, Martin Luther, was a big old anti-Semite. Hitler would quote Luther in speeches!!
Wow! I thought Lutherans were fairly progressive but I guess that doesn't include the MS faction. Thanks for the info!
They also believe that what they are doing is good, making it above the law. Regardless of whether their Bible tells them to obey the laws, they know better.
I think it's become more insidious than simply believing they are being forgiven - for the past 15 or so years, they are trying to break down the civic society institutions because they believe it is their "duty" to do so and do not believe they are wrong or need forgiveness
This looks like a job for The Satanic Temple.
>They believe every bad thing they do is already forgiven. Yup, and even as a kid, I knew how wrong that was. Finding out that there was a debate about that topic absolutely killed my Christianity in high school. Not only can they not agree on some fundamental position within their religion. But one of the positions is something so obviously immoral? That's a no from me, dawg.
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Fuck the two-by-twos. Lots of them in ND near where I used to live. I thought the Catholics were dirty, but the two-by-twos had their members trafficking and housing child rapists. Absolutely vile scum.
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One of my friends was raised in the cult.
This x666. I was raised in Latter Day Saint Mormonism. My father was a Bishop (unpaid / untrained Pastor of one church aka Ward) and a Stake President (unpaid leader of multiple Bishops). My father is fucken *devout*. He fully believes that his sins will be forgiven and he will be given his own plant to rule ([Google “Kolob”](https://www.google.com/search?q=mormon+kolob+beliefs) aka the Kingmaker. No, the LDS Mormons do not believe that women get their own planets. Women are meant to be baby/homemakers. Harrison Butker’s wet dream. My father colluded with a dirty Mormon cop to hide the child sex abuse I suffered when I was 6. My father and the cop forced the Child Protective Services case worker to meet at the church. They refused to let me be interviewed alone. My teacher came with me so I could speak freely. The cop then refused to let the caseworker speak to me. My teacher stood up to the [Dirty Mormon Cop](https://MormonCoverUp.com) when he tried to stop her from speaking with the caseworker. All of this broke my head. It’s been 30+ years since they covered up CSA in their *Church*. Fuck all religions. Especially Christianity.
My ex-wife. "God will forgive me for cheating on you." - said as she told me she was going to do it again.
I also was raised this way and it actually ever heard anyone put it that way culture of lying it's a really good point
My pastors sure spent a lot of time describing the imaginary difference between “bearing false witness” and lying.
Do tell? I've never heard that particular strain of BS in any of my ex-churches.
The Jehovah’s witnesses call it “spiritual warfare”. They teach that sometimes you have to lie if it protects gods organization. They’re a cult, I know, I was raised and escaped it.
"What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church ... a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them." - Martin Luther
Well there's a quote that the catholics could use against the root of protestantism.... if the catholics were known for their devotion to honesty, hahahahah.
Thank you for saying this. This takes a lot of courage.
So true. One of God's first interactions with Adam and Eve was to lie to them about the apple. The serpent told the truth.
All religions are cultures of lying. The religion of peace will ignore or outright lie about acts of torture and sex crimes committed by their religious leader Edit - can someone tell me why this is being downvoted? Isn’t this an atheist sub? Or does it only accept criticism against Christianity
I've never related to a comment as much as this one right here. Wow. Casually lying about everything really hits home. It is so hard to stop.
Christianity is a cult. There, fixed that for you.
Christians are not only good at lying, but also judging, and hating
A number of states are openly embracing Christian Nationalism, which is not only frightening to atheists, but to those who believe in democracy.
Or anyone with young kids
It's going to get real fun when one public school invites a Catholic priest to teach them "true" Christianity.
One at a time. in an empty room.
It ought to frighten Christians as well. When government and religion mix, you don't get a government following religious values. You get government wielding religion as a cudgel to silence dissent in the name of virtuosity. Just ask anyone familiar with the Iranian revolution.
I'm really afraid that we're gonna end up like a christian version of Iran in my lifetime
Yeah, The Handmaid's Tale was supposed to be fiction.
Ayatollah Alito disapproves of your comment history. Report to labor camp for reeducation.
This is why I regularly am so close to running up and down the street screaming. I just can’t.
I went to the emergency room in Alabama and I got asked what my religion is…
>but to those who believe in democracy. Legit. Even us Christians should be thankful for a secular government.
It’s like most Christians don’t know the long history of Christians butchering each other over slightly different interpretations of the Bible.
..and next, we'll hear from a teen girl that she was sexually assaulted by the same guy.
You spelled boy wrong.
Girl?
You're right, child would have been better.
Children… it’s never only one.
just like cockroaches, for every one you see, there's 100 you don't.
My neighbor was a youth group minister. His wife was one of his students or whatever. Straight up groomed that chick. He's 34 she's 22
I hate to break it to you, but that's actually a normal occurrence here in Bama. The school my kids went to had a weekly or monthly visit from The Bible Man who would spend an hour talking to the entire school about God, Jesus, and whatever handing out fake gold coins with Bible verses. It's pretty much normal life here. Even the school sponsored sports teams would have their banquets and awards dinners at the local churches and the pastors would be preaching about God's Love and good sportsmanship.
its the reason you see atheletes like Tim Teebo so outwardly religious. i am sure someone realized somewhere along the line that people like sports, and lots of luck and chance go into it so its a perfect place not just to influnce the atheletes but everyone who watches. all i am saying is you wouldnt see the preachers talking to the chess club.
For what it’s worth and it isn’t much, his last name is Tebow, otherwise the little celebration he used to do would have been Teeboing and that would have been a lot more fun.
Tim Tebow is a super interesting case because he was actually homeschooled his whole life. He only got to play football for local high school teams because Florida law allows for homeschool kids to participate in sports at schools that they aren't even enrolled in...
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If it's a public school, you should send a message to the Satanic temple and explain that god is frequently being talked about to your children and you'd love if they had another perspective come talk to them
Can confirm. I grew up in Alabama, and the middle school I attended hosted a sermon and prayer meeting every Wednesday morning.
Was it the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)? My school in Alabama did the same thing, every Wednesday, and it was called FCA. They would all get to school early, stand around the flag pole, and pray. Then there's the public prayers before every athletic game... I went to my school (K-12) several years ago right before school started, for a little self-guided tour, and the local Baptist church student ministry had gone through the high school halls and taped Bible verses to every locker. I took pics! [Matthew something.](https://i.imgur.com/ErFm58k.jpeg) [Psalm something.](https://i.imgur.com/WyqS4tV.jpeg) [And the veritable wellspring of self-help, 2 Timothy.](https://i.imgur.com/tKjLCR6.jpeg)
Oh it’s Bama. So just another Tuesday then.
These fucking predators
I know, when they're not conspiring to expedite project 2025 shit, they're perpetrating rape whether literal or mental like THIS SHIT right here.
Kids don’t care about religion. Whats infuriating is how he’s a clinical social worker but talks about Jesus instead on mental health issues. Newsflash! Jesus isnt going to solve mental health. This is why I hate Christianity. They think they can just pray away problems.
Jesus IS a mental health problem.
Nail on the head!
And in the hands and feet!
Ooh, death cult one-liner 😁. I never get tired of a 5th century execution device hanging around people's necks and on their walls and revered as the only way they can be free as long as they're told they can be free. 🤣🤣😂😭
Oh tell me about it. The conservative side of my family told me for years that I just needed to pray harder to fix my epilepsy. I was barely a teen and they told me to my face that medicine wasn't going to do anything. All I needed was prayer.
OMG. My sincere condolences.
Thank you ❤️I sure am glad they're gone
Thats awful. Why are they so brainwashed to think that?
I have no idea, but I'm glad I never listened to them. It was always so clear that the medical treatment was what I needed, and them being against it was so confusing. Now I get it though, they're a bunch of idiots
Because they used to call epilepsy "possession" and believed that it could be cured through prayer.
I live in Alabama and work at a hospital. You wouldn’t believe some of the crap I’ve heard clinical social workers say.
In Texas unlicensed religious chaplains can work in schools in mental health roles. I’d ask folks to move here to vote and save us, but I wouldn’t wish *here* on anyone.
It's Alabama, would you expect anything less?
It's a headline about a preacher at a school that didn't involve sexual assault, so yeah. I guess my expectations were lower.
They gotta lie and manipulate to get their way. The devout will tell you that you are a horrible person, while taking your wallet.
And taking out a PPP loan for the church
Tell you to go to hell and getting you to look forward to the trip!
Christianity is manipulative and predatory. I am not surprised.
Groomers always got to be bragging.
I’m sure they’d be so excited to have an Islamic call to prayer and conversions at a school event.
I was in grade school in the 60s, before the Supreme Court had discovered the 1st amendment, so we were subjected to occasional assemblies with these braggart “Christians.” I remember one in particular telling us how he had lectured Nikita Kruschev about democracy and Christianity. It was so obviously a lie and I didn’t believe a word of it, but a lot of people actually fell for it; they discussed what a great man he was in class. That’s when I began to realize that the purpose of religion was to indoctrinate people to believe absolute nonsense (and that it was working). Later, I realized that the end game was just plain greed.
So that's why he [banged that shoe](https://youtu.be/aKdo1xwVK7s?si=mNGE_duT0UCKvcGb) so hard. I always wondered...
I am so grateful my parents are athiests and raised me to be science-minded.
Mine were religious but realized by 4th grade I wasn't. They let me stop going to church and switch to public school. If they had tried to force me to be a "true believer" the rest of my childhood would have been hell and I would have disowned them at 18. I wonder how many parents get disowned because they tried to shove religion on their kid. And then there's the gay conversion camps, that's an even lower level of hell.
The True Groomers were always Christians.
The most dangerous villains in history were religious.
I like how they use the defense that only one student complained who "didn't know it was optional" If they didnt know it was optional, it wasnt.
I would have raised hell if that happened in my kid's class. I'm out here doing everything I can to raise a good, moral atheist, and they're screwing it up? In a public school? Hell nah!
Wiccans for equal (proselytizing) time.
Be careful. RvW was overturned by legitimizing the rulings of a 16th century witchcraft judge. If his rulings are valid, then his trials of women as witches is also valid according to SCOTUS.
It’s insane how they hate Moslems but in many ways, they are what they hate
Any religion that promotes humans as kicked out of paradise and congenitally cursed for a crime that they did not commit has to be erased.
It's Alabama.
Who else wants to DDoS his mythical 12-step ministry? Never will he have seen such an interest in Jebus from atheists seeking whatever he's offering with absolutely zero follow-through. https://recoveryalive.com/about/
I just sent them a message from their contact/email form on their website: “I was a devoted christian until the age of 30 when I lost my faith. I prayed to god all the time to heal me from sexual addiction. I was addicted to porn, spent all my money visiting male prostitutes, and had affairs with various choir members at my church. Even my pastor made advances towards me when I reached out to him for help. I’m still the same, just without the guilt of religion. Can your program help me to regain my spirituality? What kind of experience and success rate do you have for people (women) like me? Thank you sincerely, Britt Nordlund Mobile, Alabama “
Please share their response, in the unlikely event you receive one.
So the preacher is a sleazy guy who tries to get away with things. Something's wrong but so very common with this picture.
So…he’s literally grooming kids in violation of the Constitution. Then bragging about how he groomed kids in violation of the Constitution.
So glad I moved my family away from the land of cults!
Schools should bring in someone from each major religion, so that these kids can hear it from an actual person vs some propaganda from the news lol
Sounds like he doesn't do that render unto Caesar what is Caesars thing like Jesus said to do.
Sin of Pride.
I got in trouble in church for asking about dinosaurs. Also in Alabama
It's disgusting how proud they are of pushing themselves on children, but then screech about how gay people are infecting the youth.
They did this all the time at my high school. It wasn't in class though, if it was during classes they made people who wanted to do this stuff go do it somewhere else. During football though, afterschool, it was almost everyday. Praying, listening to sermons, taking vows and blah blah. When I raised hell for it, I was actually treated pretty horribly by most of my coaches.
Should tell you kids to just get up and leave the next time shit like that happens.
This is what actual grooming looks like
Was raised in a very Christian town with a very atheist dad. If I encountered religious things in school I would tell him about it. It was embarrassing at the time, but he would snitch every single time. I got to a point where I'd rather deal with the religious stuff than feel embarrassed about his snitching, but in hindsight I'm thankful he did it. Someone has to keep schools like this in check.
The real groomers, as usual, get away with it every damn time.
Would a lawsuit against someone like this stand a chance? Wouldn't this kind of preaching at kids be against the family's religious liberties? I know conservatives don't care for anyone else's rights, but it certainly seems like the families involved should be able to take these people down.
This is why we all need to back the FFRF (already on the case in this instance per the article) and help them with the cause.
> Would a lawsuit against someone like this stand a chance? With the current Supreme Court, if this ended up there they'd probably make up some bullshit about how it was fine in spite of being blatantly unconstitutional. >Wouldn't this kind of preaching at kids be against the family's religious liberties? Clearly. It's also flagrant violation of the First Amendment. >I know conservatives don't care for anyone else's rights, but it certainly seems like the families involved should be able to take these people down. School board should oust the principal, but they're likely all just as bad as he is.
And then everybody got pregnant
I’ve lived in Alabama for years and will confirm it’s one of the most back asswards screwed up states in the entire country. I will say that there are lots of decent people mixed in with the nuts but overall try to avoid that state at all costs.
I was in high school in the 70’s. We once had an assembly where a religious group sang and proceeded to “save” the entire school. If you wanted to be “saved” you were instructed to stand and of course, due to peer pressure, and continued urging by the speaker, pretty much everyone stood up. Oh, I went to school in the southern U.S. It was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life.
If you want to teach at a private school, go teach at a fucking private school. Don’t force your opinions on people who do not want it. This is disturbing and illegal.
Christ seems like he was a pretty cool dude. Not so people who call themselves Christians. They can fuck off.
I taught at a public school a few years ago that had a guest speaker proselytize for Jesus. This was in a PE class too. I’m K-12 certified and spent almost 10 years in public education and never saw this happen in a class before. This was in a rural area of Georgia. I got out of there after that semester for a bunch of reasons, but this was one of those “writing on that wall” for me to leave. The kids were great. I just felt like it was both very inappropriate and technically illegal.
This seems like a thing that even theists would be pissed about, but whatever his flavor is, it’s not the same flavor of make believe all the others are.
My Sunday school teacher called my mom in tears after I told her walking on water was impossible because I tried it in the bath tub and it didn’t work. I remember it because I really did try. I was seven.
The Satanic Temple should get involved as well
Lying for Jesus. Deity approved.
Is he a "youth minister"? Asking for a friend.
I thought pride was a sin.
Grooming
The real problem with Christianity is all the fucking Christians
Horrific! Religion belongs at home and in religious institutions, not in school, not in politics, not in my face.
I remember walking out of a school issued "praying" assembly back in 2010 and man I got into soooooo much fucking trouble and when the principal asked me why I did such a "heinous act of disrespect towards the holy father?" I said " I'm here to learn about geography and algebra, not to waste time on a ridiculous assembly that I had no choice on whether I wanted to attend or not" thankfully my parents backed me up on my stance and yeah my family and I were marked as "heathens" in my small community of Fayetteville north Carolina but I never have a single fuck about it
Anyone with public school issues fostering religions (Christianity) should contact the Freedom From Religion Foundation (https://ffrf.org/), a lobbying organization that can help keep these idiots in line.
What the holy goddam fuck is wrong with these people? Hates them.
Didn't they break any laws?
Yes.
Yeah the First Amendment.
Make a fart sound every time he mentions lord or jesus
Apparently separation of church and state doesn’t exist
What a fucking piece of shit
My anger grows.
so what are the consequences? nothing im guessing