Ima, organized religion has been my downfall. If your friend can find a nice, comfortable church that's a good fit, great. Otherwise I would steer him toward a study group. But obviously, I'm a bad one to ask. I just find myself sitting in church with my ears wide open thinking, no, no, no.
I think it's wonderful you and your friend support each other, regardless of what the other believes.
I wonder if he has something similiar, grant it, I would never compare you two's experiences to just respect both of yours. His question isn't about "God's existence" it is more about within Christianity, what is the church that has it correct.
When I talk to him I come from more of a past background insight, which is both useful for him because we're so close of friends and yet, it is not useful because of the fact I am an atheist, and I am a skeptic, and my view of church now is, there are great things to be said for everyone, just as I believe that is the case for the world. So its hard to gear him in a sense to like emperical truth expressed in the Christian faith through the established churches when he knows I'm a moral relativist, truth is subjective to me because of how everyone's experience differ in the same reality so I would be more inclined to believe that any kind of "shared" truth is the similiar that all people share. Its odd because the secular view conflicts with the religious view no matter how liberal, conservative you have a secular or a religious view, they just conflict.
I had a friend who was there for me, because we were coming to a similiar conclusion of becoming atheist. We had different "paths" for lack of better wording, within Christianity except our background of growing up was in a similiar denomination but it was odd. She at the time was more towards Messianiciam, and me Liberal Christianity. I never have agreed with Messianicism (sp?) even though I do think people in that make some very valid points. She never agreed as far as I know with many things in Liberal Christianity but yet somehow, as a somewhat close plutonic friendship she and me became in a way our friend in arms because we were going in the same direction.
With my friend in the example, my best friend that I have known since highschool, this is not the case. I'm not out to secularize or atheisticize him. His questions and doubts aren't what mine were before I went to atheism, or like I like to say, had an affair with agnosticism. Him, its not the case. In my own beliefs, the honeymoon is over. I'm just at peace with myself in my views and I'm getting my life back in order the best I can because a lot of changes have happened this year, and life goes on. Him, I hope I can help out with that, regardless of the conclusion, because I sometimes wonder, if I didn't have my own friend as a support structure or the ability to voice it out openly and freely, what would I believe now? Would I have continued on a lieing life of saying I believe things that I do not believe in for sake of "duty"? I don't blame my friend for my views now, it is just having a friend or someone there that is kind of a help in a non-biased manner it really helps to see clearer about your own self. How it works, I have no idea.
I mean him, he believes in God's existence and the expression of that being from Christianity. I remember those days where I felt the same. Yet, all I had was biased reasoning from the majority of people, not him, but a lot of people back then. I think that "clan" type of thinking about our species is at times "holy" for lack of better wording simply because its between two human beings that are similiar in many ways yet are diverse in so many ways and yet something helps mentally to be able to see things clearer.
So I hope I didn't make your thread off topic and I hope you don't see me as trying to talk about them more than your issue. I just strongly advise, maybe your husband, maybe that pastor, maybe someone else, whatever works for you, to kind of let them be your support to help you figure yourself out. People that are understanding and gracious, and don't try to be a salesperson of their belief to you and just try to help you reason with yourself to figure out what you need to believe. A person can't survive on an island alone right?
Hello good liberal Buddies!
That's ok! I didn't understand that when I first started posting at the Messianic forum. I don't think most Christians understand that.
