Did you like going to church as a kid?

[Progster]

Yeah. Our parents forced us to attend Sunday School, morning church, night church and Wednesday night prayer meetings.

I was dubious about all of it because the church condemned the drinking of alcohol as a mortal sin or something equally dire. When I was about 8 years old, the Sunday School teacher's lesson was about the miracles of Jesus. I raised my hand and asked why Jesus' first miracle was to turn water into wine at a wedding. The teacher said it was because the water was undrinkable where Jesus lived. I raised my hand again and asked why didn't Jesus turn the undrinkable water into drinkable water at the wedding. She became furious with me and told me to stop asking questions. And then there was the whole communion thing where Jesus used bread as his body and wine as his blood and we were supposed to consume it. My church used Welch's grape juice instead of wine.

I mostly identify as a Druid these days.

In religious education class in middle school, the teacher started to talk about the Virgin Mary. The conversation went a bit like this:

Teacher: And the virgin Mary... yes, Progster?
Me: How come she had Jesus if she was a virgin?
Teacher: Progster!!
Classmate next to me: What's a virgin?

I never went to church apart from the obligatory annual school carol service, which was held at the local church. My parents weren't religious, but didn't mind my sister and I giving it a go. So we enrolled for Sunday school to see what it was all about. Went about twice before deciding it wasn't for me. My sister also quit.

 

[Wolfnox]

I mean, i woudln't go either if i not needed it, but i need, because its the only way to reliably get Gods presence, a good church that seeks God, because he promised that he will be there with us, when there are 2 or 3 of us reunited in his name.

That’s your path to walk. I find churches difficult now. I’m always on guard watching for mistakes from the preacher. Making sure it matches what is written.
It’s exhausting.
I feel nothing with the people either. Which again I’m on guard.

 

[NB79]

That’s your path to walk. I find churches difficult now. I’m always on guard watching for mistakes from the preacher. Making sure it matches what is written.
It’s exhausting.
I feel nothing with the people either. Which again I’m on guard.

I believe there should be some good people and churches around.

 

[Wolfnox]

I believe there should be some good people and churches around.

Not judging churches. Just having a hard time around people in them.
My faith kept me alive in the past and I guard it hardcore for that reason.
It’s just me. Dealing with past issues.

 

[NB79]

Not judging churches. Just having a hard time around people in them.
My faith kept me alive in the past and I guard it hardcore for that reason.
It’s just me. Dealing with past issues.

Because God, i was able to go through very hard stuff too.

 

[Wolfnox]

Because God, i was able to go through very hard stuff too.

Yes. I have old scars from that time. In some ways I think I blame the church people. Where were they when I was in torment and suffering? When man hurt me were you all there?
It isn’t right to think of it that way. But, it simply is. My faith is mine no one else’s.

 

[NDR2]

I'm Jewish, so I never went to church. But I did go to synagogue as a child. I found it boring (I was easily bored as a child). The Sunday school at the temple we went to wasn't a very good one - the teachers were just volunteers and not trained teachers. My favorite part there was music - we learned songs and I enjoyed singing them.

As an adult, I like synagogue better, but I don't go much. I worry if I'm doing it right (being bad at languages I may be capable of messing up the Hebrew prayers). I'm not sure if I can live up to spiritual standards.

I did find an interesting article a while back about how churches can have troublesome aspects for autistics. It has two parts to it, so I'll post Part 1 here, and you'll find a link there to Part 2. Some of these things may apply to temples as well (I remember being sensitive to the organ music and the cantor's voice - I never liked opera-type singing).

Why Churches Can Be Hell for Autistic People, Part 1 of 2

Churches can be hell for autistic people – unwelcoming, uncomfortable, unpleasant places to be. This may not be happy news, but it many cases it is true. It has certainly been true for me at …

morenikego.com

 

[Au Naturel]

Why even bring this question up? Don’t most people find it controversial to talk about this kind of thing?

What would be controversial about whether you enjoyed church as a kid?

 

[kazmen17]

I loathed church as a kid. I was bored, overstimulated, and forced to get up too early to deal with this on my day off from school. I was forced to attend until I was about 19 before my mother relented and set me free. After years of being away, I found I enjoy smaller group studies where we can discuss our interpretations and compare views between one another honestly. It has been surprisingly therapeutic for me compared to Sunday morning services.