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I posted this on Toon Zone
Oct. 3rd, 2009 09:25 amI thought it was a big enough deal to post it here too. The thread is entitled "Has anyone here ever changed their religious beliefs?"
http://www.forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?p=3394913#post3394913
I don't like admitting this and this is probably the first time or place I've said this out loud. I am a Lutheran who has somewhat lost his faith.
I am REALLY upset about this and it's not something I'm proud of. If I could flip a switch and make myself a full time believer I would. But I can't.
You asked for reasons so I'm going to give them but I'll try to be delicate about it because a lot of them are political in nature (same reason I turned from pro-life into pro-choice).
One of the reasons is because of the religious right in this country. I have ALWAYS believed in science and the fact that now most Christians I've seen in real life and online are basically mocking it and bemoaning it being taught in schools. I firmly believe you should go to Church for God stuff and school for science stuff. I used to believe both in Christianity AND evolution because one didn't really contradict the other but after hearing So many Christians complain about science and the "intelligent design" debacle I cannot find ANY common ground with these people.
So much of what the Christian right, Dominionists in particular, believe and rail for is SO contrary to Jesus' teaching of loving thy neighbor, following the golden rule, or being my brother keeper to the least among us that I can't help but be completely turned off by the hypocrisy especially when I see all of the sex scandals surrounding such "values" preachers such as Ted Haggard. Watch the documentary Jesus Camp to see how scary it's gotten.
I could stomach being a Christian while Bush was in office. Easily. The right wasn't as crazy as it is now. But with the election of Obama the open hostility and obvious RACISM of so many so-called "religious" people has made me believe that this isn't the club for me any longer. I still consider myself a Christian of sorts because I still celebrate Christmas and I think there is probably a higher power out there (my belief in Heaven HAS been lessened however) and if my parents decided to drag me to Church I'd still go for social reasons and to try to be closer to God even though I feel the religion has left me behind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonderfly
That's interesting, as I see science as the "easy, fun way to explain everything". But for what lies beyond the easily explainable, that's when I turn to the Bible.
It's this kind of attitude that turns me off completely. I simply don't understand the idea of people getting all of their complex answers from The Bible. I just don't get it. When I was a kid (and all throughout my adult life) I ALWAYS questioned my faith and my place in the universe and could never simply depend on the Bible to answer the big questions for me. I also think it's kind of arrogant to think that all of life's unanswered questions CAN be answered simply by the Bible. I think it's a good guideline of how to live your life (at least the New Testament is) but I don't understand people's need to convince themselves that they can possibly explain or know everything just by saying "God's got it covered". I doubt I will EVER understand the big picture even if there IS a Heaven and I go there and part of me being human is accepting that I will never have the answers and that I don't need them to live my life generously or morally.
Part of having Faith is questioning it and if you don't you're really relying more on magical thinking than an actual spiritual devotion that takes time and hard work to maintain. I'll admit freely that maintaining that belief became too hard for me to cope with. But there were outside factors in that and it wasn't simply because I stopped believing in Jesus and God (because I still kind of do).
http://www.forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?p=3394913#post3394913
I don't like admitting this and this is probably the first time or place I've said this out loud. I am a Lutheran who has somewhat lost his faith.
I am REALLY upset about this and it's not something I'm proud of. If I could flip a switch and make myself a full time believer I would. But I can't.
You asked for reasons so I'm going to give them but I'll try to be delicate about it because a lot of them are political in nature (same reason I turned from pro-life into pro-choice).
One of the reasons is because of the religious right in this country. I have ALWAYS believed in science and the fact that now most Christians I've seen in real life and online are basically mocking it and bemoaning it being taught in schools. I firmly believe you should go to Church for God stuff and school for science stuff. I used to believe both in Christianity AND evolution because one didn't really contradict the other but after hearing So many Christians complain about science and the "intelligent design" debacle I cannot find ANY common ground with these people.
So much of what the Christian right, Dominionists in particular, believe and rail for is SO contrary to Jesus' teaching of loving thy neighbor, following the golden rule, or being my brother keeper to the least among us that I can't help but be completely turned off by the hypocrisy especially when I see all of the sex scandals surrounding such "values" preachers such as Ted Haggard. Watch the documentary Jesus Camp to see how scary it's gotten.
I could stomach being a Christian while Bush was in office. Easily. The right wasn't as crazy as it is now. But with the election of Obama the open hostility and obvious RACISM of so many so-called "religious" people has made me believe that this isn't the club for me any longer. I still consider myself a Christian of sorts because I still celebrate Christmas and I think there is probably a higher power out there (my belief in Heaven HAS been lessened however) and if my parents decided to drag me to Church I'd still go for social reasons and to try to be closer to God even though I feel the religion has left me behind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonderfly
That's interesting, as I see science as the "easy, fun way to explain everything". But for what lies beyond the easily explainable, that's when I turn to the Bible.
It's this kind of attitude that turns me off completely. I simply don't understand the idea of people getting all of their complex answers from The Bible. I just don't get it. When I was a kid (and all throughout my adult life) I ALWAYS questioned my faith and my place in the universe and could never simply depend on the Bible to answer the big questions for me. I also think it's kind of arrogant to think that all of life's unanswered questions CAN be answered simply by the Bible. I think it's a good guideline of how to live your life (at least the New Testament is) but I don't understand people's need to convince themselves that they can possibly explain or know everything just by saying "God's got it covered". I doubt I will EVER understand the big picture even if there IS a Heaven and I go there and part of me being human is accepting that I will never have the answers and that I don't need them to live my life generously or morally.
Part of having Faith is questioning it and if you don't you're really relying more on magical thinking than an actual spiritual devotion that takes time and hard work to maintain. I'll admit freely that maintaining that belief became too hard for me to cope with. But there were outside factors in that and it wasn't simply because I stopped believing in Jesus and God (because I still kind of do).
