I grew up Ultra-conservative- AMA

Author: aletheakatharos

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EtrnlVw
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@Theweakeredge
They are often intertwined

That's also a great point. Nonetheless, they are separate issues. Meaning one can be a conservative without the effect of religious extremism. 
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@EtrnlVw
Indeed. My point was simply that theism is often a great indicator of conservatism, and vica verca
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An orthodox would understand that sinning is extremely normal and that no human can not sin besides god himself. I am Orthodox myself, and am pretty strict (well COVID fucked that up). I would go to church Sundays, pray, fast, etc. I think your parents are more conservative than orthodox. My dad is a moderate orthodox, and he does not follow these strict rules set because he believes god does not care about the attire you wear as long you help those around you. I'm glad you came to this realization and I would like to express to you that it's ok for orthodoxians to co-exist into the modern world
aletheakatharos
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@EtrnlVw
Just copy and paste the posters paragraph or comment you wish to reply to after you hit the reply button..... after you paste their comment in this box just put your reply underneath of theirs after a space. Then highlight their comment again with your mouse by clicking and dragging (I'm sure you know how to highlight something) and then select the " (quotation mark) above in the highlighted column with the letters and symbols.  That will highlight the posters comment. Repeat as necessary, you can also copy and paste their whole comment, paste it and separate it with your own responses and do all the highlighting and quotation after, it works the same way either way. 
Oh okay, thank you so much! I'm not super techy so I appreciate the help!
aletheakatharos
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@EtrnlVw
I would say roughly 15 years, the first half of my life I mainly studied the Bible, Christian testimonies and Christian literature. Actually, the time I've spent arguing with atheists and the time I've spent studying spirituality as a whole are about the same, perhaps arguing with atheists compelled my fixation even further. Maybe they exposed flaws within my belief system and because of my determination and desire to know truth I've adjusted those flaws. My fixation with God and my love for truth are one and the same, so I always align myself with what is true without compromising my love for God. I don't place beliefs and religion over God's status in my life, so I don't let beliefs dictate anything about God unless those beliefs are accurate. How I determine what is accurate follows in many different ways, basically the process that I personally use to discover truth or what follows in logic is a rigorous procedure. I'm cursed with non-stop debating in my own head and the constant sifting of information lol.
I like how you think. I also learned so much from discussing religion with atheists because it made me reconsider and analyze my presuppositions. I like how you said you do not let your love for God be changed by what is true. I think that should be the root of every belief, no matter the label. Thank you for explaining it so well!
Lots of interesting things. The nature of God (what God is), the specifics of the soul (what the soul is), how creation is put together, specifics of alternative dimensions.....just more insights about all aspects of creation in general. Quite fascinating really.
I'll tell ya what, here are the main sources I've really found a lot of useful information within, or rather the ones I favor most. Just consider that OT Jews are not the only people or culture capable of having observations about God or the afterworlds.
I agree that is the case, especially considering the biblical account in Genesis about how all people descend from the same two humans and then again off of one family that survived on the ark. If that is presupposed to be true, it would make sense that beliefs in God are passed down through different generations.

Hinduism was probably the first one I considered studying, then of course Buddhism, Native American Spirituality (whos culture I most love), Eckankar and then various factions of eastern and tribal religions.
Hinduism seems to posses very instinctive knowledge about the nature of God and the nature of consciousness, meaning what God actually is and what that entails. Buddhism and Buddhist cosmology has great understanding and insights about how creation is put together, Native American Spirituality really has a lot of depth about the spiritual worlds, spiritual beings and so forth. Eckankar is beautiful in that it has wonderful knowledge about the soul and how that relates to God, they also have a very unique understanding of how creation is put together which is very similar to Buddhism.
I have also been interested in spirituality like the Native Americans because I see echoes of themes I see in the Bible that fascinate me. I believe the soul is greatly neglected in Western culture, so I have been interested in learning Eastern perspectives.
Creation is put together in layers (which explains the afterlife), or you could say there are multiple parallel worlds. The closest theory put forward in philosophical circles is the multiverse theory, in time I believe this will become more prominent. It will be what opens the door for spirituality to become a global phenomenon once again, but not like the old days where fundamentalist religions ruled the world through tyranny and control rather the simple truth of what exists will captivate people.
That is a really cool idea! It kind of melts my brain, but it's definitely something I want to think more about.

One reason why I refuse to limit God or what God has done is because we seldom consider what an eternal Being means, in that God is not just a God but a creative Entity. Putting both the concepts of eternal and creativity together makes for very interesting implications. Since the nature of the soul is eternal God knows that the created worlds must be vast and various. Our physical universe is but one little cosmos and experience in the grand scheme of the eternal journey of the soul. This is why the multiverse theory fits so well in my estimations, because within creation the experiences the soul can have are virtually endless with heaven being only a single place and a single experience. In the multiverse theory there are several universes and within each universe there are countless galaxies, solar systems and planets. These are areas that the soul can sojourn. 
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the heaven scenario either, but it fits within the overarching reality of God's creative abilities, there's room for that and much more. This fits much better with the conception of a creative God and loosens the rigidity of how we normally think of God, creation and religion.
I think my favorite thing about your point of view is your openness to possibility. As I said earlier, I want to think about that in more depth.

The is probably the most interesting thing for me because I too am very creative and something about there being just two places when we leave the physical body that just doesn't sit right with me. The Bible is very vague about the parallel worlds that exists and what that entails. It seems to have a certain focus for a specific group of people which is fine because the Christian Heaven is certainly a Kingdom, but a Kingdom that fits within a series of parallel dimensions, it resides on a planet of its own within a universe full of other planets. For Christians "heaven" is very much like the way we experience earth. To us earthlings, the planet earth is really the only thing that exists....and to Christians, heaven is the only place that exits when they die. Again though, this is all fine I'm just detailing what I feel is much more accurate.
I have heard a theory that Christians will "rule" with God over like multiverse situations. I am not sure there is any biblical backing for it, but I agree with you that heaven should not be confined to one place. The character of God is creative and full of adventure, so I imagine that heaven (being all that is perfection) must be much more exciting and adventurous than earth. And there is so much to explore on just this one planet.

NDE's (as well as paranormal observations) are a very good source of evidence that correlates with the proposition of the soul and alternate dimensions. These are first hand observations of what it is like leaving the physical body and so I've invested a lot of time in researching them and considering all the countless testimonies. That complied with my study of religion as a whole there's a wealth of knowledge and information that is highly beneficial for understanding spirituality and creation.


I have had a few seasons of looking into the paranormal and I am not sure exactly what to think of it. I am not inclined to believe they are human spirits, I am more likely to think they are demonic. I think there are many faked occurrences out there, but the demonic is extremely real. I have had several experiences with the supernatural that I will likely get attacked for sharing, but it is hard to deny something that happens to you.
aletheakatharos
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@Discipulus_Didicit
Lol, that is hilarious!
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@Theweakeredge
I am still rather conservative, but I think I am much more close to the middle. I am not liberal, but I have a lot of respect for much of liberal ideology.
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@Vader
Thank you! I appreciate it. My family was certainly overly legalistic and I think that misses the point of Christianity all together.
Athias
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@aletheakatharos
I grew up in an ultra conservative bubble where I believed women should not vote, work outside the home, or go to college. I wore skirts down to my ankles and my social life was exclusively church or people who believed just like me.
Preach, sister!

I had no access to the internet until I was 17 years old, and so I had zero exposure to pop culture or basic children's movies.
Praise, Jesus!

Joining DDO in like 2014 was a crash course in the world for me. I left it about four years ago because it was dying and I recently found this site hoping that reading other people's opinions will help me grow further.
In all seriousness, if I'm simply offering my personal opinion, something I don't do often, I believe your parents/family did you a favor. American/Western pop culture and children's movies aren't as they appear. (Fun Fact: Did you know the CIA colluded--and still colludes--with Disney to disseminate propaganda to children?) They usually promote idolatry, promiscuity, family dysfunction, conditioning through violence, and a sense of entitlement. Your parents/family presumably in earnest, and to the best of their capacity, tried to shield you from all this. And why wouldn't they? Think seriously on the returns you'd receive on investing in pop culture. Is your life that much richer for knowing who Elvis Presley was? Now of course, I won't completely bash pop culture as there have been great contributions in the forms of entertainment like music, art, and movies/television. But now that you're an adult, and forgive me for being presumptuous, the values instilled in you in your formative years will help you provide context to everything that you see. Unfortunately, some who receive this culture shock act out in rebellion and in some sort revisionist fashion attempt to undermine the values taught to them by their parents rather than appreciate their parents efforts in protecting them against a global current.

I too grew up in a religious home. Though, my parents were "loose" Christians. After years of angst, contrarianism, and even nihilism, I painstakingly came to appreciate the religious aspects of my upbringing. Now, I'm by no means "religious,"  though I do remain "theistic." And most likely I'm projecting my own navigation of relentless experiences as "sage wisdom." I suspect it will take a lot of introspection for you to come to terms--your own terms--with how you were raised, if you haven't already (again, forgive me for being presumptuous.) And I don't think that perusing the internet, or even listening to certain genres of music can give you a crammed course of the world. "The world" in my opinion is your family and intimate friends--certainly, mine are. And I didn't come to this realization, even after being exposed to children's movies, sexually provocative media (which doesn't necessarily exclude the previous,) the pageantry of politics, etc, until far into my adulthood. With that said, I don't know very much about you, nor do I know the intimate details of your upbringing. But I'm sure that the manner in which you currently live your life is best suited for you because you chose it.
aletheakatharos
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@Athias
I agree that it was probably for my benefit that I grew up under a rock. However, I think they were a little extreme in their implementation. As you said, pop culture is not essential to life!
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@aletheakatharos
And neither is religion essential to life.


And as you stated...Extreme implementation of data, or in other words oppressive conditioning.

Which in reality is no different to teaching kids that sex with adults is fun and O.K.....And this is widely regarded as child abuse.
Stephen
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@aletheakatharos
I had zero exposure to pop culture................ I did not know who Elvis was until I was 19.

Well that's a crime in my country (if you were to ask Mrs Stephen).  Elvis Presley did much for American music culture and made leaps and bounds in  race relations than anyone I can think of. ( only for it to be set back decades by BLM and Antifa)


And music is the language of the universe.

Only my own opinion of course.
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@aletheakatharos
im happy u made it out bro an im glad ur doing better 
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@aletheakatharos
what are your favorite songs?
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@skittlez09
Isn't Bro a Sis?

55 days later

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@aletheakatharos
You didn't grow up in a ultra conservative home you grew up in a tyrannical prison. I am ultra conservative and don't believe in any of those things.