Did religion mess you up?

I found much later in life that the churches had twisted and mis-used biblical text!! I went my own route in my search for truth and did find it. I write about it at http://www.isgodtrue.com

I'm sorry that you had an unhappy experience in the church. It is true that too often, pastors or churches manipulate their congregations for their own financial or political gains. Usually, it is a result of their own failures and mistakes and their zealousness is really directed at themselves. You can be sure that any preacher who can speak vehemently on a topic (such as sexual immorality, lying, tithing, etc.) has faced their own struggles with those same topics. Don't despair if you have had a terrible church experience. I can assure you that there are BIBLE-BASED churches out there that are loving and compassionate and more concerned with your spiritual well-being than your financial contributions. You should only contribute to a church if you feel you are being spiritually led to do so.

I'm sorry for you too. I've hade pople like that too. And as far as I'm concerned those people were fools.

While I agree w. much of what the others have said, I would also add a note of caution: it's very tempting, and all too easy, to hide behind the excuse of "What others did to me- parents, teachers, preachers, peers, etc." What's helpful is when we can see the good that we learned and received from others, and reject the bad, which was often taught in ignorance, not malice, and then seek for God (the only really good life) in the Bible and in the lives of people we truly admire. We looked until we found a great church, where sin isn't whitewashed, nor sinners condemned but offered grace and mercy in Christ. No perfect churches, no perfect Christians, but one perfect, loving and holy God who gave His only begotten Son to redeem us. :-)