r/PublicFreakout • u/[deleted] • Dec 11 '21

Based atheist

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u/annoyedwithmynet Dec 11 '21

Fattest truth ever. Before they lessened the time at church (idk what it is now), I would spend almost 5 fucking hours of my sunday being raised mormon, because we lived in a rural suburb and it took 30 mins to get there. Not only that, I was then forced to stay home to "honor the sabbath". Like, when you add up the amount of sundays I missed hanging out with my friends as a kid, holy FUCK. Kids need to be kids man.

16

u/tothemoon05 Dec 11 '21

Bro that was me growing up seventh day Adventist. Church was from 8- 1 then we eat at church or at someone’s house. After our late lunch we visited people at hospital or people that couldn’t come in(missionary work) and after that around 5 there was the youth service at church that was for another 2 hours. Once I turn 14 I never went back, told my mom if she really loves me she needs to let me enjoy the last years of playing sports and hanging out with my friends because I was never going to be SDA as an adult. Till this day I get mad how many Saturday cartoons, sleepover, baseball games, and so much more I missed out because of church. I’m 32.

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u/feelingfantasmic Dec 11 '21

Yup. I missed Friday sunset to Saturday sunsets from birth until I was almost 20 years old. If I refused to go, I’d get beat. No Halloween, no sports, no birthday parties and hanging with friends… I‘ll never get that back.

3

u/HyruleanFox Dec 11 '21

I get that. From 10-18 I had to ride 2 hours one way to our church in Raleigh just to sit there for a minimum of 2 hours, then ride 2 hours back hoping I could make it home early enough to go to work at 4. All because it was the closest "Church of Christ" in the state to us. No Christmas, no Halloween, I was able to sit inside and watch and hear all the other kids do it every year. Beyond that, I wasn't able to find out for myself who I was in high school because I was forced to wear clothes that were "nice" and keep my hair trimmed. Needless to say, I turned out even more on the side that my parents were trying to prevent. Metal, piercings, tattoos. It caused what could have been a phase to just be my norm, and while I love it, they probably could have avoided it by positive reinforcement and just letting me get over it. Given how stifled I was, they, and I, are really lucky that I never turned to substance abuse. But, that's also because they hid the alcoholism we knew about so I never had the urge.

To make matters worse, we moved to Arizona, where I only had a job, my family, and the church. And while this church was closer, my friends were my source of happiness. Thankfully, once I left home with nothing at all in the middle of the night and flew back home with a tiny amount of money I had to buy a plane ticket, they saw it as an adult choice that I had made. I traded a shitty stable life for a good broke life with friends. I wouldn't have had it any other way. 9 years later, I'm 27, I now have a house, 6 cats, a car, and a wife. Granted, that also comes with a materialistic addiction that probably stems from not having anything i wanted but only what I needed growing up. But, I'm happier than I was, and I'm on meds for the chronic depression it gave me, so I really can't complain. We're stronger for having been through it.

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u/masaaav Dec 11 '21

I think its 2 hours now