Cara Small
oooooo MEMBERS only! Sounds IMPORTANT and SPECIAL. Beverly, I grew up in a Christian environment. My dad went to bible school while I was growing up and then filled the pastor role at a church for a short while. I went to bible camps, bible clubs and christian events galore. I even brought my bible to school with me a couple of times. My parents didn't shove it down my throat because they didn't have to. I was eager to please those wonderful awesome beings that gave me life. I hate what they did/allowed now. Seeing how much energy I have WASTED after being programmed to "believe SOMETHING". It was the worst damage they did to me. The BEST case scenario of ANY religious person is to keep it to themselves. I guess my point is that no matter who your parents are, unless they taught you how to critically think and NEVER mentioned a belief (wonder and discussion excluded) or ALWAYS protected you from others' beliefs, they are "in on it". Ignorance of that role is not forgivable. They MUST admit to the MISTAKE they have made AND correct it if they are to be considered not "in on it". The programming didn't stop with them. It reached me AND my children. How can that be considered not taking advantage of anyone? Is not taking an innocent life into your hands and filling them with beliefs or not protecting them from others' beliefs taking advantage of some one? As children, we look to those who say they love us for guidance naturally. We had no choice and were therefore at the mercy of our parents. Of course I can not say they are responsible for any damage I have done to my children, as I chose to have them. I had the choice to teach what was truth. MY programming kept me from understanding the truth and caused me to make mistakes. Those mistakes are MINE to ask to be forgiven for. I know my parents think they did the best they could with what they had at the time, BUT they COULD have AT LEAST stopped at the things which they actually KNEW. Unfortunately my parents too were taken advantage of by those whom they looked to naturally for guidance.