I grew up in an ultra conservative bubble where I believed women should not vote, work outside the home, or go to college. I wore skirts down to my ankles and my social life was exclusively church or people who believed just like me. I had no access to the internet until I was 17 years old, and so I had zero exposure to pop culture or basic children's movies. For example, I did not know who Elvis was until I was 19. Joining DDO in like 2014 was a crash course in the world for me. I left it about four years ago because it was dying and I recently found this site hoping that reading other people's opinions will help me grow further.
I grew up Ultra-conservative- AMA
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@aletheakatharos
Out of curiosity, was your family part of some specific religion or group that caused them to be so ultra-conservative or was it just their political beliefs? If you are not comfortable answering you don't have to of course.
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@aletheakatharos
what ended up happening once u got older and moved out?
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@aletheakatharos
What would 17-year-old-you think about you now?
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@Discipulus_Didicit
Yes, we identify as conservative Christian, but we got very fundamentalist for a few years. I had friends who wore head coverings and all. I was homeschooled so I grew up believing that the whole world was evil lol.
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@skittlez09
Things started changing in my late teens when we joined some other groups and I was introduced to the internet. Now that I'm an adult, my parents no longer care. It took a few years, but I gradually became more "normal" and felt less judgy of other people. I used to be so stuck up and self-righteous lol
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@Theweakeredge
17 year old me would probably think I am super sinful lol. For example, I wear pants now and listen to non-Christian music, which I would have never dreamed of. I would have felt very concerned and judged my current self harshly. However, I don't care because I am so much happier now than I was then. Outward "goodness" is worth absolutely nothing if you are a terrible person inside. As I've become an adult, I have tried to focus on fixing my problems instead of fixing other people.
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@aletheakatharos
Well I must say...there's nothing wrong with being conservative, but ULTRA conservative?? that must suck lol.
I'd rather not harp on your upbringing so here are my questions...I'm always thinking about God so obviously that's going to be my subject. When you answer though just be relaxed, I'm not judging anything I just want to know about you.
What is your opinion about God?
Do you connect with religion or spirituality?
What is your opinion about Jesus or the Gospels, or both?
What is your opinion about God independent of the Bible?
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@aletheakatharos
Simple question. Has religion done more good or harm to you?
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@EtrnlVw
My opinion about God is hard to describe succinctly, but I subscribe to Orthodox Evangelical Christianity. My denomination is called Assemblies of God. I believe that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and all knowing. I think he is the origin of everything good and the creator of everything. I could go on, but I feel like that's enough to give an idea.
I don't like the term religion because I see my belief system as a relationship, but the average person would say I subscribe to religion.
I believe Jesus is the Son of God and the gospels are various accounts that emphasize different facets of who he is and what he did while on earth.
It would be hard to view God independently of the Bible because I see the Bible as the only completely reliable way of connecting with him.
I hope this answers your questions! I would be happy to clarify further if you like.
What do you think about Christianity? If you do not believe in it, why? I would love to learn from you.
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@Wagyu
It's a simple question to ask, but not so simple to answer. For me, Christianity should be about relationship with God instead of following a set of rules. I grew up in a legalistic home that focused on religious rites rather than spending time with God and it almost killed me. I do not personally define my Christianity as a religion because I ditched the rules, so I would say that legalism and religion were detrimental to my mental health and development. I still consider myself a Christian and I love God, but I quit worrying about doing everything right and I don't feel bad about it.
I wear pants now and listen to non-Christian music
How scandalous lol.
That's not conservativism, that's religious extremism
Conservatism (in at least America) promotes the freedom of individuals over the state in terms of economic decisions, favoring a restrained government when it comes to fiscal policy. In a strange contradiction, Conservatism also generally promotes the safety of people over freedom of personal choice, favoring a larger government when it comes to security.. An extreme version of that may be fiscal anarchism and a police state.
What you seem to be a victim of is religious extremism, which is a heck of a lot worse.
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@aletheakatharos
ultra conservative? Do you prefer socialism or capitalism (the economy systems)?
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@Discipulus_Didicit
Exactly! Oh and worse, I have a boyfriend. So sinful!
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@MisterChris
Sounds like both was at play from that definition. Not fun lol. I am still rather conservative but I have chilled out a lot in recent years and typically don't feel bothered by liberal ideology.
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@aletheakatharos
My opinion about God is hard to describe succinctly, but I subscribe to Orthodox Evangelical Christianity. My denomination is called Assemblies of God. I believe that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and all knowing. I think he is the origin of everything good and the creator of everything. I could go on, but I feel like that's enough to give an idea.
Thank you, I was searching for more than a philosophical understanding but I guess I didn't make that clear. I was going to see what you thought about God apart from a religious conceptualization. That sounds weird, but I actually believed in God long before I understood Christian beliefs. It's possible I'm just an oddball lol.
I don't like the term religion because I see my belief system as a relationship
Yeah I'm with you there.
but the average person would say I subscribe to religion.I believe Jesus is the Son of God and the gospels are various accounts that emphasize different facets of who he is and what he did while on earth.It would be hard to view God independently of the Bible because I see the Bible as the only completely reliable way of connecting with him.
I understand that, but what if I told you that God exists independent of the Bible? in other words if the Bible did not exist God would still exist. I'm not against the Bible or anything I'm just curious about people's understanding about God without the need for using religion to describe their notions about God. I try to avoid conditioned thinking, for some things I find it to be a useful practice. I do get the fact that we should have access to objective concepts about God too. But, just as a general rule of thumb it's always good to be open to fresh ideas and accurate concepts that might drift outside of what we believe.
I hope this answers your questions! I would be happy to clarify further if you like.What do you think about Christianity?
Apart from labels and religious control I love it, I fell in love with the Gospels at a very young age so it is very much apart of who I am. I've always been fascinated with Jesus, the message of His teachings always resonate deeply with me. To me anyways, Jesus was a pioneer in changing the normal depiction of God to that of something much more approachable and likable.
I do study all forms of spirituality at this point in my life. Because of my raw curiosity about God I want to know every part of God. So I try not to limit God to this or that when it's not necessary. And like I said above, I don't want to fall in the trap of conditioned thinking and miss out on very important things.
If you do not believe in it, why? I would love to learn from you.
I do believe it, but it's not the limit of my beliefs. You can say that I've expanded my beliefs beyond just the Bible. I take a more Omnist approach to religion in terms of gaining access to information.
The Bible has a lot of useful information but it only touches on certain things. I like to gather as much knowledge as I can about God, the soul and the afterlife.
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@seldiora
I know almost nothing about economics but I generally prefer capitalism because I do not like giving all my money to the government for social programs I do not use. I'm not set on it because I am ignorant though.
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@aletheakatharos
Sounds like both was at play from that definition. Not fun lol. I am still rather conservative but I have chilled out a lot in recent years and typically don't feel bothered by liberal ideology.
That's interesting, you'd expect people who have experienced the worst side of an ideology to sort of pendulum swing to the other extreme, which usually isn't any better... History holds true to that... Good to see you aren't letting yourself be swayed too much in either direction.
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@EtrnlVw
I haven't quite figured out the quote feature without retyping everything so I will just reply to your general ideas. I completely agree with you that God would exist even if the Bible does not. I believe he created the Bible rather than vice versa. I think I can illustrate my perception of the relation between God and the Bible with an analogy. If you click on my name, you will visit my profile, which will give you a general idea of who I am. However, there is no way you can truly get to know me unless you talk to me and see how I respond and what I have to say. My words do not define me, but because we are long-distance, you have to rely on them to know who I am.
Similarly, God is spirit, and while we have spirits, we remain rooted in the physical world. God's creation gives us an idea of who he is and what he is like, just like my profile. The theological term which I am sure you have heard of is general revelation. However, the Bible is God's words written down through cooperating humans and that is considered special revelation. It allows us to have a greater idea of what God is like just like my posts give you insight into my personality. If we were to become really good friends, exchange numbers, and talk on the phone, that would be like prayer, where we can talk directly to God and "hear" his voice.
So while I completely agree that the Bible is not exhaustive or a limit on who God is, it is the only document I believe comes straight from God himself. And I trust God's words about himself more than I trust other people's. Therefore I rely on the Bible for the foundations of my beliefs and investigate extra-biblical concepts that seem in line with the messages of the Bible. I hope this clarifies what I meant better.
I really like your point about Jesus changing the normal depiction of God. It sounds like you have seriously studied theology and philosophy and I like how you think. What I think is best about what you are doing is you do not limit God. I can only imagine the kind of insights you have gained from this point of view. How long have you studied religion and philosophy like this? What is the most interesting thing you have learned or discovered?
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@MisterChris
I feel like I am sort of in the middle, honestly. I really care about being balanced and reasonable, so I really do not like extremism. I hold to the idea that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
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@aletheakatharos
Exactly! There's of course exceptions (for ex: abortion, it's either murder or no worse than getting a haircut. There's no real middle ground if we're intellectually honest) but there's a level of nuance to most issues that ideologues refuse to address
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@MisterChris
I agree! I wish people would not jump into feeling defensive and would instead have friendly and honest conversations about difficult issues. I think we would learn so much more from each other and just be better people in general!
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@aletheakatharos
I haven't quite figured out the quote feature without retyping everything
Just copy and paste the posters paragraph or comment you wish to reply to after you hit the reply button..... after you paste their comment in this box just put your reply underneath of theirs after a space. Then highlight their comment again with your mouse by clicking and dragging (I'm sure you know how to highlight something) and then select the " (quotation mark) above in the highlighted column with the letters and symbols. That will highlight the posters comment. Repeat as necessary, you can also copy and paste their whole comment, paste it and separate it with your own responses and do all the highlighting and quotation after, it works the same way either way.
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@aletheakatharos
Oh and worse, I have a boyfriend.
Tell them if they don't like that you have a boyfriend you could find a girlfriend instead, I am sure they would be greatful for your willingness to compromise XD.
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@aletheakatharos
I completely agree with you that God would exist even if the Bible does not. I believe he created the Bible rather than vice versa. I think I can illustrate my perception of the relation between God and the Bible with an analogy. If you click on my name, you will visit my profile, which will give you a general idea of who I am. However, there is no way you can truly get to know me unless you talk to me and see how I respond and what I have to say. My words do not define me, but because we are long-distance, you have to rely on them to know who I am.Similarly, God is spirit, and while we have spirits, we remain rooted in the physical world. God's creation gives us an idea of who he is and what he is like, just like my profile. The theological term which I am sure you have heard of is general revelation. However, the Bible is God's words written down through cooperating humans and that is considered special revelation. It allows us to have a greater idea of what God is like just like my posts give you insight into my personality. If we were to become really good friends, exchange numbers, and talk on the phone, that would be like prayer, where we can talk directly to God and "hear" his voice.So while I completely agree that the Bible is not exhaustive or a limit on who God is, it is the only document I believe comes straight from God himself. And I trust God's words about himself more than I trust other people's. Therefore I rely on the Bible for the foundations of my beliefs and investigate extra-biblical concepts that seem in line with the messages of the Bible. I hope this clarifies what I meant better.I really like your point about Jesus changing the normal depiction of God. It sounds like you have seriously studied theology and philosophy and I like how you think. What I think is best about what you are doing is you do not limit God. I can only imagine the kind of insights you have gained from this point of view.
Very beautifully put. Much of this is the same as I believe.
How long have you studied religion and philosophy like this?
I would say roughly 15 years, the first half of my life I mainly studied the Bible, Christian testimonies and Christian literature. Actually, the time I've spent arguing with atheists and the time I've spent studying spirituality as a whole are about the same, perhaps arguing with atheists compelled my fixation even further. Maybe they exposed flaws within my belief system and because of my determination and desire to know truth I've adjusted those flaws. My fixation with God and my love for truth are one and the same, so I always align myself with what is true without compromising my love for God. I don't place beliefs and religion over God's status in my life, so I don't let beliefs dictate anything about God unless those beliefs are accurate. How I determine what is accurate follows in many different ways, basically the process that I personally use to discover truth or what follows in logic is a rigorous procedure. I'm cursed with non-stop debating in my own head and the constant sifting of information lol.
What is the most interesting thing you have learned or discovered?
Lots of interesting things. The nature of God (what God is), the specifics of the soul (what the soul is), how creation is put together, specifics of alternative dimensions.....just more insights about all aspects of creation in general. Quite fascinating really.
I'll tell ya what, here are the main sources I've really found a lot of useful information within, or rather the ones I favor most. Just consider that OT Jews are not the only people or culture capable of having observations about God or the afterworlds.
Hinduism was probably the first one I considered studying, then of course Buddhism, Native American Spirituality (whos culture I most love), Eckankar and then various factions of eastern and tribal religions.
Hinduism seems to posses very instinctive knowledge about the nature of God and the nature of consciousness, meaning what God actually is and what that entails. Buddhism and Buddhist cosmology has great understanding and insights about how creation is put together, Native American Spirituality really has a lot of depth about the spiritual worlds, spiritual beings and so forth. Eckankar is beautiful in that it has wonderful knowledge about the soul and how that relates to God, they also have a very unique understanding of how creation is put together which is very similar to Buddhism.
Creation is put together in layers (which explains the afterlife), or you could say there are multiple parallel worlds. The closest theory put forward in philosophical circles is the multiverse theory, in time I believe this will become more prominent. It will be what opens the door for spirituality to become a global phenomenon once again, but not like the old days where fundamentalist religions ruled the world through tyranny and control rather the simple truth of what exists will captivate people.
One reason why I refuse to limit God or what God has done is because we seldom consider what an eternal Being means, in that God is not just a God but a creative Entity. Putting both the concepts of eternal and creativity together makes for very interesting implications. Since the nature of the soul is eternal God knows that the created worlds must be vast and various. Our physical universe is but one little cosmos and experience in the grand scheme of the eternal journey of the soul. This is why the multiverse theory fits so well in my estimations, because within creation the experiences the soul can have are virtually endless with heaven being only a single place and a single experience. In the multiverse theory there are several universes and within each universe there are countless galaxies, solar systems and planets. These are areas that the soul can sojourn.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the heaven scenario either, but it fits within the overarching reality of God's creative abilities, there's room for that and much more. This fits much better with the conception of a creative God and loosens the rigidity of how we normally think of God, creation and religion.
The is probably the most interesting thing for me because I too am very creative and something about there being just two places when we leave the physical body that just doesn't sit right with me. The Bible is very vague about the parallel worlds that exists and what that entails. It seems to have a certain focus for a specific group of people which is fine because the Christian Heaven is certainly a Kingdom, but a Kingdom that fits within a series of parallel dimensions, it resides on a planet of its own within a universe full of other planets. For Christians "heaven" is very much like the way we experience earth. To us earthlings, the planet earth is really the only thing that exists....and to Christians, heaven is the only place that exits when they die. Again though, this is all fine I'm just detailing what I feel is much more accurate.
NDE's (as well as paranormal observations) are a very good source of evidence that correlates with the proposition of the soul and alternate dimensions. These are first hand observations of what it is like leaving the physical body and so I've invested a lot of time in researching them and considering all the countless testimonies. That complied with my study of religion as a whole there's a wealth of knowledge and information that is highly beneficial for understanding spirituality and creation.
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@MisterChris
That's not conservativism, that's religious extremism
That's a good point.
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@EtrnlVw
That's not conservativism, that's religious extremismThat's a good point.
They are often intertwined
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@aletheakatharos
You considered your past position to be "ultra conservative" what would you describe yourself as, politically speaking, currently?