Losing my Religion

[Túrin Turambar]

My post from b77:

Logically (sorry, can’t help it), our reaction to the content of the Old Testament doesn’t have any affect on whether it is true or not. It might just be that God is ultra-destructive and apparently random in his actions and we just need to deal with it. Just because we don’t like how God acts, doesn’t mean that he does not exist as he is described.

Of all the Christians on Manwë, Tuor’s position was the one that made the most sense to me. He argued that yes, the God of the Old Testament is more or less a monster by our standards. But he makes the rules, not us – we are flawed humans, he is perfect. If we disagree with him, then we are in the wrong, not him. Therefore the best thing to do is simply to do what he says (hope I haven’t misrepresented him, that’s the impression I got). If I was a Christian, I would probably hold a similar position.

But I’m not. It’s not because I don’t like the things that the God of the Bible does, but because I cannot reconcile his existence with that I know of the world.

My concern, Sid, is that changing your beliefs might have negative repercussions in your life. Of course, you can’t choose to believe something, I just hope that turning aside from your faith won’t make your life difficult.

[WampusCat]

OK, I promise to stop putting the same post in both places. After this one, anyway. I'll try to stick to one discussion.

I think it is more a matter of letting faith expand and grow rather than turning away from it. Often our old images of God have to shatter so we can go deeper into faith -- God is always bigger than what we can comprehend. But that isn't throwing out faith, just letting go of what we think God is in order to encounter the real, living God who seeks us.

A prayer in a service I came across a while back puts it this way: "We hold before God those who need to let go of the God they do not believe in and meet the God who believes in them."

[Jnyusa]

Jewel: But raising children, like prayer, is not about results. It's about relationship.

Amen to that!

I made some terrible mistakes as a mother ... that is, looking back on them I wish I had done things differently; but at the time I was choosing the path I thought best. We never get to choose knowing all the things the future will bring ... we only choose among (often) greater and lesser evils that we can perceive at that time. Sometimes we are proven right and sometimes we are proven wrong.

It is far more important that your children know they are important to you as people, Sid, because as long as the relationship exists and is genuine, anything that you would truly do differently can be amended and eventually healed.

Jn

[Rowanberry]

Mrs Frodo, losing your religion doesn't have to mean losing your faith. For now, let go of any Scriptures, let go of the teachings of your church, let go of anything someone else thinks or says. As Voronwë very well put it, your faith exists in your heart, soul, and mind, and that's where you must search for your own way.

And, not being a "perfect" mother doesn't make you a bad one. Nobody is perfect - and even if someone is, I definitely am not! But, we are good enough, and that's quite sufficient.