Nice to meet you. I grew up as, well, not in a Christian household since no one made us go to church. I became a Baptist when I was 17 or so. Then at 21 I became a Jehovah's Witness. The good that they did for me was to prove to me that there was no burning hell. I even found an old King James Bible at a library and read in the margins that "sheol" and "hades" meant the "common grave." I even looked up the words in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Later on, I lived in Berkeley, CA and went up to what they call "Holy Hill" to talk to a minister at one of the seminaries. He agreed with me that there was no hell and then added that you can't tell that to your members in church because they won't accept it. I would think it would be liberating. I often think, when listening to some Christians, which I try not to do, that they just really want people to be punished.
At least the the Jehovah's Witnesses did that much for me. But being indoctrinated makes it hard for you to see things differently, and it takes a lot of research to change ones views. When they kicked me out I still believed that they were the only true religion. It took years to overcome these beliefs. But it is easier now-a-days when you have so many resources at your fingertips.
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