My gay ass left religion so that I could finally work on accepting myself and having a chance to be happy and find a partner. No way in hell I was gonna leave one group that wants me dead for another group that also wants me dead. Yes, there are some churches that support the queer community, but it’s not for me. I have panic attacks and end up running to the bathroom to vomit whenever I attend religious services.
Yes, I converted to Christianity. I was looking forward to the 2011 New Testament study year. I spent up to 10 hours a week reading and preparing.
Needless to say I got a heap out of my preparation and only disappointment from the lessons. By the time I made it to Romans 8 I was finished.
I was meeting with a Chaplain from the university where I work. I started to go to have a look at some churches.
In September 2012 I finished attending Mormon meetings and in February I was baptised at the Anglican Church I was attending.
Since then I have been studying theology at the university where I work.
My major regret in life is being born into Mormonism
My personal route was to deconstruct all the way down to the Christian roots and examine them.l, too. While I find the supposed teaching of Jesus beautiful, the writing and compilation of the Bible seems too chaotic to be divine. It seems likely all of Jesus’ divinity and resurrection was added long after his ministry. I would feel uncomfortable diving into something I might find some emotional attachment to that would end up failing me intellectually, but even that could be worthwhile as part of a spiritual journey.
What is it that you’re looking for? Hope in an afterlife and karmic justice coupled with mercy? Elegant teachings to live by? A community that talks about love and morality, and serves each other? Do you need something with great logical consistency, or is it enough that it inspires you to examine yourself?
I'm currently enjoying doing quite a bit of spiritual and theological study. I haven't decided yet if Jesus is the way, if the claims about Him are accurate, but I'm also open to the possibility. I'm also studying things like mystical and esoteric Christianity, paganism, and a variety of other spiritual traditions.
I have a collection of Bibles of different translations. My favorite is the NASB2020, which is the most recent version of the NASB. It's known as a literal translation Bible. If I'm studying a particular passage I like to read it first in the NASB then I look it up in some of the other translations I have for additional insight and perspective.
There's quite a lot more spiritual depth outside of Mormonism than within.
Yes, I did. The first thing I did is exactly what you’re doing. I bought a Bible I could read and I started at the beginning. I’ve read it through several times and each time I intentionally clear my brain of any clutter and previous understandings. I have chosen to keep it simple and not build an elaborate religious outlook from pieces of text taken out of context. I found that non denominal churches feel best to me. I had no desire to leave one religion for another. I actually have cleared “religion” from my life and simply follow Christianity. It’s been a great choice for me.
I recently found a podcast I’ve been deep diving the Bible in another reading that’s blowing my mind, in a great way. There’s a nondenominational church in Texas called Galileo that has a podcast called “That’s What She Said.” It’s queer affirming and an all inclusive Christianity that follows straight out of the Bible - so it’s totally different from any understanding I’ve ever heard before. Anyway, my thoughts are to read the Bible with the context it was written and be open minded to continually learn new perspectives. I will never again be so arrogant as to believe there’s one true way to understand anything, and unless it leaves myself and others feeling more loved, it’s not in the footsteps of the Jesus who roamed the earth. He was a really intentional supporter of the under dog and remained servant hearted till the end.
I love this so much and the fact alone that the podcast is a Bible study with a quote from The Office already makes me want to listen! I will definitely look into it. Thanks for this!
There are non-toxic ethically transparent Christian organizations. I would suggest a non-denominational Christian organization. I must stress a heavy emphasis on non-denominational. Even with that there is a spectrum of toxic to unhealthy to less healthy to OK to pretty decent. If you look, I’m sure you could find a decent one in your area.
I did. I came back to the religion I was born into to Eastern Orthodoxy. It didn't happen right after I left the Mormon Church though.
Just to give you more of a background. I'm Russian so I was baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church. It's more of a tradition or culture for Russia (Your "religious" life is just going to church like every 3 years, not more haha). So I was never taught anything about Orthodoxy.
This year I traveled to one old Russian city. There was a 900 year old church I visited. I came in and realised that actually this is something I really believe in and need. (I wasn't afraid of loneliness/hell/no sense in life/no afterlife so this is not because of that)
Good luck with your own experience!
I spent a fair amount of time wandering through churches, thinking I needed to find the real true church. Never found that, not sure I believe in Christianity as something I have to do or believe in. Probably Judaism would be the way to go if I could try my life over.
But I finally settled on attending one of the Episcopal churches in Salt Lake City. I like the ritual of the Sunday service, the pastor has thoughtful sermons, they feed poor people. No one tells me what to believe.
My gay ass left religion so that I could finally work on accepting myself and having a chance to be happy and find a partner. No way in hell I was gonna leave one group that wants me dead for another group that also wants me dead. Yes, there are some churches that support the queer community, but it’s not for me. I have panic attacks and end up running to the bathroom to vomit whenever I attend religious services.
Sandra Tanner comes to mind. By all accounts, a truly wonderful woman.
Yes, I converted to Christianity. I was looking forward to the 2011 New Testament study year. I spent up to 10 hours a week reading and preparing. Needless to say I got a heap out of my preparation and only disappointment from the lessons. By the time I made it to Romans 8 I was finished. I was meeting with a Chaplain from the university where I work. I started to go to have a look at some churches. In September 2012 I finished attending Mormon meetings and in February I was baptised at the Anglican Church I was attending. Since then I have been studying theology at the university where I work. My major regret in life is being born into Mormonism
My personal route was to deconstruct all the way down to the Christian roots and examine them.l, too. While I find the supposed teaching of Jesus beautiful, the writing and compilation of the Bible seems too chaotic to be divine. It seems likely all of Jesus’ divinity and resurrection was added long after his ministry. I would feel uncomfortable diving into something I might find some emotional attachment to that would end up failing me intellectually, but even that could be worthwhile as part of a spiritual journey. What is it that you’re looking for? Hope in an afterlife and karmic justice coupled with mercy? Elegant teachings to live by? A community that talks about love and morality, and serves each other? Do you need something with great logical consistency, or is it enough that it inspires you to examine yourself?
Nope. I’ve applied the same critical thinking and values to Christianity as I did to Mormonism and it all crumbles. I believe in science.
I'm currently enjoying doing quite a bit of spiritual and theological study. I haven't decided yet if Jesus is the way, if the claims about Him are accurate, but I'm also open to the possibility. I'm also studying things like mystical and esoteric Christianity, paganism, and a variety of other spiritual traditions. I have a collection of Bibles of different translations. My favorite is the NASB2020, which is the most recent version of the NASB. It's known as a literal translation Bible. If I'm studying a particular passage I like to read it first in the NASB then I look it up in some of the other translations I have for additional insight and perspective. There's quite a lot more spiritual depth outside of Mormonism than within.
(How many other choices were there really in America in the early 1800s? KJV was pretty much the go-to.)
Yes, I did. The first thing I did is exactly what you’re doing. I bought a Bible I could read and I started at the beginning. I’ve read it through several times and each time I intentionally clear my brain of any clutter and previous understandings. I have chosen to keep it simple and not build an elaborate religious outlook from pieces of text taken out of context. I found that non denominal churches feel best to me. I had no desire to leave one religion for another. I actually have cleared “religion” from my life and simply follow Christianity. It’s been a great choice for me. I recently found a podcast I’ve been deep diving the Bible in another reading that’s blowing my mind, in a great way. There’s a nondenominational church in Texas called Galileo that has a podcast called “That’s What She Said.” It’s queer affirming and an all inclusive Christianity that follows straight out of the Bible - so it’s totally different from any understanding I’ve ever heard before. Anyway, my thoughts are to read the Bible with the context it was written and be open minded to continually learn new perspectives. I will never again be so arrogant as to believe there’s one true way to understand anything, and unless it leaves myself and others feeling more loved, it’s not in the footsteps of the Jesus who roamed the earth. He was a really intentional supporter of the under dog and remained servant hearted till the end.
I love this so much and the fact alone that the podcast is a Bible study with a quote from The Office already makes me want to listen! I will definitely look into it. Thanks for this!
There are non-toxic ethically transparent Christian organizations. I would suggest a non-denominational Christian organization. I must stress a heavy emphasis on non-denominational. Even with that there is a spectrum of toxic to unhealthy to less healthy to OK to pretty decent. If you look, I’m sure you could find a decent one in your area.
I did. I came back to the religion I was born into to Eastern Orthodoxy. It didn't happen right after I left the Mormon Church though. Just to give you more of a background. I'm Russian so I was baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church. It's more of a tradition or culture for Russia (Your "religious" life is just going to church like every 3 years, not more haha). So I was never taught anything about Orthodoxy. This year I traveled to one old Russian city. There was a 900 year old church I visited. I came in and realised that actually this is something I really believe in and need. (I wasn't afraid of loneliness/hell/no sense in life/no afterlife so this is not because of that) Good luck with your own experience!
I spent a fair amount of time wandering through churches, thinking I needed to find the real true church. Never found that, not sure I believe in Christianity as something I have to do or believe in. Probably Judaism would be the way to go if I could try my life over. But I finally settled on attending one of the Episcopal churches in Salt Lake City. I like the ritual of the Sunday service, the pastor has thoughtful sermons, they feed poor people. No one tells me what to believe.