NON CHRISTIANS

[midnight star]

You said that you were a former Christian, what made you change your belief?

Sup DJ,

Hmm, what made me change my belief. I guess it was series of events. I had been raised catholic all my life, went to catholic elementary school, highschool, and am currently at a catholic (jesuit) university. The first issue was I had felt betrayed by God. I'll be the first to admit this was an immature reaction, but I was much younger then. I had a friend, i'd go so far to say my best friend in highschool, who I never saw again because she went insane. She had some sever issues to deal with and was placed in a mental institution. I was so angry at "God" because i felt that He had taken away my friend for no reason. Once again, I was being immature. Second, I have always been the questioning type, and have never bought the authority of the Bible. Experiences with critical literature analysis (I'm an English Lit Major with minor in physics, go fig') made me critique the so-called authority of scripture. It is impossible to prove that God inspired the writers in the first place, so it has to be taken on faith. I simply did not have that faith.

I questioned the divinity of Jesus, the concept that I needed to be "saved," the Bible's (and the church's) treatment of women, their attitudes towards homosexuallity, and knew that I at the least could not be part of this organization. I considered just being Christian without an organized church, but the problem was my issues with his divinity. I couldn't really buy into it. Was he a great and wise teacher? Absolutely! Was he God incarnate, and the only way to salvation? I just couldn't see it that way.

For a while I just gave up on religion. It was hard for me to believe in anything. I was very intellectual about it, which made it hard every actually immerse myself in a belief system. One, day a few friends of mine were taking this very legnthy quiz on selectserve.com i think. I might be wrong. It was a "what religion are you?" quiz, and apparently it had been dead on for most of them. So I sat down, answered about 20 pages of indepth faith related questions, and at the end it listed me best matching a Neo-Pagan. My second to worst match was Catholicism. I began doing some research, websites, books that i could find in the library, and I liked what i was reading. It was a very tolerant faith, positive, life-affirming. From there on, I have since continued my studies. Sometimes I still have a hard time placing myself inside of the religion, and allowing faith take over, but I'm working on it.

As you can see, assuming i made it clear enough, my switch from Christianity to Wicca was not a conversion of any sort, nor were they directly related. I stopped being a christian a couple of years before I took up Wicca. I just relate to Wicca more than I did to Christianity. It speaks to me on a deeper level, and I can feel it more actively in my life. I still like Jesus, and I think that he was a wonderful man with wonderful ideas and should be seen in many ways as source of wisdom. I just don't believe that he is the only way to salvation, and I don't believe some things the Church (separate from Jesus's original intent") has come to represent.

I hope that answers your question.
If you need any clarification, let me know.

Blessed Be!

 

[midnight star]

Any suggestions on how to let parents know about your spiritual shift from one faith to another?

 

[vajradhara]

Any suggestions on how to let parents know about your spiritual shift from one faith to another?

Namaste midnight..

well... my advice would to be to try the honest approach... hey... didn't they always say that they wouldn't be mad at you as long as you told the truth? well... nows the time to put that to the test

seriously though... the truth is the best and only method that you can employ to tell them that you no longer find their faith tradition spiritually fulfilling. you don't need to be coy or deceptive in your presentation... just be you.

what you should do, however, is understand what you currently believe pretty well... as the questions won't really be too much of "what don't you agree with in Christianity" rather they will be more like "what does being a Wiccan give you?" being able to offer a rational, if not accepted, explanation will go along way towards helping your family come to terms with your apostasy.

 

[midnight star]

Namaste vajradhara,

Thank you for your advice, I'll respond more indepth later, but right now I must depart.

Blessings,
Midnight

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Any suggestions on how to let parents know about your spiritual shift from one faith to another?

Well, at 20 you can just let them know honestly your stance on things... it's harder when you're younger because there's so much uncertianty in how some parents will react.

 

[midnight star]

In theory you'd be right. At this point my parents have spent over 80 thousand dollars on putting me through catholic schooling (20K in h.s., 60K so far in college, with another 20K next year). The subject of religion had been broached with them about a year and a half ago, when the found out i was doing a big project on Wicca for a class. My dad came up to visit one weekend, which was cool, but then took me to a restaurant where I got trapped in a conversation about religion, where it subtely hinted that it didn't make sense for a person to be spending 20 thousand dollars a years at a catholic school if they weren't catholic.

Also such knowledge could be a strain on home life to an extent. My family goes to Mass every sunday, and the take my brother and sister (i know my bro wouldn't go if he didn't have to.) I have been guilted into attending Mass a few times, and for the sake of avoiding unnecessary unpleasantries, I go. Then there is also the issue of my younger sister. She is 15. If I stopped going to Mass, I would owe her an explanation why I wasn't going, and I think that could be tricky for a few reasons, 1) I really don't know what her views on religion are specifically; 2) She may take an interest in Wicca and that really wouldn't look good infront of my parents.

I think my plan of action is to wait one more year. I'll be paying for my own Masters Education, and will have a place own, elliminates some of the issues. I don't want you guys to get the wrong idea though, I love my parents very much, and they are very loving people as well, but they are strong in their faith and probabl would be genuinely concerned for my spiritual well being, as well as my soul.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Well that does complicate things a wee bit

Attending mass is not such a bad thing - I attend church with some ladies in the neighborhood who know my religious choice but wish my presence anyway (I think in the hope of converting me ) It's not a big deal to me - all gods are one God all goddesses one Goddess.

 

[midnight star]

Fair enough, in all honesty I don't really mind the church itself either. The only thing that bothers me are the sermon's sometimes, but i guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. Also some of the prayers don't sit comfortably with me. I try and take a strategically placed seat that puts my siblings between my parents so they notice I'm not saying some of the prayers lol. It sounds silly but you do what you have to do. I do enjoy the singing part though. Those around probably dont as I am thorougly tone deaf. It's even worse when I know all the words.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Well, as for me, I didn't spend too much time thinking about faith and religions until I was forced to go to church in my early teenage years. Until then, attending church was just a rare nuisance, but when I finally had to go there every second sunday, I was forced to take a closer look. And what I found there was a religion that's spiritually dead, and has probably been so for 500 years or so. The more I busied myself contemplating the Christian faith and the bible, the less inspiring it became, and to me it seemed just a patriarchal, outdated remnant of ancient middle eastern culture.
Of course, my parents were Christians, not as devout as yours perhaps, but in the case of my father pretty close. So I started debating with him, engaging in endless philosophical and theological discussions. In fact, it's still a favourite pastime of us. Anyway, before long, I had convinced *both* of them of *my* line of thinking, pointing out all the inconsistencies and limitations of this bookish religion.

 

[vajradhara]

Namaste midnight,


thank you for the post.

regarding the money thing... if the education is a quality education, it seems inevitable that it will cost alot of money. perhaps this isn't how it should be.. but it is nonetheless.

if they were hoping you'd get a specifically "catholic" education, then i would humbly suggest that they don't understand the qualifications required to graduate high school.

now... let me say this... if they finianced your education for the purpose of you becoming a Catholic and you had no intention of doing so, this would be a bit duplicitious and i would, were i in your shoes, not accept their money since i wouldn't be using it specifically how they wished. a gift given with obligations is no gift.

regarding the living situation... that's a bit more cumbersome. i gather that you currently are not living in their home, which is good all around. i presume that you don't have any intention of living there again, barring any unforeseen circumstances. that being said, i would try to mitigate the effect of this on my decision making process. it's one thing to acknowledge it but another thing altogether to make your decision based upon it.

if they are devout Christians they should be concerned for your spiritual well being and your soul. if they weren't they wouldn't be very good Christians, in my opinion. that being said... you'll probably discover that there were conditions the entire time... you just were never aware of it.

how many times does one hear about a person revealing that they are homosexual to their parents and one or both of them "disowning" the child. i would hope that this wouldn't be the case for a religious conversion, however, to my dismay, i know that this isn't true. i really do hope that your parents are not given to rash fits of outrage and indignance.

 

[midnight star]

namaste vajradhara,

The money thing I doubt would ever become a serious issue. My mom would never let my dad cut off tuition. Honestly, I doubt if my father would even do it. They are good people, and no, they are not prone to fits of outrage or indignance. If anything they are just stubborn, like me. (its genetic)

As far as my living situation. I live at home roughly a third of year. I go to school in CT and im only home in December/January, and from mid-May to the end of August. As for returning home after I graduate, that will depend if I get a job right out of college, or go to a Grad school (and whatever the living situation for that would be).

As far as how devout they are, its tough to determine. They go to church on sundays, and they live "Christian" lives. They are charitable, hardworking, and overall really good people. They have been a wonderful influence on me. But its not like Jesus or the Bible ever come up in conversation on a daily, weekly, monthly basis.

To be honest, i think the school thing was just a defense mechanism for my dad. I was never told I had to go to Catholic school. I looked at all types of colleges, and picked this one because it felt right. There was no pressure to pick a Catholic one though. I think more than anything he got scared and scrambled for some ground to stand on.

 

[Smilin]

Any suggestions on how to let parents know about your spiritual shift from one faith to another?

Good luck with that one.
The true test will be how they take it, and how they respond.

 

[9Harmony]

Hello Dear Friends,

I just recently joined and just found this thread and read through all 22 pages of posts and realized no other Baha'i's have posted so I guess I will.

I was raised Catholic and was content in my faith, as content as one can be (i thought). When I was about 9 or 10 I was listening to my sisters Seals and Crofts album and noticed that some of the lyrics were taken from the Baha'i Sacred Writings, I ran around the house asking everyone what that was. No one knew, so I dropped it. twenty some years later I took employment with a Community Action Agency (how the job came about is a whole story in itself) and some of my Catholic Co-workers told me not to mind 'Janet' because she belongs to this weird religion. Well, that peaked my curiosity and one time when Janet and I were working together alone, I asked her what religion she was, she told me Baha'i and told me a little about it, I asked if she had any literature I could read, she brought me a book a couple weeks later, and then for the next year I read everything I could get my hands on. Here was a religion that contained everything I always believed in deep inside. I felt like I was finally home. After a year of intense study I wrote a letter to all of my friends and family and told them that I was going to become a Baha'i and gave them a chance to look into it and realize I wasn't joining a cult. It took a while, but they all have come to the conclusion that it was right for me and are all friends of the faith now.
I have been a Baha'i for 10 years now and have never regretted it for a minute.

Loving Greetings, Harmony

"There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God." Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p 217

 

[Smilin]

Beautiful story harmony

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Welcome harmony we welcome anything you may have to offer to our happy 22 page thread

 

[Smilin]

okay,
so explain more on the baha'i faith?

 

[9Harmony]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Smilin said: "okay,
so explain more on the baha'i faith?"

So, where to begin?

The Baha'i Faith is the newest of the worlds religions. It began in Persia in 1844. According to encyclopedia Brittanica it is the second most widespread religion in the world. There are approximately 6 million members from all races, religions, economic backgrounds, countries etc. The main principals include:


There is Only One God. "There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God." Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p 217

Elimination of all forms of prejudice.

Equality of men and women.

Harmony of Science and Religion.

Independent investigation of truth.

Appreciation for the diversity and nobility of the human family.

Among others.

Baha'u'llah (The Glory of God) the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith suffered 40 years of imprisonment and exile for His teachings. The Baha'i World Center is located on Mt. Carmel in Haifa, Israel.

The official website of the Baha'i World is bahai.org
The official website of the Baha'is of the USA is us.bahai.org
(I don't have enough posts to be able to post the url, so you will have to add www before each address if you want to check them out)

I'm sorry this is so brief, I'm on my way out of town and won't get back til Monday, so ask any questions and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Have a great day!

Loving Greetings, Harmony

 

[midnight star]

Hey folks, sorry i haven't been posting as of late. It's weird, I can't access this site from the network in my dorm, but non-dorm network computers on campus can access it. There's probably a bug in the network system. Oh well. Just wanted to let you all know I haven't forgotten about this thread. I'll be back in a bit, wanna catch up on what I've missed.

 

[Arthra]

Like Harmony I'm also a Baha'i and I was raised a Baptist. I became a Baha'i in 1965...as i like to tell people it was "a loong time ago in a galaxy far away...".

I've never regretted being a Baha'i and raising my children in the Faith.

My main interest these days is in serving as the Baha'i representative in our Local Inter Faith Council. I also volunteer at our local Hospital in Pastoral Care along with Christians. The other thing I've been doing is serving on a Human Relations Commissions which is an advisory body to my City.

So I keep pretty busy even though retired.

Along with the above I enjoy reading the Bible, the Qur'an and the Baha'i Writings and attempt to learn as much as I can about them.


- Art

 

[Proud Hindu]

That's really cool

That's exactly what we Hindus believe.