Christianity: threatening its followers since so long ago.
To be fair though, they're not the only ones.

About some ten years ago, I found myself in exactly your situation, Odiefrom. I was a devout catholic, went to mass every week (Saturdays, usually because we did the musical animation, singing the praises of the Lord and generally making mass tolerable for us, as younger participants to the ceremonies). I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I know that my interests shifted. I began to reel from the hypocrisy of the assembled crowd, how little true commitment there was to their worship, how repetitive and shallow were their combined prayers. The mumbling of the throng got to me.

At the same time, I was discovering new philsophies, from a television show, Babylon-5. The spirituality inherent to the alien races portrayed in this work of fiction actually made more sense than the spirituality I had grown up with. It preached that we are one; we are the universe made manifest and trying to understand itself. For a while, we forget these things, and that is why there are conflicts and wars, for lines randomly drawn on a map, for ideas that should complement and not rebuke each other. "We are starstuff." I found the notion of a unifying spirituality much more appealing than one that divided us and separated us in the afterlife.

Now I'm not saying I believe in those fictional religions. But they were inspired from actual faiths on Earth, so I looked them up. I moved slowly away from the traditional Christian beliefs and more towards a more unifying vision of the universe, love and peace. I stopped attending mass because I could not bear to be a hypocrit anymore. I could not find solace and peace in the rituals that were being performed in front of me, because not only was I faking it, but so were almost everybody else there.

Do I still believe in God? Sometimes. Do I still believe in Christ? As a prophet, a mediator and a unifier, absolutely. I believe in the message delivered by the so-called Good book, provided that message is one of love, charity and peace, which it is, mostly. But I do not believe we are damned unless we repent, that our sins need constant forgiveness.

The true message of Christianity (and this is from my mother, who is doing her Masters in religious studies from a Catholic standpoint) is that we are saved! Not that we need to to go mass in order to be saved, not that we need to repent for our sins or go to hell - we are saved because Jesus died on the cross. As Catholics, we are supposed to follow that example of love, charity and sacrifice, but even if we don't, we are saved, because God has forgiven us through the sacrifice of his Son.

It's up to you which path you take. That is the privilege and the price of freedom. 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' Your freedom starts where the other's freedom ends. If Christianity under its current structure is hurting you, then drop it. Not altogether, not unilaterally, but allow yourself to feel other faiths, to reflect on spirituality as a whole and to see if there isn't something out there that brings you the calm and wellness you need.

I'm still working on it, and will be for the rest of my days, because spirituality is not an end: it is a process.

Just remember this one thing. Hell is severe regret. So, if you stop believing in Jesus, then you will be regretting it severely in hell.

In my opinion Christian culture's emphasis on sexual repression has come to a head in more modern times. Posting here I can only imagine the nature of your perceived sins. If a religion is damning you based on who you are at a deep level, maybe it is time to look for a new one? Unitarianism sounds like it could be a fit for you. I would look around and feel different options out.

I stopped going to church when I realized that no matter how much I believed in the philosophy being preached I would always be damned by these people for not believing in the supernatural. I worked very hard for years to believe in a supernatural and active God but was unable. Leaving religion was sad for me as it was a large part of my life but there are things about yourself you just can't change.

The play is not in applying the rules strictly, but in how we handle them, methinks, when they are bent or broken.

Ethics should always be important in any activity an individual takes part in, simply because without a form of morality (self-imposed, mostly), we can fall prey to the subjugation of the other's free will, and even our own (boy this sentence sounds preachy!) Bottom line is respect of everyone and everything, always has, always will be, according to me.

Odiefrom: Your post just made me think, and I just jotted a few things down. I'm glad they make some sense.

Aha! We have an ethics conversation on our hands! I like the viewpoints and am mostly in agreement. If I were to list and follow to the letter all my limits, where would the fun be? If I was willing to do everything where would the fun be. I see the thrill sitting in a little place that just crosses out of my comfort and just before my "Absolute" limits. I want to see where that is...

Limits are there to help someone who is not willing to go farther than things. But limits are also something you need time to understand.

I have mine. No poop/scat/pee/puke. No animals. Nothing illegal. These are ABSOLUTE limits. But there's also no anal. Still, I'm intrigued, so one day I might push that one - but not until I'm comfortable with the idea. To me, anal sounds a lot like poop. These are RELATIVE limits.

This is pure judgement on my part, but if people have 'NO LIMITS' then they have no conscience. If you have no limits at all, I could say: "Kidnap your neighbour and fuck them repeatedly in the ass with a knife and fork." And they'll do it. But that's wrong. That's why limits are important. Decency and respect of others and the self should be the guide here. Freedom is a great thing, but it does have limitations, and those apply to one's limits. My limits should never infringe on another's.