Those with christian backgrounds (Creator, Earth, Deist, choice, hell)

[jamaesi]

Oh jeez, I didn't even realise that this was the Pagan DIR, there were so many different faiths posting I didn't think to check... I'm sorry.

[Jaymes]

I'm no longer a pagan, but when I first left Christianity paganism was the first thing I went to. I remember having a lot of trouble even reading about it at first, because I was convinced that I was going to go to hell just for reading about it. Eventually as I kept studying and no lightning bolts fell from the sky I figured I was fine.

[Mike182]

Originally Posted by Kcnorwood

I was wondering for those of you who were brought up as christians how long did it take you to stop thinking that you might be going to hell? Well not hell excatly but to....get past what you were taught & move on with something that's a completly different.

i had a lot of guilt tied to my homosexuality in the evangelical church i was part of, i was constantly having to justify/reconcile my faith and my sexuality, promise people that i would not get involved with anyone, go to prayer meetings for God to help guide me through this phase.

i had friends who were of different religions, and the negative teaching and opinions there were of other faiths also put a lot of guilt on me when i started looking for God in other religions.

eventually i left that particular church that claimed to be the home of Gods loving spirit and their hate-mongering ways, and explored the path of Paganism that my friend was practicing.

i identified as a Christian Wiccan for about a year, because of the guilt and hang-ups i had from the church i had been apart of, so i kept Christ as my main Deity, and i learnt and explored Wicca.

i have grown up and overcome most of the guilt and hang-ups i gained while being in the church, and i have also moved away from Wicca towards a different style of Paganism, but that is basically my journey from Christianity to Paganism.

[thewanderer]

As I "made the transition" pretty recently (like a year-and-a-half or so ago), I still sometimes feel the backlash. Not that I'm going to Hell, per se, I think I dropped Hell before I found Wicca, but sometimes I wonder if i really worshiping the right way, or if God is up there shaking his head and thinking about how misguided I am. Part of it might be that all my friends (who know anyway) think I'm "lost and confused".

[BFD_Zayl]

I never really thought that way, when i was old enough to understand what was going on, i realised it as something i just could NOT put my faith in, no matter how people made it look. episcopal (sp?) christianity is one of the most appealing christian sects to me, however i do not believe in the single christian God... I believe in many Gods, and that i have my patrons

[Isabella Lecour]

Originally Posted by Kcnorwood

I was wondering for those of you who were brought up as christians how long did it take you to stop thinking that you might be going to hell? Well not hell excatly but to....get past what you were taught & move on with something that's a completly different.

I was raised with a Protestant view, literal and inerrant biblical based, quasi-Messianic, fundamentally flavored and ultra conservative. Yes I was one of those kids raised in dresses, had no TV or "worldly" toys or things and observed the Sabbath.
My walk away from such a childhood was somewhat forced. My mother died and dad lost it. Lost religion and lost will, but that's another story.

But still very Christian. With the new found freedom, from lack of structure, I started thinking on my own and for myself. After that, it took a couple years. My case is far from typical.

It took about five years of being on the fence, four years of just learning, but self identifying as Pagan, another two year just getting used to being Pagan.

As to hell, I like the idea of hell. I'd want to run the place and because I know I would if such a chance existed, I know that it wouldn't be of divine origin. The divine that I want to worship would not, could not do such an act, if they were going to have my respect.

Otherwise hell is a great idea for those inclined to punish people for anything. Yeah I was hooked on the stories of the Elysium Fields.

[Azakel]

I was raise in a Celtic Christian house hold with me my mom, dad, and my Grandmother(dad's mom). Though I didn't here about God and Jesus all to much, I hang around my dad a lot and listened to what he believed(a lot of what would be considered Pagan). When my dad died I stop believing really(that didn't last long), my mom started taking me and my sisters to church, what they talked about didn't sound like what my father talked about. It made no sense to me, so I started to look into religions that had stuff in them that my dad takes about, and here I am today.

[Reverend Rick]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

MOD POST

Please be advised this is in the Pagan DIR.
If you're not a Pagan, please do not post.

Actually we can post and ask respectful questions right? My question is, what are the tennants of the Pagan faith?

[MaddLlama]

Originally Posted by Reverend Rick

Actually we can post and ask respectful questions right? My question is, what are the tennants of the Pagan faith?

First of all, that's off topic, and secondly, there is no concise answer to that question.

(And, BTW, I believe you mean "tenets". "Tennants" are people who rent apartments).