Breaking Away From Blindly Following and Trying to Discover What Christianity Means to ME!

[Q_20]

Hi everyone! So, just as a little background to my introduction, I grew up in a pretty tight Christian environment: Christian family, Christian private schools from kindergarten through 10th, church every Sunday, church camps and evangelism summer programs, etc! My junior year of high school, however, I started going to a public boarding school away from home, and certain experiences here have been a HUGE eye opener of how blindly I was following the beliefs of my family, friends, and fellow church members (I mean, when EVERYONE affirms that something is true since your birth, one doesn't see much reason to question it). I've always had questions or things that bothered me about some generally accepted beliefs by mainstream Christianity, but I felt like I had to force myself to ignore those thoughts because doubting was supposedly a sin. I do still consider myself a Christian (after all, the word literally means "follower of Christ" and I do still accept Christ as my Saviour), but I've basically stripped down my beliefs to the very few things that I am SURE that I PERSONALLY believe in, whether they have been taught in my church/schools/family or not, and I'm working on building off from there. And of course, I know that I will never be 100% correct about something that can be so non-concrete, nor do I believe that any ONE religion is 100% correct in their doctrines and perceptions of God, which is why I think I will greatly benefit from participating in discussions from people of various religions so that I can get different perspectives to help me piece together my personal beliefs. I'm not trying to find a new religion to convert to--like I said, I am currently following the denotative definition of a Christian, but not necessarily all the connotations that come with that label--but as I said, I think it's impossible for ONE group of people's perceptions of God to be completely accurate, so I believe it to be extremely important to not be ignorant of other religions.

I'm not gonna lie, it's been really tough for me to battle my old "default" beliefs. There have been times when I'll be reading the Bible with my new perspective and I'll just start sobbing. Religion had become something that was an innate part of me that I thought I would be able to trust to always be constant and sure, so it's been difficult to basically start from scratch, and I know I can't talk to my old friends or family because they are all extremely conservative and would not support my decision at all.

Well, that was a lot longer than I intended it to be! Sorry 'bout that! Basically what I want to say, is that I'm hoping that I can try to stay active on this forum for my own benefit to my recent change in religious thinking, as well as be able to contribute some of my own beliefs and ideas to this community. I hope everything I said made sense, I'd love to answer any questions anyone has! I would also LOVE it if anyone wants to PM me and get into one-on-one discussions about your personal beliefs, or anything really!

Thanks for reading!
~Queen

 

[Knight of Albion]

A very warm welcome to the forum, dear Queen.

 

[DawudTalut]

Peace be on you. Welcome.

 

[Amalgamist]

Dear Queen,

Congratulations for having the courage and open-mindedness to think for yourself!

While many religions have something valuable to offer, there is perhaps no one-size-fits all solution for everybody. Pick the parts which work best for you.

Best of luck with your journey!

 

[StarryNightshade]

Hello and welcome.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

G'day and welcome to RF.
Honest examination of what you believe and why you believe it can be extremely painful (no matter the belief, really) but I think it is by far the best path to long term peace and understanding.
There are people here with ridiculously diverse understandings and beliefs, but one thing a lot have in common is examination and thought about their beliefs, rather than mere acceptance.

So, hope you find what you're looking for here!

 

[Q_20]

Thank you for the warm welcomes, everyone!

 

[JayJayDee]

Thank you for the warm welcomes, everyone!

Hi Queen

You will get a lot of input from these forums but just be careful of overload. Take your time and ask questions of all the different viewpoints expressed here.

Have faith that Jesus said 'we would know the truth and the truth would set us free'.

Freedom is a wonderful thing.....I hope you find it here.

Don't forget the most important ingredient.....God's spirit. Ask him for it. (Matt 7:11)

 

[Akivah]

I've basically stripped down my beliefs to the very few things that I am SURE that I PERSONALLY believe in, whether they have been taught in my church/schools/family or not, and I'm working on building off from there. And of course, I know that I will never be 100% correct about something that can be so non-concrete, nor do I believe that any ONE religion is 100% correct in their doctrines and perceptions of God, which is why I think I will greatly benefit from participating in discussions from people of various religions so that I can get different perspectives to help me piece together my personal beliefs.

I hope everything I said made sense, I'd love to answer any questions anyone has!

Shalom Q

I don't understand what you're hoping to achieve. You've said that you don't think you will ever have perfectly correct beliefs nor do you think anyone else has perfectly correct beliefs either. So you're moving from beliefs that were less than 100% to different beliefs that are also less than 100%. No matter what you're beliefs are, you seem to be saying that they will never be 100% correct. It seems like you're setting yourself up for failure or guilt.

I'd go with what Amalgamist said. Find the beliefs that work best for you. And find the group with which you most agree. That should provide the most spiritual health and well-being for you.

 

[Q_20]

Shalom Q

I don't understand what you're hoping to achieve. You've said that you don't think you will ever have perfectly correct beliefs nor do you think anyone else has perfectly correct beliefs either. So you're moving from beliefs that were less than 100% to different beliefs that are also less than 100%. No matter what you're beliefs are, you seem to be saying that they will never be 100% correct. It seems like you're setting yourself up for failure or guilt.

I'd go with what Amalgamist said. Find the beliefs that work best for you. And find the group with which you most agree. That should provide the most spiritual health and well-being for you.

Yes, my goal is to find out what works for me by looking at a range of religions and sets of beliefs instead of blindly following ONE group's beliefs, which is what I have been doing so far. I'm not trying to find a religion to start following because I think it's the most correct; rather, I'm trying to discover what I personally have confidence in and feel comfortable in believing. Even though I know I will never know 100% what is correct, I'd rather die believing in something that I personally have confidence in rather than following a religion that I don't always agree with or feel comfortable believing in, and that's what I was trying to explain in the passage that you quoted from me. In short, my goal is not to move as close to 100% correct as possible, my goal is to discover what beliefs work best for me. I hope that cleared things up?

 

[nash8]

Welcome to the forums,

Glad you had the courage to examine your beliefs, it's a tough thing to do for anyone, especially in the context you described.

If I can make a suggestion, try examining Christianity with this new found perspective. Christianity has a lot of sides and facets that are very "free thinking" that don't really get recognized in the public. Gnostic Christianity would be a place to start in my opinion. It promotes self development and free thinking all within the context of Christianity. That way you can develop your new found introspection while still being a Christian. But in the end, don't feel obligated to follow just one religion like you said, you can take the different aspects of each religion you like and form your own belief system.

Also, there is member on here named Vouthon who has some amazing insight and information regarding Christian beliefs. There are a lot of prominent members within the Christian faith that have professed ideas that I think would be a lot more compatible with your new beliefs.

Like others have said, there's a lot of great info on these forums, and a lot of great people, but in either aspect it's still A LOT. Take it all in with a grain of salt.

 

[dynavert2012]

Yes, my goal is to find out what works for me by looking at a range of religions and sets of beliefs instead of blindly following ONE group's beliefs, which is what I have been doing so far. I'm not trying to find a religion to start following because I think it's the most correct; rather, I'm trying to discover what I personally have confidence in and feel comfortable in believing. Even though I know I will never know 100% what is correct, I'd rather die believing in something that I personally have confidence in rather than following a religion that I don't always agree with or feel comfortable believing in, and that's what I was trying to explain in the passage that you quoted from me. In short, my goal is not to move as close to 100% correct as possible, my goal is to discover what beliefs work best for me. I hope that cleared things up?

first thing welcome to the forum :foryou: and i completely feel your mrssage, and i expect you will have good and long journey, but i'd like you to raise up your goals and Ambitions, why not to make your goal is to find a religion that you feel comfortable, have confidence and you find it 100% correct, make your goal is to reach the absolute truth, i think whenever you feel that you are not having 100% correct belief or religion there will still something that bothers you, maybe it's only my imagination and as Jesus said "the truth shall set you free", so raise up your Ambitions and trust the god, you are dealing with the most merciful, so surly you should be optimistic to take all the fruits
god bless and good luck in your journey.

 

[Akivah]

my goal is to discover what beliefs work best for me. I hope that cleared things up?

:yes:

Good luck. May you find the peace you seek.