Will God understand if I stopped thinking about religion?

[BelAnna]

54 minutes ago, Moser said:

i am feeling much better the last days.

That's great- well done Moser. 

[Moser]

I am tired of my ocd

I am tired of worrying for hypothetical scenarios

I am tired of the coicncidences that trigger my ocd

I am tired of worrying for losing my faith

I am tired of worrying that almost everything in Christianity is a sin.

I am tired of reading that we all deserve hell!

I am tired of reading that many people will suffer in hell eternally for small sins or crimes.

I am tired of having to believe what the church says simply because many people say it.

I am tired!

[Woman]

I also had religious OCD many years ago, because of the things you also have a problem with. For me it helped to get another idea of God. A loving idea. And the idea, that he will take everybody to him who wants it after death. This is what helped me. I am not discussing my new idea of God with anyone, because it is my idea and I can live well with it. 

[Moser]

I have lost my faith in Jesus. I just have my doubts that the Bible is the word of God and I have bigger doubts about church. I would like to have converstation about what bugs me. Lets start with the Bible first.

Bible:

I do not reject the Bible but I have my doubts that it is the word of God. Simply because ther are other religious texts (you can check internet), why I should reject other religious texts, traditions, religiond, theories but accept that Christianity is the real one?

Church:

1) I have read opinions from Christians that annoyed me. There was an orthodox who was saying that Christians will end up in hell for not participating in reading devotional hymns. He also supported that it would be nice to be penalties for sinners and unbelievers from the goverment. Maybe he meant prison.

2) I learned that an orthodox monk rejected a gift of sheets because they had flowers and he considered them prideful.

3) There are some orthodox beliefs and stories that I simply cant believe. There is a story about a woman who sinned but did not confessed it to a priest (sacrament of confession) but prayed for her sin alone. She died and went to hell and Theotokos brought her back to life so she could confess to a priest. The woman confessed and went to heaven. I just cant believe these stories.

4) Why sex with your girlfriend/boyfriend is a sin, if it is something serious? From a very little search I did, I cant find verses about how marriage should be done. If a woman and a man agree to live with each other and love each other, isnt like a marriage? The Bible forbids forcination but in greek, it says about "pornoi" which means prostitutes. Being a prostitute and having sex with the person that you plan to be with, is total different.

5) Some Christians believe that it is a sin for a woman to wear pants mostly because of the verse from the O.T that says about the clothing of man and woman. Since when pants are considered that only men should wear them? And if some Christians want to follow that verse, why dont they follow all rules of O.T?

6) A Christian here on reddit, was stating that its a sin to have company with non-believers.

7) If church is always right, why changed opinions? If I am right, church was telling people to repent publicly but now they do not. Church rejected evolution but now accepts it?

I see Christians talking about prayers and repeating them. Fasting in Wednesday and Friday because of the tradition. Is that what Jesus is really about? Participating in rituals?

9) Many Christians are believing that the Bible is the truth because it makes sense to them. That we all have sinned and there must be a savor. Does that prove that the Bible is really the word of God? Yet, they tell you that it is our choice not to have faith but we will burn in hell.

I am suspicious of the Bible but I am even more suspicious of the church. Do I have to follow all these rules which some are difficult to follow and do that for as long as I live, even if Christianity does not make sense to me?

Does really an unbeliever deserve to suffer ETERNALLY for not having faith? When it comes to faith isnt natural for some people to simply not have faith? Even for other sins like sexual pleasure, seem normal to me because it is our nature to have urges. For how long can someone avoid it?

If Christian God is merciful and loving, why He would send, if He will send, good and honest people who are unbelievers? My mind just refuses to believe it.

I am in a state in which I am worried for not having faith because what if Jesus is real? If the Bible is not the word of God, then what happens after death?

Many people have different religions, theories, traditions and they really seem to believe them like a Christian does for his religions.

There are people who believe in simulation theory. Some claim to have seen the truth through drugs and they share commom experiences. There is a man on internet who claims to have talked with aliens and that we are in a simulation world in which a parasite is controlling all evil.

After all these, I cant have faith in Jesus. I am not saying that I will believe something else. I am just in a state that I do not know what to believe. And I think thats honest. Yet, some Christians will tell me that I will end up in hell in this state.

I am a man who has depression and do not know what to believe. I still try to avoid sinning from fear but I cant say that I have faith.Do I really deserve hell?

[Woman]

Let me tell you what I think:

 

You don't deserve hell and you won't be in hell.

Religion always is man made. Every religion. 

The bible is also man made. Yeah, Jesus exists, and some people started to write down what they heard about him. Others took these texts and added something they had heard or thought. So yes, there surely is a true core, but all around is man made. Therefore there are contradictions in it. 

You also see how the idea of God changes from Old to New Testament. Civilisation changed and so did their idea of God. 

Every Christian you talk about is also a human being. There are nice human beings, bad behaving human beings, truthful human beings, lying human beings. And that means also Christians are like that.

No one is in possession of the full and only truth. No one, because we are human beings. 

Everybody thinks and believes differently and it is not necessary to think that a person must be right only because he is Christian.

I believe that I will be with God and Jesus after death. That's enough for me. I don't need to know more any longer. 

So these are only my thoughts, and with this belief I overcame religious OCD. I don't know if something of it helps you, but there is a chance, and that is why I tell you about it. 

If anyone who reads this believes differently, that's totally okay. I am not here to discredit somebody's way of believing. I only wanted to tell about MY way, so please, if anyone believes in a different way, that's really okay, and I don't want to and won't discuss it. 

I know what you are going through. Good news is that you can overcome it.

[The last Jedi]

On 05/07/2021 at 11:54, Moser said:

I am tired of my ocd

I am tired of worrying for hypothetical scenarios

I am tired of the coicncidences that trigger my ocd

I am tired of worrying for losing my faith

I am tired of worrying that almost everything in Christianity is a sin.

I am tired of reading that we all deserve hell!

I am tired of reading that many people will suffer in hell eternally for small sins or crimes.

I am tired of having to believe what the church says simply because many people say it.

I am tired!

No one deserves hell, no one. 


 

[The last Jedi]

On 05/07/2021 at 11:54, Moser said:

I am tired of my ocd

I am tired of worrying for hypothetical scenarios

I am tired of the coicncidences that trigger my ocd

I am tired of worrying for losing my faith

I am tired of worrying that almost everything in Christianity is a sin.

I am tired of reading that we all deserve hell!

I am tired of reading that many people will suffer in hell eternally for small sins or crimes.

I am tired of having to believe what the church says simply because many people say it.

I am tired!

To add, having OCD makes me doubt religion as I have no free will in having OCD, a god cannot punish you for something you cannot help. 

[Caramoole]

It's important to understand that religious beliefs, acceptance of them, denouncement or disbelief in them has no real benefit when dealing with OCD, in much the same way as discussing hygiene practises with someone with contamination issues.

[Moser]

I used to believe. I started doubting and questioning my faith.

Reading opinions from agnostics made more sense to me than the Bible.

I have lost my faith but I am still afraid of going to hell because of what ifs.

I think I try to follow some teachings of Jesus, hoping that if God of the Bible is real, He will take my mental illness into account and even though I mostly lost my faith, the fear of following some rules of Jesus, will count as faith of a 1/10 of a mustard seed.

I think there is no point explaining why I lost my faith. I have already explained it in other posts. Right now I am like "Maybe the Bible is really the word of God, maybe not"

God knows that we can be easily deluded. He knows that it is difficult to have faith in Scriptures. He knows that there are other religions that have their texts and traditions.

 

I think that if I try praying, going to church, reading the Bible, I will just get bored and I will have thoughts like "ok, but why I should believe what is written?"

There are other traditions/religions/texts/beliefs with many believers I assume. What makes them all false but Christianity right?

To me O.T seems a different religion than N.T

God seems different in O.T than N.T.

I have also read opinions from agnostics and they made more sense to me than the Bible. So my mind automatically fights whenever I hear opinion about ChRISTIANITY or a verse. Its as if my system recognises them as a threat like autoimmune disease.

Also, I get thoughts about being brainwashed.

I suffer everyday because of my worries. and thinking that I may end up in hell does not help. right now, if you ask me I just want to stop thinking about anything.

I wanna just enjoy a show and think nothing. can I do this. Can I stop thinking anything related to religion in order to calm down or is it risky? can I just say "Jesus forgive me if you are real, despite my many doubts" and then, carry on with my day and start working it tomorrow?

 

 

can i just stop thinking about Christianity or any religion related matter? Will God forgive me if I die in my sleep tonight without making up my mind?

[snowbear]

4 hours ago, Moser said:

can i just stop thinking about Christianity or any religion related matter?

Of course you can. Think of it this way, if there is a god he's undoubtedly got more important things to do than police your thoughts. Those who don't believe in god aren't being punished for not believing.

The idea that there are consequences to your thoughts in this way is the result of disordered thinking. It has nothing to do with faith or religion.

Have you contacted a therapist yet? Someone who can help you get your thinking back on track.