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If you believe they exist, what do you see as to their mission, or purpose for hanging around planet earth?      

Indeed, Weezer, I am into extraterrestrials and UFOs. Very much so. I want to apologize for not getting back to you as soon as I have, but I have been really busy. I’ve been hanging out with a friend across town. I hope you’re doing well. You take care.

Interesting idea and parallel reasoning Weez. Like you said,  our supposed "Father," via Abrahamic religions. set us up to think that we are somehow sick and inferior to some perfection standard -- original sin etc.

For years I have called the "Doctrine of Original Sin"  a self fulfilling prophecy, which is a prophecy that helps itself to become true, if it is believed!    Reading the book  DIABOLICAL TRINITY by Mark Karris, which is about recognizing and resolving religious trauma, I ran across another way to look at the doctrine.  The doctrine is also similar to Munchausen by Proxy which you may have heard of.  It is demonstrated by a movie that came out in 2020 called RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.  It is when a person makes or keeps a person sick, so they need continual care.  It is typically done by a mother who has an abnormal need to be needed, and is regarded as a mental sickness, and a form of child abuse.  And the mother often comes across as being VERY concerned about her child.  That can even be a tip off to doctors that the mother (or father) can be perpetuating the illness.   And that is what the doctrine of original sin was designed to do!    Our "Father" set us up to be sick and inferior!  And his "holy ones", most having been decieved themselves, have kept it going for ages.  It is now a multi-billion dollar industry.  One of the biggest scams ever played on human beings.   I highly recommend the book if you want to better understand religious (and family) trauma.  Or trauma of any kind.  It is more complex than many realize.

This image perfectly encapsulates my bizarre sense humor. It's Hatsune Miku with Jesus Christ building a sandcastle.  

Howdy KKP,   A warm welcome to our forum. Yeah KKP, this forum is dedicated to Ex-Christians, many or most of which are not atheists like I am, since many still believe in a God of some kind, just not a Christian biblical kind of God. As you know, the God of the old Testament is a pretty tough and vengeful God, while Jesus of the New testament is a pussycat like person who turns the other cheek and forgives the enemies of the Jews.   The old testament is an interesting collection of fictional stories, and the new testament is comprised of more gentle and sorrowful fairy tales.    Religion can be a happy or a daunting experience. Your gf unfortunately also believes in the BS in the bible. Many people here have spent a great deal of time studying the bible, and some have studied it from different perspectives including myself. Many believe that all man-made religions are pure BS.   According to my beliefs, humans are simply animals, just more intelligent than the others. There's nothing to be afraid of. Live the only life you will ever have, this one -- to the best of your understanding and ability. If fear is a part of your belief then you haven't studied or learned enough yet IMHO.   Cheers to you and welcome to our forum. Hope you decide to stay with us. If so I believe most of your fears will fade away on an ongoing basis.

Firstly, I would like to say hello @KrustyKrabPizza, and welcome to the forum!! Love the username btw! Spongebob was my childhood!   Secondly, this part here feels pretty similar to my experiences surrounding my sexuality, although I never had a bf. I too would pray for my attraction to men to go away numerous times. I would feel guilty and disgusted by myself for feelings certain feelings, thinking certain thoughts. I tried to convince myself over and over again that I wasn't gay, and did everything in my power to get rid of it, wether it be praying to rid myself of it, looking at Bible verses or preachers condemning homosexuality, looking at stories of ex-gays, or trying to force myself to watch straight porn to try and "fix" myself.   It didn't work, and after so much wrestling with myself and inner turmoil, after countless unanswered prayers, after not even receiving a sliver of acceptance from a god I thought I could wholeheartedly trust, after all the contradictions and questions I had just not adding up, I couldn't believe it anymore. Giving it up wasn't easy, but I feel more free than I did under Christianity's oppressive rules and restrictions. I prefer keeping an open mind, so I go by agnostic because it not only feels right to me, but also intellectually honest because I don't believe in god, but there could be something out there.   I (and the rest of us) hope you will have a positive experience on this forum as you progress through your journey. We will be here every step of the way! This site is full of many wonderful people, so hope you find a little home of sorts here!   See ya on the forums!   -Casual   P.S THE KRUSTY KRAB PIZZA IS THE PIZZA FOR YOU AND ME   (I would send a gif, but my connection is bad)

I also had people come up to me with specific prophecies and "words from the lord."  One was an evangelist who came to the church and called me out specifically and shared very detailed information.  I found out later a couple of the guys in the men's prayer group I led had had lunch with the evangelist a few days beforehand and my name had come up during the course of their conversation.  What the guy shared wasn't specific details from god; it was just gossip.   Another was a woman I had never met who knew the particular details of a missions ministry I was preparing to launch.  Turned out she was involved in the same seniors ministry as my mom, who had mentioned my plans in a prayer request.  Again, nothing more spiritual than plain old gossip.   People talk.  Shallow people talk about other people and not much else. 

Krusty, I came back this morning to write more, but Fuego said it even better than I could have.     Yes, there are people who have an uncanny ability to "read" people and situations.  We used to call them fortune tellers or psychics, and most of them I was familiar with were not christian.    You seem to have a rational thinking and logical mind.  Trust it, and let it guide you into the future.  I believe the turning point for me after years of struggling was when I stopped praying for more faith in the religion I was born into, and started praying to find and understand truth.  That was when things began to fall into place.  I have been "out" for over 30 years now, and the longer I am out, the more I am glad I left the faith.  I have a peace I never had before.  And at 82 years of age, and with some health problems, I could die at any time.  But I have no fear of  Hell.  Or hope of Heaven.  Maybe there is an afterlife??  Perhaps some kind of consciousness after this life??   Reincarnation??  All things we cannot know for sure until we get on the other side of the "curtain".   There is one thing I brought with me from the teaching attributed to Jesus, and which I have faith in.  Loving our "neighbors" as self is the salvation of mankind on this earth.

Welcome! Your life sounds so familiar.    "I was told that the pastors wife was very I guess you could say spiritually gifted so they would say she could hear God audibly, see demons and the devil, cast them out" There are no demons, no angels, no gods. These folks are gifted at theatrics (to make it seem more real) and pretending their imaginary friend is real and has magic power over their imaginary enemies. If they said that Spiderman had revealed to them that Loki was trying to trick you, that would be laughable. But change the names to Jesus and the devil and given your past programming of belief, it makes it seem plausible when it isn't. It's like adults doing cosplay except they think it's real.   "things i cant figure out how they knew. For example thay stated how my gf didnt want me to attend this meeting" It's normal for normal people to want their loved ones to stay away from a cult. Your Gf wanted to protect you from them, and of course desires you and doesn't want to lose you to a cult. The cult people know that and act like knowing this is magic information when it is just expected human behavior. Homosexuality is normal, part of the natural distribution of genetic diversity in a group. Old tribal taboos are no reason to feel bad about yourself.    About demons, I first converted to Christianity when I saw an advert for The Exorcist. That led to 30 years of on-fire belief. During that time I heard a LOT about spiritual warfare (completely imaginary) and walked with pastors around town dabbing olive oil on doorways and binding this and releasing that, blah blah blah. This is what happens when humans believe in magic and myths. Look at the old temples in Greece that were built by hand. They really believed in these other gods, who we all know were imaginary. When I finally saw through Christianity, I watched the movie The Exorcist and it was almost funny. Everything that had been spooky before I now knew was just Hollywood special effects, and the story-line was absurd.    In my old church there was a woman who started shrieking during a service, with guttural growls and such. The pastor assumed it was a demon and did the typical "warfare". But this lady had made a lot of bad life choices (drugs, hanging with a bad crowd, petty crime) and saw an opportunity to blame someone else for her problems, so by acting like she had a demon (even if she did so subconsciously) the blame for her poor choices shifted to the devil and she received compassion and attention from those she respected. But unlike the instant deliverances in the Jesus fables, months later she was still being prayed over because... there are no demons and her life choices remained with all the fallout that such choices bring, and she still craved compassion. Again, it's like cosplay they pretend is real.    With your Experience 3, cold-reading people is something that people (usually scammers or professional magicians) can become skilled at doing. Other times people get lucky, like millions of people playing lottery and only one getting it. And honestly, that's supposed to be The God? Of all the things she could have said that came directly from The God, those were the things God wanted to say?   Even after I deconverted, my mind was used to 30 years of daily programming with Christianity and seeing the world filled with invisible enemies and an angry god that claimed to love me while demanding bloodshed to forgive. None of it made any sense and my mind needed to sort through things. I started having dreams where I had to confront "the devil" and realized that this thing I feared was my own creativity and desires and rational thought.    The church doesn't want you to think, to express your individuality and passions. They want you to conform, to submit, and to become a clone of them. That makes them comfortable. But you are seeing through the myths, and still finding the fears placed there by years of programming. I still encounter imaginary fears, even this morning. Not about demons, but other things like people thinking poorly of me. I confront the fears, call them ridiculous, think it through and move on. If they return, do the same.    You have an amazing power in your ability to reason and make choices. Those will lead you to a better life outside the grasp of a controlling cult. The entire invisible world of the Bible is fake and always has been. If you had been exposed to Islam or Hinduism growing up, those would have been the dominant invisible world the cult would expect you to adopt. Instead, you had Christianity.   But now you are seeing through, and the old fears that you thought were critical to your survival are being called out as mere fables used to control and manipulate you into submission. Embrace your freedom and ability to make life choices, and continue to learn about why the Bible isn't at all trustworthy and is just a collection of fables and lies written by Middle Eastern men over centuries. And again, welcome!