My life's been crazy lately to start I used to be a strong christian and as I got older maybe 18 I drifted away from Christianity and have never really looked back until now. My mom was a devout christian but back in 2010 her faith wavered and she left the religion a few years later I came out of the closet and she was supportive and she even got into lbgt. Things changed over the past few months as her religion came back stronger as it ever has before. She told me she has had a demon on her shoulder that caused her to turn from god she told me it gas been toucjing her in inappropriate areas and voicing dark messages in her ear. She said after returning to Christianity god has saved her and the touching is slowly stopping. At this same time my sister had a psychotic breadown in a church they took her to the back to do deliverance which Apparantly is the same thing as an exorcism. My brother and other sister and my grandma are all of a sudden hearing voices and they are all super paranoid... I'm convinced its all psychotic but my mom said to me the obly reason I don't hear voices is because I am not Christian and the demons have no reason to attack me. She's saying I live a wicked lifestyle now because I'm gay when she used to support me. I don't know what kind of advice im looking for I guess what I really need is someone to listen to my story cus I don't know what to think.
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Don't know if this is serious or not but, I'm going to give this a shot.
It sounds to me like your whole family is a bunch of nutters. They are clearly very susceptible to suggestion and, boy howdy, have bought into a very extreme form of christianity.
This is what atheists mean when we say that religion is harmful. People having psychotic breaks, being taken to exorcisms instead of being referred to psychiatric care, believing they are being diddled by invisible demons, believing that you're NOT getting diddled by invisible demons because you're gay (I would think the demons would view you as easy prey since, according to their religion, you're an abomination and have no protection from god, at all) etc...
I mean, it's all ridiculous, isn't it?
The best advice I can give you is this: You do YOU. Don't live your life for anyone else or according to the wishes of anyone else. As long as your actions don't cause harm, do what YOU want.
Warning: Levity incoming!
Maybe suggest to your family that they all become gay, too? That will stop the nefarious diddling of the invisible demons, apparently.
Honestly, though...If being "in the sight of god" makes you prone to being attacked by demons, I'd be hiding from the fucker any way I could. An omnipotent, omniscient being can't just put the brakes on that shit for the good of its faithful but an abomination in his eyes is free and clear?
Therein dies that "god is logic" argument again.
Uh huh.
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Wish I was trolling but this is my life now surrounded by literal psychopaths.
Please verify that this a serious thread. If true, you are neck deep in BS and need a lifeboat!
Serious.
Happy Monday!
If your family enjoys reading, I would suggest The Origin of Satan. The author is Dr. Elaine Pagels. She is the Professor of Religion at Princeton Divinity. She states that evil is real, the devil is not. 666 does Not stand for Lucifer, it represents Caesar Nero. She also has a new release titled Why Religion. Easy, excellent read.
You could also forward her these You Tube links..
https://youtu.be/7xVBldyy_Oo
https://youtu.be/NIXfDyoYK8Q
https://youtu.be/Pz-z8j67Ids
From what you have described, they appear to be suffering from some sort of psychological, paranoid schizophrenia-like disorder; multiple your family members seem to be having these auditory and sensory hallucinations/persecutory delusions. Don't worry. And I am so sorry about how she now views you; that's not true. There is nothing wrong with being gay.
Hi Axle , Welcome to the website ... I'm so sorry for what's happening to you , Plus I'm really proud of you .. Me too I used to live with a religious strict family It's really hard to ba rational among those kind of people cause it's strange way of thinking according to them ! While for the demons thing Isn't better to stop hear them ?! She should be an atheist then to make them disappear !! Whatever It just a psychic thing It doesn't exist at all but we can fool ourselves all the time that's the problem of believing It's really an intellectual suicide , To believe in something you need to stop think rationally about it That's the problem ! .. Gayness is the best thing , Keep going You need to enjoy the life more ... And advice your mother to go to psychologist What's wrong with that ? Nothing It's a science .
Hey there, Axle. Welcome to the AR. You picked a fantastic place to use to vent and get advice. Many good folks here. Glad to have you with us.
Before I read any replies from others, I just wanted to share a thought with you real quick. Kinda like one of those things that make you go, "Hmmmm...." That thought is thus... Ever notice how you never seem to hear of atheists having "demon encounters"? Take into consideration what your mom told you.
1. You are wicked (supposedly) due to your gay lifestyle.
2. Yet, since you do not believe in god (nor demons, I might add), then the demons have no reason to attack you. (???) Sooooo.... Does that mean your mom believes the demons think of you as being "part of their team"? Puzzling...
Basically, my personal opinion/evaluation is that your mom never really fully dropped her religion. As such, she maintained her Christian friends who were gradually able to "get their claws back into her" and convince her to "return to the flock". In doing so, she now has a tremendous "guilt trip" in her brain for all those "sinful" things she was doing during those years she "lost her faith". To make amends for that, she now has to punish herself with Satan's demons until her loving caring Lord and Savior determines her to once again be deserving of his love and forgiveness. Again, just a rough evaluation based on what little you stated in your OP.
Sadly, I'm afraid I do not see any way you can counter/change your mom's behavior. From my experience, most people who go into that severe a "relapse" are pretty much beyond reach and rationality. I know it is your mom, and you do seem to care about her. However, my advice is that you do your best to live your own life as you see fit in the manner that makes you happy/successful. Your mom has chosen her path. Does not mean your path is wrong.
(Now to go see what others have said.)
@Axle
Have they started blaming you for bad things that happen to the family that have nothing to do with you yet? You know like if your sister has an accident and breaks her arm and they start insinuating that it is your gayness/unbelief that is the "supernatural cause" of the injury? I hope not, but it is something you might want to be mentally prepared for.
Hi Axle: One question for you.... If that was my post about my family what would you think?
My opinion is that you are too close to the action and too emotionally involved with the actors. They are most likely correct; "You can not hear the voices because you are not Christian." How is that not a good thing?
"Group Think" - one of the strongest influences of religion. You only need to turn one person in the crowd to begin influencing them all.
Get some distance and distance will provide you with perspective. You are feeling the pressure of the group. (In this case family.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds3-ljxTRvo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-5pfiEd6o4
Your responses are always wonderful , Thanks man
@Cog Think about it, Axle: because you are on Say-tan's side and are now one of us godless, evil heathens who seek to persecute "good Christians" like your family members, you don't have to worry about our demon allies molesting you and whispering creepy things into your ears. As my profile pic says, you are now a part of our evil atheist-evolutionist cabal (of which there isn't one). Feel free to join us in Hell.
@Rohan M.
We are a cabal?????!!! Did not know that! Seems to be a nice club^^.
@Talyyn (there is no cabal.)
Rohan M.: Oh SNAP! Now there's a thought! You are going to scare the OP back into superstition.
I've been reading all these comments and i want to say thank you to everyone. You guys put some things in perspective. And to the one asking yeah this is all legit its a real post. There's a lot I havnt mentioned and im glad I came here for advice..it helped. Thanks everyone.
@Axle You're very welcome. Goatspeed, brother!
@Rohan M.: "Goatspeed" Really? Face-palm!!!! LOL
@Cog It's an inside joke from RationalWiki. It was originally coined ages ago by them as an atheist alternative to "Godspeed".
My advice... Always be honest with yourself. If it makes no sense, there’s probably a good reason. There are plenty of people here more educated than I am on the Bible, and religion also. But ask yourself, does it really make sense. Watch out for yourself, don’t make unnecessary enemies just because you’re atheist. Sometimes you just have to mix in with the delusional. Live this way until you pay your own bills, and then you can be more at ease in speaking your mind. These folks claiming to hear voices have more problems than you being atheist. That’s for damn sure! Watch out for yourself and talk to people here. Find friends who can help you. Remember, not all religious people are assholes. They just believe in something not realistic.