I guess I'll tell you all a little bit about myself and my background. I was raised in a Catholic family and went to Catholic school all the way through 8th grade. I did all the sacraments, rarely missed mass, did a ton of community service, and was always very involved as my parents emphasized the importance of all these things.
I was usually relatively happy as a child, but I was always bothered by the doctrine of eternal torment. A pastor we had for a few years was quite a fire and brimstone preacher and would sometimes come in and talk to us about how we will all go to hell if we die without a mortal sin being forgiven (which of course in the church's case means confessing it to a priest), and hearing this had a big effect on me. I went through spurts of deep fear, depression, and overall hopelessness thinking that not only am I not good enough to gain God's approval, but I'd go to a restaurant, the park, the mall, the baseball game, etc, and I'd look at everyone around me and feel so depressed that they are all going to be damned if they haven't honestly asked Jesus into their hearts and joined the one true Catholic church. I give my parents a lot of credit as they always did their best to reassure me that God loves me and everyone else and will approve of me as long as I gave Him my best. Plus it helped that this pastor left, and his replacement was a bit more laid back.
So I continued to pray and be involved in the church into my high school years even though I joined the public school district. But I was involved enough in sports and extracurricular activities that I was able to get on with my life. Things changed a little bit senior year though as I neared graduation I began to think more about God and what He has planned for me in my life beyond the small Wisconsin town I had lived in my whole life. I did a lot of internet searching, and I found some sites and some youtube channels with terrifying fire and brimstone teachers again, and those feelings of fear and despair came back, and I was convinced once again that I was an unsaved sinner headed for Hell, and so was just about everyone else around me. Still I listened to these types of preachers for a while, and I was miserable. I became less outgoing at school, didn't hang out with friends on weekends as much, and kind of withdrew myself from the rest of the world, other than school and my job. I saw demons behind all the things I did.
This went on for a couple of months until one day I was so angry with the notion of a God who would torment billions of his creations forever, I searched something like "hell isn't real" and I found myself on some great UR sites. I was skeptical at first and thought it was probably wishful thinking, but I knew I had to read. I spent much of the few next weeks reading about Universal Reconciliation, and I remember the realization just suddenly hit me one day, and it was probably the happiest moment of my life as I cried tears of joy. Then I graduated high school and went to college with this knowledge, and I would like to learn more. I'm far from perfect, and I have done plenty of dumb things even after having the truth revealed to me. I joined Amway after a friend brought me to a recruitment meeting about a year ago, but thank God He brought me out of it fast enough. I realized what a sham it is after attending a major function. Once again, I look forward to getting to know everyone. Stay warm the next few days if you're in the Midwest!
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Topic: Hello (Read 11041 times)