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littlefire

You can call me Fio
Howdy y'all,

I've only been surfing this site for 30 minutes and I'm already hooked. I'm littlefire and I'm a 21 year old formerly homeschooled German-Irish-Dutch-American bigender lesbian recovering-fundamentalist-evangelical-Southern-Baptist craving a new framework for my spirituality. Years of emotional and religious abuse (plus a few mental illnesses) have left me really disconnected from my family and former associates in churches and para-church organizations (and I was REALLY invested in biblical literalism, evangelism, and complementarianism, among other things), but escaping that environment and discovering parts of my identity that I wasn't allowed to touch before have helped me move past fear of hellfire and consider other religious traditions that can nourish my soul without crushing it and beating it into submission. I can't go into a church service anymore without having an emotional breakdown, and I dabbled in Quakerism for almost a year, but that still had too many Christian ties for me that neglected so much of the breadth of spiritual wisdom out there. I've started reading the Talmud and Bhagavad Gita and stumbled across Deanism via internet search, but I'm finding that I don't completely resonate with any one tradition. My background has scared me out of "buffet-style" religion, but I'm hoping that in this forum I'll gain the freedom and reassurance to find my own path.

I know this is a really really long intro and I apologize...
I gotta ask a question too though - are there any people/forums on here that discuss spiritual gender non-conformity and/or spiritual naming? (I'm in a transitional/coming-out/weird period with my gender and am hoping to continue my journey of fully integrating that part of myself.)

ANYhoo.... thanks for reading this long crazy thing, and I look forward to meeting you all <3 Blessings!

-littlefire
 

Sundance

pursuing the Divine Beloved
Premium Member
Peace, LittleFire. Though I don't understand what you've gone through, I feel glad to know you made it. You're very brave for that. I think it's wonderful that you're on your own search for truth! It is rough, believe me, but also very much worth it! I hope you find a path which speaks to your heart. :praying:
 

Patience

Let us dance with the wind and sing with the birds
@littlefire , welcome to the forum! Reading through your post, I relate to you a lot. I was also homeschooled, and went through some spiritual and emotional abuse too, and really relate to what you said about going to churches too, that's tough. I hope you find what you are seeking, and I am glad you joined the forum!
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I've started reading the Talmud and Bhagavad Gita and stumbled across Deanism via internet search, ..
Welcome to the forum and keep searching for your way. I just like to mention that it is not necessary in Hinduism to consider BhagawatGita as God-revealed. It is a book of wisdom and you can choose from it what you like (we do not believe in crushing the soul). It is a seemingly simple but really a deep book. You get to know it after repeated readings. However, we (among Hindus) another set of beautiful books - the Upanishads (Upanishads - Wikipedia), particularly what are known as main/oldest Upanishads (Mukhya). They are concise books and contain the wisdom of Hinduism (There are translations of the Mukhya upanishads and these are not heavy tomes, 200 pages or so will have translations of the major 10). One Upanishad (Ishavasya) has just 19 verses. I would suggest that you see them too.
 

FunctionalAtheist

Hammer of Reason
Howdy y'all,

I've only been surfing this site for 30 minutes and I'm already hooked. I'm littlefire and I'm a 21 year old formerly homeschooled German-Irish-Dutch-American bigender lesbian recovering-fundamentalist-evangelical-Southern-Baptist craving a new framework for my spirituality. Years of emotional and religious abuse (plus a few mental illnesses) have left me really disconnected from my family and former associates in churches and para-church organizations (and I was REALLY invested in biblical literalism, evangelism, and complementarianism, among other things), but escaping that environment and discovering parts of my identity that I wasn't allowed to touch before have helped me move past fear of hellfire and consider other religious traditions that can nourish my soul without crushing it and beating it into submission. I can't go into a church service anymore without having an emotional breakdown, and I dabbled in Quakerism for almost a year, but that still had too many Christian ties for me that neglected so much of the breadth of spiritual wisdom out there. I've started reading the Talmud and Bhagavad Gita and stumbled across Deanism via internet search, but I'm finding that I don't completely resonate with any one tradition. My background has scared me out of "buffet-style" religion, but I'm hoping that in this forum I'll gain the freedom and reassurance to find my own path.

I know this is a really really long intro and I apologize...
I gotta ask a question too though - are there any people/forums on here that discuss spiritual gender non-conformity and/or spiritual naming? (I'm in a transitional/coming-out/weird period with my gender and am hoping to continue my journey of fully integrating that part of myself.)

ANYhoo.... thanks for reading this long crazy thing, and I look forward to meeting you all <3 Blessings!

-littlefire
I believe there are many discussions here that will be of particular interest to you, though I'm not exactly sure where to point you as my interests are elsewhere. What I do know about any seeker, if you persevere, you will find!!! This is a great place to both seek and find.

I recall ages 15, 18, 21, 24, etc. and i recall torment, missery, misunderstanding etc., etc., etc., and today it seems like I never really had any problems, just viewing the world as if it were against me. Hard to explain. But as the years pass, you will learn and grow. And finding this forum, and reaching out the way you have here or elsewehere, I'm sure you wil find your peace of mind as I have.
 

Tabu

Active Member
Howdy y'all,

I've only been surfing this site for 30 minutes and I'm already hooked. I'm littlefire and I'm a 21 year old formerly homeschooled German-Irish-Dutch-American bigender lesbian recovering-fundamentalist-evangelical-Southern-Baptist craving a new framework for my spirituality. Years of emotional and religious abuse (plus a few mental illnesses) have left me really disconnected from my family and former associates in churches and para-church organizations (and I was REALLY invested in biblical literalism, evangelism, and complementarianism, among other things), but escaping that environment and discovering parts of my identity that I wasn't allowed to touch before have helped me move past fear of hellfire and consider other religious traditions that can nourish my soul without crushing it and beating it into submission. I can't go into a church service anymore without having an emotional breakdown, and I dabbled in Quakerism for almost a year, but that still had too many Christian ties for me that neglected so much of the breadth of spiritual wisdom out there. I've started reading the Talmud and Bhagavad Gita and stumbled across Deanism via internet search, but I'm finding that I don't completely resonate with any one tradition. My background has scared me out of "buffet-style" religion, but I'm hoping that in this forum I'll gain the freedom and reassurance to find my own path.

I know this is a really really long intro and I apologize...
I gotta ask a question too though - are there any people/forums on here that discuss spiritual gender non-conformity and/or spiritual naming? (I'm in a transitional/coming-out/weird period with my gender and am hoping to continue my journey of fully integrating that part of myself.)

ANYhoo.... thanks for reading this long crazy thing, and I look forward to meeting you all <3 Blessings!

-littlefire
Om Shanti
Welcome to RF, Hope you find soulFuLLL nourishment here.
From what I could make out from your question about gender of the Spirit.
Brahma Kumari belief is that the spirit/soul has no gender because it is a point of incorporeal and spiritual energy , and has been on a long journey where it has played many human roles of both the genders.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Greetings!

You joined just in time for the new upgraded free RF breakfast buffet.
Chief_ONeills_Brunch_11.jpg
 

allfoak

Alchemist
Welcome
It is people like yourself that keeps me coming back here.
There is nothing to fear.
When i ventured out from my Christian roots i held onto this one idea.
God would never condemn someone who is honestly searching for the truth.
Know thyself.
 
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