RE: Why I am not a Christian - An autobiographical tale
I read through with much interest, and even enjoyed the terrorist interlude. I have a similar experience, except from the Protestant side of the equation. Apparently it's the same God, but there are right and wrong ways to worship said God. Even that word - worship, gets me. My parents live for it.
And yes, I go the "whilst you're living under my roof' lecture. My parents commit to their belief to the point that they flatly refused to attend their own daughters wedding (or engagement either) due to her being a lesbian. Unconditional love does have conditions.
It is sad, because now the family is split and torn, and it all starts with God.
That anger you talk about, I know. I'm only now putting it into some useful perspective where it serves more than it controls. But it got the better of me for many years.
Anyway, I really appreciate you opening up like this. Hope it helped you as the one who lived through the experience. I'm not going to tell you that there are good Christians out there, or your experience of god or the religion is not how it should be, or [fill in the blank]. I have had all of those myself when I discuss my own experiences.
To me the need for a God is the need for an external validator, and it doesn't give anyone the right to project their infantile delusions onto others. Still they do though.
And I'm not anti-spiritual, although burned and still a little cynical. Mostly just wary.
Well said. I guess I've been fairly lucky in that my family ultimately was not split up over this. (Though, if you ask my mom, religion was at least part of the reason for their later divorce.) My father and I more or less learned to skip over the topic. It's a part of his identity. And I suppose at this point a lack of god is part of mine. It's hard to argue someone out of his identity.
I think that was a key part of my own learning when it came to dealing with these issues. People's identity can be very strong, and they can be extremely rooted in them. Arguing with them about beliefs was pointless because what they believe is who they are. It's interchangeable.
Glad that there is still connection there, even if it isn't what it could have been. I'm still in touch with my folks, but its all so superficial.