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Vacation Bible School. YAY!

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 6:41 pm
by TaciRain
Well i've been working at a daycare for about 6 months now. i love my job. but i've come to be a little uncomfortable lately. the daycare is owned by a christian family but its not necesarilly a christian daycare. however this year, they have decided to offer vacation bible school to the after-schoolers if they have parents permission. the teacher i work with the most is agnostic and we've discussed our various beliefs but she is the only one who is fully aware of my beliefs. well now these kids are comign in from vacation bible school and trying to tell me about jesus and what all they learned. and while i was raised a christian i find this bothers me more than it used to. i kind of just smile and nod (one of the best things i know how to do in this kind of situation) because i dont want to tell these kids "oh. i used to believe in jesus but then i lost my faith and now i believe in a different god." i just feel kind of uncomfortable.

i did find it funny the craft they did yesterday. they did those little cootie-cathcher paper thingies (that like you pick a color and then pick a number and under the flap is something). well they made those and they were christian but they were kind of like fortune tellers tho. they said things like "you should pray for your family." and "your friend is having a bad day. remind thme that jesus loves them!" kinda things. i found that kinda funny.


i just thought i'd share. lol.

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:34 am
by [ShadowPhoenix]
Eehheh...Yeah, I'd kinda feel uncomfortable as well...but, they're just children....children who are being raised that way. Someday they'll be old enough to decide and choose for themselves...should they only open their eyes they could see all the flaws of the bible. I did and this is where I am now. The thing that bothers me most about this though is that it reminds me that while they are teaching children to be good christians...they are at the same time teaching them to hate and/or not accept those that are different, teaching intolerance...which is one reason I've turned away from christianity. Christians use scare tactics and say that their god is a jealous god...that you should fear him...It shouldn't be that way...he should love NOT hate and be jealous!

I've heard christians call wiccans/pagans evil. Yet, from my point of view, the christians are evil...any entity who is jealous and says one should fear him...isn't worthy of such a title as "God". Only an entity who loves unconditionally is worthy of such a title...I know that all our deities may not be capable of such, but there are some candidates, I'm sure...They are the cause of many probems that we face today...discriminating against women (Pentecostals really piss me off-women hold no rights within that particular sect) I mean they can't even cut their hair for Christ's sake..haha no pun intended...If I were a woman and wanted my hair cut then I very damn well would! It just pisses me off that they are pompous enought to think they have the RIGHT to deny others their rights! I'm included in those brackets as I am gay...WHO is to determine whether or not one can or cannot marry the one they love?! WHO has the right to deny the happiness of another!? They were the main discrimanantes of bi-racial couples! GAYS! and WOMEN!! It angers me, yet at the same time it pains me to see that there are enough selfish hateful bigots out there who are able to stop us from progressing as a race by simple stupid shit!....This is where my rant should end....I could write a book before I stopped if I kept going...but I won't torture you all. :wink:

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:54 am
by TaciRain
lol BREATHE BREATHE BREATHE SP! HEE HEE HOOO (lamaze). lol.

i understand they're children they dont know any better. hell i went to so every VBS my family could find for us to attend and had fun during it (hooray for games and arts and crafts!). now that my eyes are open and i'm seeing things so much differently, i dont know. not only do i feel uncomfortable when all the kids are trying to give me WWJD bracelets, but i also feel sad for them...
and when i'm wearing my triple moon pendant or my goddess/pentacle necklace and my pentacle anklet...lol. an afterschooler girl the other day was showing me the wwjd bracelet and then told me she loved my 'pretty star and lady in the dress' necklace and wanted to know where i got it so she could get one too. lol.

i dont necesarrily want to hide my faith or tell these kids that i dont believe in jesus or their god. theyre like 12 years old. so i just kinda smile and nod... oh well.

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:01 am
by HonorRose
Lol Shadow, your post really took me back. As you guys may know, I decided when I was thirteen that I wanted out of the church. I officially remember the day I figured it out, exactly where I was standing, the color of the open hymnal I was holding, etc. I remember someone reading the biblical passage that went something like, 'Fear the lord your god, serve him only and take your oaths in his name,' yadda yadda.. and I kinda felt my eyebrows furrow up and I went, 'Now hold on a second...'

Lol.

TaciRain, you probably don't have to hide your faith from twelve year olds. They should be old enough to understand. If try giving you WWJD bracelets just tell them 'Thanks, but it isn't my faith.' If they inquire, give them some non-specific details. You don't need to hide the truth from them, but obviously you don't want to anger any parents.

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:50 am
by Imiko
If someone told me Jesus loved me, I think that would just make my day worse then it already was. :P

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:29 pm
by TaciRain
lol. i didnt realize it all at once. it kinda started when i went to my old church. i used to love church as a kid. not for the religion but because i got to hang out with my friends and our youth minister was really cool and let us watch movies like lord of the rings (*sigh elijah wood...drifts off into some old reverie* lol) and the princess bride ("mawwage is what bwings us togeva today"). but it was whe he told us that wives should always be submissive to their husbands...that was the start of it...the more and more i read and was taught the farther away i fell. then i moved. fell in love with brandon. and we...well became intimate with one another. well i was in love then (and still am) and felt that i did no wrong. brandon is the only person i've ever been with. well word got out somehow or another and the new youthminister came to my house and told me what i did was wrong. i argued that i loved brandon. he told me not to show my face in his youth room until i repented from my sins. so i never went back. that was a little over 3 years ago. no regrets. ive been considering paganism longer than that though. every time i ran into mr steve in walmart or wherever, he refused to speak to me unless i confronted him infront of his other churchy friends to ask how his two young children were doing. then he got canned from the church because i wasnt the only one who was kicked out of "his youthroom". kinda sad...


Imiko: lmao! they told me to tell a friend that jesus loved them and i said ok i would, then they pointed to another teacher in the room and told me "shes your friend". so i looked at ms melody (shes christian) and told her jesus loved her.
lol.

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:23 pm
by AP670
Agrees with shadow....but sees others points....

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 4:13 am
by [ShadowPhoenix]
Haha, Taci...HE HE HE HOOOO :P

It wasn't all at once for me either. Even as a child when I heard the preacher state that you should fear god...I stood up....I was only 7 years old...amazing it would take a child to get some to realize the truth....amazing that a child possesses more intellect and understanding than an adult. I stood up and remember exactly what I said, "No one should fear God." The preacher, apparantly in shock, looked down from his high pulpit and said, "Son, do you know he could strike you down right where you stand?!" I replied, "Then let him, but I know he won't because he knows what I say to be true. Do you even listen to yourself when you're up there, or do you just say things because you like to hear yourself speak? If it's a fear mongering(I had an extensive vocabulary for a child my age and quite an attitude...part of my upbringing) God you worship, then you worship the wrong god." The entire church burst in to murmors, "He's right." That next sunday...well...haha, we had a different preacher. My Great-Grandfather was and still is a Deacon of the church, and so of course I was front and center of the church (UGH! I hated sitting in the front!) he brought it to a vote and it was unanimous that the preacher be removed. Now, keep in mind that I was raised going to both Baptist as well as Roman Catholic churches...you could've called me a "Baptolic" (That term has been copyrighted by me :lol: )

The straw that broke the camels back was after I finally accepted the fact that I was gay. I was born it's what I was, am, and will be. The following is the story of when I walked out of the Baptist church:

I fought with everything myself for a while. I didn't know what to do with going to church on Sundays and hearing the preacher tell us that gays were an abomination keep in mind that this is where my great grandfather was a deacon...One bright and sunny day I went to church, and in that church they were teaching the love of God. I was sitting in the very first pue, and then the preacher started in on how homosexuals are an abomination, I stood up CLEAREDEDEDED my throat (notice it wasn't just cleared my throat, I made sure I had EVERYONE'S attention)
I then asked him why it were such an abomination for one to be born the way they were. His reply, "........Well ummm, because the bible says so." and then I start in, "Because the bible says? Is that IT?! and do you believe every word you read? Because ya know the bible ALSO says that eating pork, shrimp, and lobster is an abomination as well, so who's to say that the road to hell isn't paved with that bacon you were eating earlier?! NOT TO MENTION the fact that the bible ALSO says that ALL sins are equal...E-Q-U-A-L! there I've even spelled it out for you!!" I then LIT a cigarette and walked out of the church.

As far as the catholic church is concerned...well I've already written a book soo...uummm haha, perhaps that's a story for another day...
:lol:

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:47 am
by RuneGeek
@ShadowPhoenix - that was an incredible story... thanks for sharing! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that episode...

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:49 am
by TaciRain
lol. you see i admire that kind of attitude. i couldnt just stand up and speak my mind like that in front of a whole church. (my parents would have torn my ass up if i did something like that!) i just silently disagree.
i dont feel i'm "damned to hell" because i made love to a man i want to spend the rest of my life with before we get married, i dont feel "wrong" for having feelings for both men and women. i didnt feel like i was being "dragged to hell" by the pagan/athiest/goth friends i had my freshman year of highschool. i actually yearn to reconnect with some of them now.
i just find it sad that i was raised as a christian but i never really fit what i was told i should be. and it never made sense to me that most of my pagan/athiest/goth friends were nicer to me than my christian friends were but the Christians were the ones to get Heaven despite how they treated me just because they believed Jesus was the son of god and rose on the 3rd day and died for our sins and etc. while my other friends were going to hell and they were the nicest people i knew!


i remember being a freshman and going to my first highschool dance: the halloween ball. well my mom pulled up to the school to drop me off and saw a group of guys and girls talking around the flag pole: one was dressed as a vampire, one a dark angel, one was a grim reaper, one was a...well i guess you would call him satan or a demon or somethign. ill never forget my mom pointing to them and telling me "you are NOT allowed to hang out with those people." i had no idea who those people even were much less had a desire to hang out with them (i was still a church goer then...(lol dressed like a prostitute. lmao! hooker boots, pimp hat, over done makeup, fishnets, everything! lmao!) well i got inside the dance and met up with my boyfriend at the time (the one who ended up abusing me later on.) this is the one thing i must thank him for: he told me he wanted to introduce me to his friends. and so sure enough we went to talk to the vampire, dark angel, grim reaper, and demon. daniel, jason, jack, and michael respectively. they were some of the best friends i ever made. my mom saw me walk out of the dance with them and threw a shit-fit wheni got in the car. she hated them up until the day we moved when they all came to tell me goodbye and she changed her mind about them.

and its because of this that i realize some christians are just scared of whats unfamiliar, but when they get to know that the intentions are not as evil as what they were told they would be by the preacher, they can ease up a bit. thats what i saw happen with my mother. i'm just sad it didnt happen sooner.
sorry...that was my annecdote for the day. lol.


ps. vacation bibleschool ended yesterday! yay! lol.

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:30 am
by RuneGeek
TaciRain wrote:i dont feel i'm "damned to hell" because i made love to a man i want to spend the rest of my life with before we get married, i dont feel "wrong" for having feelings for both men and women. i didnt feel like i was being "dragged to hell" by the pagan/athiest/goth friends i had my freshman year of highschool.
And you shouldn't. Christianity, the religion whose success is owed only to its being embraced by rulers and kings, is tailor-made (by the emperor Constantine) for controlling people. If you did believe that you'd be damed to hell by those things, then you might not do them... ergo, those who deliver the message (the church leaders) would have you right where they want you... under their control.

Kudos to you - and to everyone else - smart enough and strong enough not to buy it. :)

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:58 pm
by [ShadowPhoenix]
@ RuneGeek; Haha, yea it was a VERY interesting day at church.

@ Taci; Well, like I said it's been part of my upbringing to be so...fierce...many members of my family are back-stabbers...I practically live on Wysteria Lane :lol: (the street on the show Desperate Housewives) and I hate to say it but if my mother or father ever told me who I was or wasn't going to be friends with, I'd have rattled their jaws. I'm super nice...until I've been crossed. Oh btw now that VBS is over I just want you to remember....JESUS LOVES YOU!! :P :lol:

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:30 am
by TaciRain
thanks a ton SP! lol. i nearly forgot that jewish zombie god loves me. ^_^

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:36 am
by [ShadowPhoenix]
*laughs uncontrollably*

Re: Vacation Bible School. YAY!

Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:11 pm
by theSeeker
TaciRain wrote:i dont want to tell these kids "oh. i used to believe in jesus but then i lost my faith and now i believe in a different god." i just feel kind of uncomfortable.
Is it that you lost your faith or you used what you learned spiritually and grew from there to where you are now? May the children you speak of be as blessed to have spirituality planted in them then mix it with the wonder of growth as they mature.