Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
If you were like me, then you grew up going to church with your parents. Every Sunday morning was a guaranteed trip, unless you were on your death bed with the flu. For years, you heard the same old stories about Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Jesus and sin. As a child, you took it all for granted.
In your later teen years, you probably slowed down on church attendance, which led to some verbal altercations with your parents (especially mom). You started thinking for yourself and in doing so, had some questions about what you had been taught. Those questions made you feel uneasy, perhaps even blasphemous. There was this gnawing feeling going on in the back of your mind, that something was not quite right about your religion/denomination.
In your twenties, it was all about college, military service, getting a job, starting a family, and dealing with the deaths of loved ones (family, friends, acquaintances). Church took a backseat to life, and you moved forward on your chosen path. You learned that high school was meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and the people that you hated probably developed a different attitude over time. Heck, some of them might have become your friends.
As you reached your thirties and beyond, you felt like something was missing in your life. Looking back over it all, you realized that you longed for some type of religious environment, HOWEVER, you simply could not go back to your roots. You are a free thinker and those questions that you had as a teenager, were answered with common sense: that stuff was not literal. There, you said it and came to terms!
Now you have to make a decision regarding your children: take them down that same path your parents forced on you, or choose an alternate path. You probably explore different religions/denominations, and do a lot of soul searching. Non-denominational churches might appeal to you, or even some liberal churches like a UU fellowship. Sunday School has been replaced with "life groups" that meet at someone's home, instead of Sunday morning before the main service.
Unfortunately, it took decades of growing up, experiencing life, being let down, feeling pain and sorrow, loss and heartache, and having several unanswered prayers before you came to the conclusion that God does not really intervene. Bad things happen to good people because the world can be a bad place, and some of the people in it choose to do bad things. At this point, you embrace the idea of free will. Another way of looking at it is that free will lets God off the hook for all the bad stuff, so you feel better about believing in Him without wanting to cuss Him out. The Bible stories are just that; STORIES, told by primitive people trying to explain the world around them, with very limited scientific and medical knowledge.
In the end, that gnawing feeling has gone away and you find yourself at ease because FINALLY, you have been able to let go of your childhood brainwashing and indoctrination into a rigid religious system.
In your later teen years, you probably slowed down on church attendance, which led to some verbal altercations with your parents (especially mom). You started thinking for yourself and in doing so, had some questions about what you had been taught. Those questions made you feel uneasy, perhaps even blasphemous. There was this gnawing feeling going on in the back of your mind, that something was not quite right about your religion/denomination.
In your twenties, it was all about college, military service, getting a job, starting a family, and dealing with the deaths of loved ones (family, friends, acquaintances). Church took a backseat to life, and you moved forward on your chosen path. You learned that high school was meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and the people that you hated probably developed a different attitude over time. Heck, some of them might have become your friends.
As you reached your thirties and beyond, you felt like something was missing in your life. Looking back over it all, you realized that you longed for some type of religious environment, HOWEVER, you simply could not go back to your roots. You are a free thinker and those questions that you had as a teenager, were answered with common sense: that stuff was not literal. There, you said it and came to terms!
Now you have to make a decision regarding your children: take them down that same path your parents forced on you, or choose an alternate path. You probably explore different religions/denominations, and do a lot of soul searching. Non-denominational churches might appeal to you, or even some liberal churches like a UU fellowship. Sunday School has been replaced with "life groups" that meet at someone's home, instead of Sunday morning before the main service.
Unfortunately, it took decades of growing up, experiencing life, being let down, feeling pain and sorrow, loss and heartache, and having several unanswered prayers before you came to the conclusion that God does not really intervene. Bad things happen to good people because the world can be a bad place, and some of the people in it choose to do bad things. At this point, you embrace the idea of free will. Another way of looking at it is that free will lets God off the hook for all the bad stuff, so you feel better about believing in Him without wanting to cuss Him out. The Bible stories are just that; STORIES, told by primitive people trying to explain the world around them, with very limited scientific and medical knowledge.
In the end, that gnawing feeling has gone away and you find yourself at ease because FINALLY, you have been able to let go of your childhood brainwashing and indoctrination into a rigid religious system.
