#faith deconstruction

[wasmormon]

Cameron Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight

[journeyofwitchery]

Leaving Behind Everything

Imagine it.

Knowing the earth is round and seeing its curves and then, in a time where everything is flipped upside down, finding out that flat earthers, what you and everyone you knew used to make fun of, are the real truth. Suddenly you find yourself an outcast, the very thing you once looked down on.

I don't believe the earth is flat, but I did used to believe in god. specifically, of the many ideas of god, the one from the extensive series of books collectively called the bible. I was not what they would call lukewarm either, I regarded it as black and white, scientific truth,

until certain questions poked and prodded my brain and then something devastating: I couldn't answer them. Nor could I find any philosophical or theological answer for these horrible conflicts of belief and truth. I believed in truth first, over any belief, and even when the one "truth" I knew to be certain was THE truth, I accepted the questioning of the possibility it might not be out of principle.

So, as any honorable religious follower of Truth, Facts, Reasoning, and Nothing But the Truth, finding out that the idea of that god did not make logical sense, I become agnostic.

Naturally, it kind of cut me off from everyone and everything I knew. The worst thing was knowing exactly how they viewed me. Fallen, confused, rebelling against the Big Dad in the sky, being a little teenager about it. The real worst happening of that turbulant time however, would have to be the threat of eternal fear and pain by likes of which is too hellish to think about. All because I questioned the reality of a god I used to love above all else.

I can't find the answers to the questions, and had to make due with the fact there weren't any, and had to make due with the fact there is nothing replying when I scream at the sky.

[fratresdei]

Happy Easter to all the veritable punks going through faith deconstruction today.

[hannah-hank-han]

with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength

Pastors are kind of a touchy topic for me, because pretty much every person I have considered my pastor or personal spiritual leader has failed me, some far more spectacular ways than others. Some I put in a nearly impossible position with my family, and that’s not their fault I don’t blame them for that. I do blame their wives when they tell me that maybe the reason I’m going through terrible…

[hopefullynotprententious]

Looking for a Sense of Purpose

I used to be part of this church, and I was taught that our purpose in life was to bring others to God. That my purpose as a woman was to go to church, meet a man, marry him and then have his children. I’ve left that church and I don’t practice any religion now. I’ve been slowly deconstructing my faith since I was about 14, I’m 23 now, I’ve only been really open about it for the past 4 years and that’s only because the rest of my family quietly came to the same realization that I did. That realization being that the church is not true.

For years I’ve been struggling with my sense of purpose and if I’m no longer apart of this church, then what am I supposed to do? What’s my purpose for being on this big beautiful planet? I’ve been trying to list anything that could be my purpose. My purpose is so that I can buy dinner for my brothers after they’ve had a bad day at work or school, or my purpose is so that my friends can vent to me when their families are being shitty to them, or my purpose is so that the employee at my local grocery store can check my receipt before I leave, or my purpose is so that I can tip the barista that made my drink.

For so long I was taught that my purpose in life was to get married, have kids, and be a stay at home mom. I don’t want that and truthfully I don’t think I ever did want that. I had always been looking for some profound reason for living and for being here, I’ve come to terms with the fact that my reason for being here doesn’t have to be profound. Maybe I’m just here so I can just be.

[castingpsalms]

“sin is the absence of love”

i never thought of it this way before, but it makes so much sense. when people do terrible things, there is no love there. love cannot be in the presence of sin.

that’s why sending us all to hell would be a sin, because there is no love there. and God is love, so He can’t sin, so hell is not for us.

that’s why Jesus came and died. to show us what love is — to show us that He is love. it’s not cause we’re all going to hell, it’s because we needed an example of how love is supposed to be.

love is self-sacrificing, love is selfless, love is Jesus.

[finalgirlgretchen]

if one more person tries to claim that the oh hellos are no longer christian i am going to lose my shit

[lesbiansloveeddiediaz]

no one at my conservative religious school knows i'm reading buck and eddie fanfics instead of paying attention to chapel

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Love when people read half of a sentence and then are like I KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!!!!

No.

No you don't.

Read the rest of the freaking sentence first.

Read the sentence before and after first.

Read the paragraph first.

Read the entire passage first.

Then, please, by all means, tell me your interpretation of that sentence.

[pirateofrohan]

Mass Effect really missed a trick making Ashley Williams straight.

[wasmormon]

Is the Book of Mormon Historical? True? Does it Matter?

The question of whether the Book of Mormon is historical—and whether it has to be historical in order to be “true”—is one that has sparked significant debate both within and outside the LDS Church. Here’s an analysis of the issue from various angles: Is the Book of Mormon Historical? The Book of Mormon presents itself as a historical account of ancient peoples who traveled from the Middle East…

[deservedgrace]

I don't think that framing "Marginalized™️ Atheism/Deconstruction" and "Cishet White Male Atheism/Deconstruction" as inherently ~separate and distinct~ is super effective (and disclaimer I'm specifically speaking about my experience with christianity, atheism, and ex christian atheists/deconstructors), but also... okay so I was raised in a cult, and cults are oppressive for all its members. Nobody gets out unscathed, everyone experiences the abuse tactics, everybody is a victim. But within the cult there is a hierarchy, and cishet white men are at the top. So while the cult is oppressive to everyone, and everyone is harmed in some way, it is also uniquely oppressive to queer folks, to BIPOC, to disabled folks, to women, etc etc. And the thing that happens to some of those cishet white men is they leave an oppressive cult, where they are considered the "default", and they go into the ~real world~, where they are also considered the "default", and even in atheist/deconstruction spaces, their bodies and experiences are often the leading voices.

The men that leave go from an oppressive patriarchal culture to a far less oppressive (to them) patriarchal society. The white people that leave go from an oppressive racist culture to a far less oppressive (to them) racist society. The people that leave go from an oppressive culture that does not value marginalized voices to a different, less oppressive culture that also does not value marginalized voices. And if you personally do not experience [xyz] oppression, it can be difficult to even realize there are things surrounding that you have to deconstruct unless you listen to the voices of the oppressed. But some cishet white men go from being considered the "default" in an oppressive culture, to being considered the "default" in a less oppressive culture (to them). Their experience of "overcoming systemic oppression" comes from leaving the church, and it can be really easy to fall into the trap that the church, specifically, is the sole oppressor and enemy of everyone.

Of course this doesn't happen in every single case and it's also not exclusive to cishet white men. But those blind spots are why I think it's important for everyone to listen to a variety of voices when they're deconstructing, especially if those voices are talking about oppression you wouldn't have experienced firsthand.

No, our deconstructions are not inherently different, but the experiences and circumstances prior to it often are. It's okay to acknowledge that and beneficial for everybody to listen to each other's experiences.

[theshoesofatiredman]

So much of Christian teaching around thought crime is dependent on the idea that we are fully in control of every thought we have. And when it interfaces with mental health it becomes extremely dangerous. Like the below:

"Anxiety is a sign you're not trusting God's plan for your life."

"If you're depressed that means you're not relying on God to be your joy."

Neither of these things are true and they don't reflect how either anxiety or depression actually work. Illnesses have been used for hundreds of years by religion to demonize people. If you would scoff at someone saying a person's cancer is because of specific sin in their life, you should hold the above statements in similar contempt.

There are real treatments for depression and anxiety that help people. It's not a matter of a person's faith and claiming so IS HARMFUL TO PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM THOSE ILLNESSES! Judging people as sinful or of little faith for their illnesses makes it harder for them to receive real life bringing care from professionals trained to provide it.

[39addict101]

Okay I don’t even know if this will reach anyone but someday I want to write a novel about religious trauma and religious abuse and how religious people who claim to be holy really just… intentionally (or maybe unintentionally in some cases) abuse the shit out of children and women and minority groups.

Also how churches just shelter sexual abusers, and how sexual abusers use holy texts to justify their actions and threaten their victims into silence.

I am compiling a data base of cruel and unusual religious punishments (mostly to make sure I’m not crazy) but also to have a better understanding of exactly how religious abuse is manifested in different situations.

Some examples: a mother physically SITTING on a “disobedient” child while singing the famous hymn “Trust and Obey”

A young woman whose creepy traveling Christian musician uncle would travel to various churches and tell children’s story, during children’s story he would LICK his nieces face, from eyeball to chin, and the entire church would laugh. Her father looked on, and didn’t care how visibly uncomfortable his daughter was.

Finally, and this is just one of my own experiences. I suffer from horrible menstruation symptoms, and my mother refused to allow me to take any pain medicine, because it would not allow for me to have a “clear mind” to hear the Holy Spirit.

Anyway, I know that this can be quite traumatizing to share… but I’m just putting feelers out there… is there anyone willing to step forward and share their traumatic religious experiences?

It’s for research and understand and deconstructing purposes only.

[artist-issues]

Here they go again

And I get to play the mind numbing game of "Twenty One Pilots: Are They Deconstructing Their Faith After All, OR Saying What They've Always Been Saying But This Time With Antlers"

[webbelzebub]

something that i think is really interesting abt post npmd grace is her potential crisis of faith upon learning that these 5 eldritch gods are real. grace is a die hard incredibly devout christian and then is suddenly faced with these 5 lovecraftian entities- how is she dealing with that?? that's got to be shaking her world view at least a little right

is it like marvel rules where Thor exists but so do the existing major world religions, so your average Christian views deities like them as extremely powerful beings but not capital G Gods? like where is she going from here? does she continue to believe in both the Lords and God, and just doesn't think about it, living in cognitive dissonance? does she bring it up to the lords considering she's actively in continued contact with them? do the lords allow her to pray to God every night as long as she stays their pawn? *is* she still praying to God every night? does she start formulating her own syncretic belief system, a blend christianity and holy rage and the power of the lords in black??