When people tell me to go to church is feels like they're peer pressuring me to try drugs

[Original Poster]

They just want you to try it that one time then they'll stop asking, and their explanation as to why you should is simply that it feels good to get all hopped up on that some of that holy spirit. Everyone's doing it.

[Descensus]

I feel the same way. I think they expect you to become so enamored by the whole experience. They want you to be their heroin buddy.

[tropicalbreeze]

They just want you to try it that one time then they'll stop asking, and their explanation as to why you should is simply that it feels good to get all hopped up on that some of that holy spirit. Everyone's doing it. similar can be said if someone were to try to get me to join dreamviews and try lucid dreaming. you see, not all drugs are bad.

[SnowyCat]

The same can be said for a lot of hobbies as well. No, man... I DON'T want to go back to your place and learn about how to properly care for Chia pets.

[Universal Mind]

If you don't smoke some of this joint, you will be on fire forever! No, wait... It's religion that does that.

[Original Poster]

similar can be said if someone were to try to get me to join dreamviews and try lucid dreaming. you see, not all drugs are bad. Don't get me wrong, I love drugs. I don't think any drugs are bad. But they are drugs, and church is one of them.

[khh]

It's not as if church is particularly addictive, though, for most people... Takes a long time and either a lack in your life or some brainwashing to get hooked.

[Original Poster]

I disagree. While it does take some amount of indoctrination so does television. It is the effect church has on your state of mind that makes it a drug. Lot's of drugs aren't fiercely addictive. But people can become extremely dependent on church to provide meaning in their lives.

[juroara]

Honestly, for years I was jealous of christians who could go to church and feel so taken by spirit! My church wasn't like that. It was anal, stiff and boring, stupid catholicism. The last time family dragged me along to church, I took off my shoes at one point (I dont remember why). I got lectured for "disrespecting the priest and God". That's when I finally decided how stupid catholic church is. You're just a bunch of dogs that sit, kneel, stand up and mumble at the priests commands without a single thought as to why. I think the most awesome thing I've ever seen at service was when sis realized it was time to take her birth control pills - and did so, right then and there. lol I can't talk about other churches though, but I hear black churches are fun.

[Original Poster]

Yeah catholic church guilts you into going and tries to scare you into staying loyal. LDS churches aren't quite so flat and stale but they're just as stiff and rigid. Mormons are very much into the aesthetics of it all. They remind me of the film Pleasantville. Some churches practice mass hypnosis to a degree or another. Black baptist churches practice it to a lesser degree than pentecostal and evangelical megachurches. Mass hypnosis is pretty common though, you'll see it take place at any pep rally or sports game.

[SnowyCat]

I used to be Lutheran, and I didn't feel pressured to continue going to church at all. The pastors were nice people, like the kind of guys you'd sit down with after work to watch a football game over some beers. When I was confirmed into the church, I had to sit down with one of the pastors and tell him about my faith, which at the time was beginning to wane. He had no problems listening to what I had to say about Jesus and the resurrection and all that stuff, despite its controversial and cynical nature; he just told me that doubt was natural, and I would come to "understand" the finer points of the bible with time. Later, after I began to study philosophy and actually put my faith to the test, I realized how ignorant I had been and chose to renounce my religion. I later studied philosophy in college, and am now a strong existentialist (I still can't bring myself to embrace full-blown nihilism, though). My point is, don't become an atheist just because you don't like your church, or pastor, or the establishment of religion in general. You can just become an agnostic to get away from those things. Only become an atheist if after deep reflection and meditation on your beliefs, you realize that you are chaining yourself down with the belief in a god or gods. If you make a hasty decision, you might be putting yourself in danger.

[Original Poster]

Existentialism post-dates nihilism and in my opinion is more evolved, with less hasty conclusions. Nihilism is like an understanding of but rebellion against the absurd, while existentialism revels in it. And my experience is more with missionaries. I actually made this thread because of the "God" page on facebook where he posts pictures of people telling him to go to church. It's pretty comical. I don't think Lutherans are so bad (for the most part). I am a little concerned with evangelicals, mormons and white, southern baptists though.

[Kuhnada29]

I laughed my ass off at the original post....that was great lol

[Arra]

Don't get me wrong, I love drugs. I don't think any drugs are bad. But they are drugs, and church is one of them. The comparison implies that drugs are bad. Reading between the lines... P1: Drugs are bad. P2: Church and drugs share something in common. C: Therefore church is bad. Which is fail logic, not that it matters since you only made the thread for fun.

[hassman789]

I can't talk about other churches though, but I hear black churches are fun. I've always wanted to try that! Yeah I used to go to church every Sunday when I was little, it's funny because from the start I couldn't bring myself to believe any of it and for all I cared it was just time that I should have been spending in bed. Anyway, I think organized religion can lose its value (for the reasons in the above posts) however no judgement to anyone that does humbly practice.

[ZeraCook]

I gave in once, then when I said I didn't feel it and never went again afterwards they all got offended.

[♥Mark]

The comparison implies that drugs are bad. Reading between the lines... P1: Drugs are bad. P2: Church and drugs share something in common. C: Therefore church is bad. Which is fail logic, not that it matters since you only made the thread for fun. Well you may be misidentifying the premises there. It might be more like P1: The effect drugs have on your mind is bad. P2: Church has a comparable effect on the mind as drugs. C: Therefore church should be illegal is bad.