im not welcome at religious places?

ive only ever been to church once in memory, it went terrible. (my fault as well. i was an athiest at the time and my family dragged me so i rebelled by wearing a Marilyn Manson tshirt...you can imagine the rest)

see, im not stupid or immature enough to do that now and im also not an athiest. i guess im an agnostic. still looking.

BUT

while i'd never dare walk in to a religious gathering with Marilyn Manson gear on again, i still "look the type" that would listen to him.

i tried going into a mosque and being completely ignorant ( and now i totally regret this ) i went in through the guy's entrance ( there is a seperate women's entrance [ i'm a chick ] ). i didnt do it arogantly and i apologized and stuff but i might have been a bit too "evil looking" ( i even refrained from eye make up, i just had black cargos and a baggy T- i didnt want to turn up in anything tight or revealing ). they were nice and showed me the lady's entrance but i could tell they were a bit wary of me. i was welcomed in there too, but..is it just what i wear or something else?

same thing happened outside a church, i was just walking past (it was after mass so some people were outside) and the way they looked at me i could swear they were about to pull out garlic and a cross.

what is wrong with me? is it the same reason God likes ignoring me? im trying to find something in my life to give me a little more reason for living yet everywhere i go, im still too "evil" because of my choice of clothes. well im not about to change that because i am NOT evil and as far as im concerned evil is internal and not something that can be expressed through baggy cargos?

please, someone tell me what i am doing wrong im really tired of the guesswork.

I truely believe it is finding a church that will accept you no matter what the clothing. I am so thankful for the church I attend in that we welcome/accept all walks of life into it. Our church is full of ex drug addicts and alcholics. we love them no matter where they came from. also if you are really wanting to find God maybe not rebel so much.

im surrounded by close minded red necks

no nice plaes like that round here...

if you weren't in australia I would gladly invite you to my church. heck come on over to the states and you can go with me.

lol thanks bebop

Gabriel, i can relate to this one... my cousin, sweetest guy you'll ever meet... likes to dress up in goth.. make-up, the works.. rather beautiful i would say, because i know what lives in his heart... pure love for any and every thing..

but people attack him for his appearance regularly... he even dressed in a mini skirt and went to the mall.. guy is brave in his beliefs..

i said.. "why set yourself up for attack?" he didnt answer, but i think i know..

to make a statement for the mis-understood.. the put upon and outcast... that, they too, deserve the love of God.. and appearances are flimsy things to build judgments upon... saying.. take a closer look.. if you dare..

God I love him...

be at peace Gabriel... God has a way of coming in, no matter who may try to bar the doors...

Gabriel, when I was a teenager I felt that it was important to "be who I was" as do you, as I got older it occured to me that some of my behaviors were actually motivated by my un-requited need for love. But since I was basicly unfamiliar with "love" I settled for "attention", which I acquired thru my "deviant behaviors" which scream to the world, "look at me, I must be loved a great deal and I'm very special because I live by my own rules" this went on for some time but eventually also became unsatisfing... whats my point? people see you for what you are,despite what you "show them" and the christian faith I practice teaches us to die to the self and to live in Christ, I'm not justifying some of the peoples stand-offish reaction to you just explaining it. we all tend to forget about the road we've traveled at times and choose to see others judgementally, (not right) if you truly desire to have a relationship with Christ then nothing can stop that, (except for yourself) we all have to work to get beyond that, it begins when we see OURSELVES for who an what we really are, and realize our need for saving redemption and invite the Lord into our hearts that we can live in his forgivness and experience the "joy of the Lord" or the peace that passes all understanding, trade in all that you posess for this 'pearl of great value" okay, sermon's over...

i felt the same way. i grew up catholic and my parents forced me to get confirmed. then after that i quit going because i hated all the hypocrasy(sp??). then my ex introduced me to this place called Vineyard. its a non-denominational church. there is also one in my hometown called southbrook. the people there dont preach about how others are wrong, they talked about treating people with kindness instead of preaching dogma. They were much more accepting and asked anyone and everyone to join in. I really liked it.

now i dont go to church at all because i dont feel that i have to go to church to be religious or to believe in something higher, even if its not a god at all.

my friend made a good statement "i think of jesus like i do elvis. i love the guy, but some of his fan clubs scare me". lol. maybe you need to go outside the relm of organized religion. i hate to say it but they are usually the ones who give god a bad name.

i researched a lot of religions and found that i would identify most closely to buddhism. Maybe you should do some research and find something that fits you. and dont forget to include things like odinism and the natural "religions". they tend to empower women and make them confident. you seem like the kind of person who would like a religion like that. they are very about giving women power that they often miss out on in the bigger organized religions.

good luck.

So "red neck" isn't just an American term-nice to know! I live in the SE and you can spot them a mile away!

OCD chick

I'm interested in why you are feeling God is ignoring you? I believe He is waiting for you, at each bend in your path of life, with each joy and each trial, waiting patiently for you to come to Him.

Believe in Him or not --- GOD LOVES YOU!

Want to share your Christian faith? Click HERE

ocd I live in Ga. howdy neighbor!

its not that i dress the way i do for attention, or even to rebel these days.

im just comfortable with what i wear and like black the same way paris hilton likes pink (or whatever her favourite colour is). know what i mean? its not that i hate bright colours either.

in fact there's really nowhere to get "attention" from since i leave my house like..once a month or so.


i feel like God is ignoring me because it seems that everytime i pray, things go even worse than they were before i prayed. thats why i stopped praying and became an athiest and the whole time i was an athiest, well no things werent brilliant but there were no let downs from Him because i never asked for anything. "never try, never fail" sort of attitude.

i only came back to God after i survived a suicide attempt that shouldve killed me, because i thought that...surely..there's something more than this?


im looking at many religions at the moment....and i get frustrated a bit at times because i suppose i'm meant to make the first move, but God isnt really helping out much with my search. in fact i started having second thoughts about the whole thing.

maybe i just want something to believe in to give my life some sort of meaning.

well, realize it or not, you're on a path to someplace.. i guarantee you God will appear again and again..

you could give in now or wait? choices, but God will not forsake in the end,, this i promise...

Very well put nowheretorun! God does not care what you wear! He'll be there waiting when you return heart and soul.

Gabriel, when you pray the enemy hates that, and so naturally he's gonna do all he can to discourage that,which explains why things become difficult when you seek God.Why would God stand by and watch that when he could "fix everything"...why not ask him? I suspect it has to do with building your faith thru trials in your life. you seek meaning and purpouse ,you know that surely there must be more than this...you're RIGHT! there is, serving my Lord has given me the highest purpouse possible and brought a meaning to my life that "smokes" anything else I've ever found.I can't honestly tell you that everything will be alright,or not to worry, because I think that's what the enemy wants you to think in order to keep you from making changes. God has a plan for your life to bless you greatly and give you much more than you could ever dare to dream for...and a part of you longs for that, The enemy has stolen a great deal from you already and left you where you are now, great deal huh? DUMP HIM, and accept all of the blessings waiting for you in Christ Jesus...pardon my abruptness, but I simply don't have time to candy coat this for you...no one is promised tomorrow, now is the accepted time of salvation, all will confess that he is Lord someday, will you do it under condemnation when its too late? it's not a game!

Spirituality is very different from religion although religion depends on spirituality to exist. Religions in these structural institutions are operating on established ideologies.

Spirituality comes from within yourself. You do not need these official institutions to be part of a faith. The main purpose of these structures is to gather with others who believe what you believe. If you wish to attend these institutions, you must respect the ideology they are based on.

If you do not wish to conform to their ideals, then it is most likely that you will not click with the people in it. Perhaps by contacting a spiritual adviser (whatever the faith) by phone or personal meeting location of your choosing will help to open communication and understanding between your needs and their rules.

Congratulations! You have experienced stereotyping!!

And I am a little surprised that you are surprised by this.

I don't know how old you are, but by looking at your avatar and reading this post, I know you know that the choices you make as respects symbolisms (avatar; Marilyn T) and colours and style of dress make strong and definite statements. They may be somewhat misleading through your eyes as to what your real personality is like, but when you look at the big picture (and look at the history and beliefs behind them, and then combine it with "mob" (mass, I guess I should say...) thinking, you will always be pigeon-holed. Like the chick who likes to wear sexy clothes - I bet you think she's easy, somewhere in the back of your head, just like you are judging these people you are meeting at these religious institutions as being cold and wary.

Wow, I could go on and on, but the only thing I want to get across to you is the value of RESPECT. It is, essentially, respect for God!

You want to come close to God, yet you are unwilling to drop the "attitude" and show respect to the most divine being?

If you are approaching a certain religious institution and you can literally "see" that they demand a certain level of respect, can you not respect that - not for their reverence, but for their God's?

Try it. You may be surprised to know that you really don't scare the crap out of people by the demonic "show" you are presenting by your appearance, stereotypically speaking.

Be humble! That's all God asks of us when we approach Him, even in private!!!

God answers our prayers in His time. we as humans think we should get immediate results and we just don't. Everything happens for a reason. You survived a suicide attempt for a reason too. Your work on earth is not yet complete. Alteredstate says to be humble. that is exactly what we are suppose to do. also we have to turn ourselves over completely to Him. He will answer your prayers. Learning to pray sometimes is the hardest part of being a Christian. hang in there hon. it will happen.

(((Gabriel)))
I am sorry you have been treated this way. It seems to me that many churches have lost focus of whats important. God does not care what we wear or how we look. He only cares that we believe in his son Jesus, that we are in church worshiping him, and helping to spred the ministry. I wish you lived where I do. I had similar problems until I found this church called Crossroads. Nobody cares what you wear here. You can go to church in you PJ's. They don't care about your past, and what horrible things you have encountered or done. I hope you can find a supportive church as I have.

I don't know if this helps or not, but if you ask for forgiveness for your sins, you are forgiven. We are all seen by God on the same level. It does not matter if you are a liar or murderer. Please don't give up.

oh im very used to stereotyping dont worry, i live with it every day.. i just honestly thought that it wouldnt need to extend to places of spiritual gathering. id avoid the marilyn manson T at all costs in places like that these days so its not like im going out of my way to offend people... i just want somewhere where i am accepted for ME.. God would wouldnt he?

and every religion is telling me that i should go with them or i'll go to hell forever or be reincarnated into a cockroach etc. .... sorry for being a skeptic and im probably "making things difficult" for myself but im just not entirely convinced by any of it.

i also dont want to turn this into a religious debate because thats something that noone will want to lose and its not what PC is for..

i'll welcome any PMs though....