This is just spiffy

I think I am :) Thank ya.

Well, as long as you're doing what makes YOU happy, you're headed in the right direction. I wish you luck with all this.

Yeah, I feel that way about my youth group. But my church in general? Well, I feel like I'm the unspoken rebel of the family, so to speak. Sure, there are some great people there that I like to hang out with, but I feel like I've been judged by the adults so much. They're nice, until you say or do something that they don't agree with. It's happened before. I don't exactly want to leave the church in general, just this church, ya know? I might just say that to them. I'll keep trying. Honestly, I'm gonna stay because of my friends. Not being there for a few weeks showed me that I'm really not as alone as I thought I was. I don't want to lose that. I can wait another 3 years or so, after everybody I know has left.

My aunt and uncle are very religious, so I can see how the people in your church become more of a family then just a group of people you pray with. When my cousin left the church he was pretty much shunned by everyone, even his closest friends told him to fuck off, but that's the price you pay, ya know, you're standing there infront of them basically telling them you want to leave the family, so of course they'll be mad and all that, but I mean really, do those sound like good people to begin with? Someone who dislikes you because although you still practice religion, you just want to stray away from the church and see what the world has to offer? If I were in you shoes, I would tell them if they're not going to help, then they must not really care unless I'm doing something to benefit the church, or them. I say keep trying to convince them to help you, but if they stand by their guns, you should really consider moving on, it's hard, but it'll help. Plus, it's not like this is the only church you can attend, right? There's a world of churches, some more accepting and open then the others. Maybe it's time to find one of those?

That's exactly why I want to do this! We're not allowed to give advice, only help the callers out a bit, but I could still give them some hope. Haha, I really should tell them that, then they might not act so high-and-mighty.

Tell them Jesus had supper with murderers and theives (which he really did) and to not judge you because you want to be among the lost. That's how the lost get saved...obviously.

Yep, that's just about right. I was even offered a small job once, and never heard anything about it again. The thing is, they believe that my beliefs will be "swayed." That basically means that they think I'll become a traitor to God or something. There are some at my church who accept more than other, but the adults seem to be really difficult about stuff like that. Sad thing is, the person I first asked is my mentor. She's nice, but it sounds like she's starting to get almost over-protective over the volunteering thing. I can make decisions for myself. My parents are letting me, anyways, so why is it her business? I'm kinda sitting on the fence about staying or leaving. There are some people there who are genuinely great people, but I don't know if it's worth it to stay.

It's just wrong, they won't give you work, they won't help you find work, but they'll judge you day and night because you want to move on in life? I know some people are more accepting then others, but your church seems very closed-minded when it comes to anything outside of the church. I mean, they're nice people to have around, but when they start preventing you from doing anything other then what they want you to do, it's time to cut the lifeline and move on, otherwise, you're gonna be held back the entire time you're apart of it. I wouldn't say leave the church, and I'm sure bringing this to their attention is only going to cause problems, but there has to be a way to keep everyone happy while you still get to do what you want to do, then again, maybe not. I guess it's about what's more important to you in life, your church, or moving on.

Krazy, now you're just making assumptions. Just because you hear stories about that happening, doesn't mean every church has that going on. And yes, maybe religion is a reason wars are started, but a whole religion, and everyone who participates in it, is not the reason. If you're gonna blame something, blame a person, not a whole group. Unless it's the Westboro church.

Exactly. It gets me so pissed off, but of course, I always end up being nice to those people. I have no doubt that anyone I talked to at church would refuse to help. I actually did try to volunteer at my church. I tried volunteering to do 3 different things, and asked several times, and each time nobody gave me a call back. So, once I started branching out and doing some work at MHA, I get all sorts of judgement. It's not the first time I've been looked down by the church. It's actually ironic, because last time I got that crap from them, it was over a mental issue. Well, luckily, I only need one more reference. I tell you, even if I do go to college in nearby, I'm sure as Hell getting away from there.

See, this is where religion becomes bothersome for me. You're trying to move on in life, not necessarily away from the church, but to actually go out and live, but since it's not religion based, of course no-one seems to want to help who are actually in a position to. Honestly, if I were you, I'd lie until I got my foot in the door somewhere. It's not fair for them to treat you like that simply because it doesn't match up with their picture perfect world, so why respect them in any sense.

What about him?