were you raised by fundamentalist charismatic christians?

[mopaul]

my niece and nephew were raised by my brother, the wacko bornagain maniac. home schooled, and 'protected' from the outside world and public school. the boy grew up normal and is getting married soon and is very well adjusted, but only after he deliberately de-programmed himself. i don't get to talk to him much. although he loves his parents, he'd have rather not been raised that way.

my niece however has a lot of problems. never married, never dated much, desperate for attention and seeking out those like her. she's a missionary who travels the world's poorest nations to spread the gospel. no man is good enough for her, so she's lonely. she has never had a real job, only missionary work, which is practically slavery.

were you raised by well meaning bornagains? was it a good or bad experience?

[knowbody0]

1. i became born again savage

once i got away and saw inside of the inside

[kayell]

2. No, thank whoever!

My mother was and is a Christian, but of the sort who believes that Jesus was preaching a message of love and caring for one's fellow human beings. Although I am not a Christian, or of any religion, I value the lessons I learned from her religion. She was never a fundie and had plenty of knowledge of other religions and their good messages which she exposed us to also. I have a high respect for religious people who truly try to live the good messages from their beliefs.

[mmonk]

3. No

but growing up in NC, there were plenty of them around me to let me know I was going to hell when I die.

[Arancaytar]

4. Luckily not.

My parents have fortunately believed in the concept of letting their children see for themselves. This doesn't extend indefinitely of course - I mean, if I'd taken up smoking a year ago at 16, they'd have tried to stop me. Still, when it comes to politics, they leave me pretty much free to choose my own opinion (not that that matters much, since they're both liberal as well).

The only fundie in my family is my grandma... when I told her of how I was supposed to write an essay discussing Nietsche's quote "God is dead", her reaction was rather... extreme, shall we say.

[Red State Rebel]

13. Well, at least now you know how to pack....

I can't stand negative Christianity - and I am a Christian!

[noonwitch]

5. No, but I grew up in a community filled with them

Most are good people who want everybody to believe like them, because they think it will make everyone happier. As simplistic as it sounds, I do think that it's true. When they have their perfect little communities, they are happy. Grand Rapids, MI is a good example of that. The problem is that they expect everyone else to live the way they do and are willing to legislate their view of morality, which is inflexible and uncompromising.

[PassingFair]

21. "Their view of morality"

"...which is inflexible and uncompromising".

Except for themselves, for which there are "mitigating" circumstances for every screw up.

Everyone else is bad and deserves severe punishment. Stone 'em.

There are always excuses and "adustment problems" for themselves.

Ugh.

[bleedingheart]

6. Nope...I was raised by a Pro Living Wage Pro Choice Catholic

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. No, I was raised by mild-mannered rational mainstream Christians

who had a house full of books, took us traveling and to cultural events, and discussed things with us. They were no more Purtianical than anyone else was in the late 1950s, early 1960s, when a lot of parents, of all religions and no religion, reacted to the cultural changes of that era.

Ironically, the only Republican in the family is the non-religious brother. I'm a democratic socialist, and my other brother is a middle of the road Democrat.

However, I do have a couple of relatives who were messed up by fundamentalism. The saddest was my mother's cousin, who was literally brought up to believe that her life's mission was to take care of her parents in their old age. Although she had a responsible job, she never lived away from her parents, never learned to drive, and never had a social life. After her parents died--by which time she herself was already retired--she fell apart psychologically and never recovered.

[notadmblnd]

8. My mom and step father started going to church because

he wanted to get custody of his kids from their mother. As far as I know the only reason he went to church was to look good in the eyes of the court. My mom got into it pretty heavy for a while though. I remember her dragging us to church sometimes as much as 7 days a week. The part I hated most about going to church was the "alter calls". My mother forced us girls to go up in from of the congragation and confess to all our terrible ways. This was done at least on a weekly basis. I felt it was humiliating and demeaning. I eventually rejected religion.

[democratreformed]

9. No. Thank God. But I, too, have family who were.

I have a cousin whose dad once knocked a hole in the wall with her head when he caught her wearing blue jeans. That's the most extreme story I know. There are others though.

I was exposed to the "mindset" through my relatives - most notably my paternal grandmother. When I was very young, I even bought in to it for a time and attended church with her regularly. Eventually, though, I refused too many of their "sermons" to continue.

Some that I particularly remember disagreeing with:
One Sunday, the sermon was that the Beatles brought evil to the U.S.
Another Sunday, members were chastised for having bumper stickers on their cars that said "I'm KSSN in my car" (KSSN was a country radio station.)
One Mother's Day, the sermon was about how mothers who did not attend the Pentecostal church were not fit to be mothers and how their children were the worst children in the U.S. That's the day I left, walked home, and never went back.

[topherX]

10. I grew up with a liberal, Catholic values

While I attended church on most Sunday's, I learned to appreciate science. I was taught to look at the Bible as a series of lessons/myths that I could learn from rather than God's, absolute truths.

I also learned that I must come to my own conclusions and not necessarily follow the herd. I don't consider myself Christian. I study and try to understand religion, since it's a part of my life (like it or not). I'm starting to dig my experiences with the Unitarian Universalists.

Having said all that, in the next year I will have to start hashing out my children's future regarding religion and education. My wife is very devout in her beliefs of Christianity. I don't consider her to be a fundamentalist charismatic Christian. Some of her views seem to head in that direction, specifically in regards to schooling our kids. She wants to home school, insisting that this will lead to a much better education than public schools will provide. There's a part of me that wonders if this isn't a way to keep our kids out the "godless schools". I see a danger in keeping kids isolated from their peers.

I'm done with my rant. Carry on. =)

[qs04]

11. Yes

I was raised "Assemblies of God" by my mother (parents being divorced), the same sect John Ashcroft is part of. As you might guess I'd prefer to have avoided that experience. I walked away from it at 19 and in large part became a new person -- for the better.

[PassingFair]

22. Welcome, qs!

Glad you have reality in your corner now! With acceptance comes true responsibility. With responsibility comes true peace of mind. Enjoy it, it is rare..

[qs04]

25. Thanks (nt)

(nt)

[richabk]

12. I was...

but now I'm a recovering Southern Baptist. Many years of therapy and I still have flashbacks. It's not pretty.

[Dorian Gray]

14. Nope....

Born and raised Catholic. I left religion for a number of years (from ages 17 until I was about 28), but then, after reading many religious texts, both theological and philosophical, I returned to the Catholic Church.

But, I think being raised Catholic is very different than being raised by Born Again parents. (Plus, only my father was religious. My mom was raised by Presbyterian parents, but never really went to church. Before or After her marriage to my dad!)

[TransitJohn]

15. Nope.

Raised godless in a very small Mormon town. Strange upbringing.

[Beam Me Up]

16. Yes, sort of.

My parents didn't think of themselves as "born again Christians" until I was older and away from home. However, they were fairly devout southern Baptists with a distinct "Holly Roller" thread. Strangely in all of this, my dad was more of an agnostic than he knew. Used me for target practice with his 22 rifle and confessed that he couldn't quite bring himself to believe everything the Bible said. Obviously he was a good shot. My mother, on the other hand, WANTED desperately to believe, shake all over and speak in tongues. My two older sisters were, and still are, completely submersed in 'born again' culture. Other than their families, it is all they read about, think about and talk about.

I, however, am Gay, live in California, and think they are NUTS.

[shanti]

17. nope, agnostics

n/t

[proud patriot]

18. No I was raised partly by my Grandparents 5-13 and my Dad 13-22

My grandmother Christian , my grandfather Catholic
so zero religion save my childrens bible growing up.

My dad is an Athiest , but lives the most moral
life of anyone I know .

I ended up , considering myself a mish mosh of
every faith with no affiliation to any one organized
religion. Yet I have deep faith , and try to live my
life as God intended .

[sr_pacifica]

19. Raised Catholic

Interestingly enough, many Catholics, whether still practicing or not, become liberal in their politics. Catholicism teaches gospel values of charity and identification with the poor and oppressed. And the Catholic Church has a long tradition of appreciating the intellect. I think these two alone make us good Democrats!

[bleedingheart]

23. same experience

many of my Catholic friends are very liberal and politically active.

[Pathwalker]

20. Yes, and it has scarred me for life.

I've told my story often enough; a family split between your basic uber right-wing evangelicals who beat my brother and me with a razor strap, and the downright crazy white supremist (KKK) ones, who loved to tie my brother and me to a chair so that we could be 'exorcised' of our demons. My cousin, a member of the latter group, was the last one to speak to my brother the night he committed suicide. To this day, she refuses to tell me what she said to him, but it isn't too hard to guess, since she's been pretty hateful with me - I'm going to hell, ' cause I'm not saved. Works for me!

[LanternWaste]

24. Raised by moderate Christian parents

Raised by moderate Christian parents and chose fundamentalism on my own 15 years ago-- not planning on beating or abusing my children, though :)

[AngryOldDem]

26. Bad experience

Left when I was 13 and did not come back to organized religion until I was 29. Even though I'm relatively happy in my faith, my upbringing has left a nasty side-effect of skepticism and cynicism about organized religion that hasn't exactly been beneficial to me in my personal faith life.

[The Icon Painter]

27. Yes, I was

My mother was one of those weepy ones who insisted all her life that she "trusted in g-d to take care of things" and proved herself to be a liar by her actions. She was scared of living and could not bear to see other people happy. I cannot remember her ever smiling, although reason would indicate that she must have smiled at some time, surely she did. But I have no memory of it. What I do remember is her constant refrain "All I want is to get my children (she had two) to heaven. I don't care what I have to do if I can just get you to heaven. I'd let you die if I knew it would get you to heaven." That sort of thing hurts so badly when you're just a kid. Your own mother would let you die to feed her religious mania. She could take no joy in any of the earthy pleasures for fear that such would contaminate her anticipated after-life experience. She hated and feared me because I had a brain and used it. Quote: "I'm not as smart as you but I know how to love g-d and get to heaven." I was a real mess for years until I married into a family of professional Presbyterians - preachers for generations and all that - who were incredibly tolerant and accepting. My husband and I are Voltairian non-believers but still close to his family which has always loved us uncritically. I am forever grateful to them.

[DELUSIONAL]

28. yes -- mom is -- dad -- no

My mom is a fundamentalist -- and she once said that she had wished she had killed us when we were children (and "innocent") so that we would go to heaven. I've had no contact with her for nearly 20 years -- she is a "toxic parent".

She never could convert my dad -- who it turns out had the same sort of religious conflict in his childhood home.

There seems to be a pattern among my ancestors -- one generation rejects religion and the next "finds" religion.

These right wing nut religions fit the cult definition -- and the bush followers are also cult believers.

I am sorry to hear about your niece -- she needs to be hit over the head with a virtual 2X2 -- so that she can see the real world. Some cult members never come out of the fog.

Delusional -- not

[lgardengate]

29. My mom but not dad

No bad experence here.I went to a very conservative Baptist church but as a 19 year old i found a different church...not as strict.I am still a Christian.