Followup to: Crisis of Faith
I thought this comment from "Jo" deserved a bump to the front page:
As I commented in the Crisis of faith thread, I Had a definite path out of christianity once I concluded God wouldn't hold honest truth seeking against me. I think this part of the art should be things that get you to the state where you really can decide (or even just seek) without major consequences. If we can't get people to where they can go either way, then they can't get a crsis of faith.
To that end, I would say to Jo: If your children don't already know, you should talk to them about how to treat unbelievers, and what unbelievers are like. They should know not to look down on them or hold unbelief against them. They should know that unbelievers love their spouses and children just like christians. They should know that Christian parents should love unbelieving children.
Likewise if your husband's Christianity is worth anything to him, this will not cost you your marriage.
In your wider community you will find christians who don't quite live up to the mark, But that is a truth you can bear because you are already bearing it. If you're worried that the people of great character around you would treat you poorly because you're no longer part of their in-group, then you're actually worried that you'll discover that they are not of so great a character.
You still have the opportunity to shape the character of your children, and hopefully you vetted your husband well.
I'm not sure about the particular of your business model, If you write inspirational christian poetry, you might have a hard time. If you run an ice cream parlor, then you probably just have to maintain the same family atmosphere. Depending on what state you live in, there are other social and economic circles that an unbeliever can move into that a believer might not even consider. There are plenty of well off nonchristians, they can be your friends, your financial role models, or your customers.
If you're worried about the person you'll turn into, don't. The reason you love your husband and children isn't because the bible tells you to. it's also not the reason you don't go around doing horrible things to people.
You're like a friendly self modifying AI, you COULD modify yourself to want to kill people, but you won't because you don't want to become that person. No amount of finding out the bible isn't true is going to change that.
I hope the best for you.
"So here I am having been raised in the Christian faith and trying not to freak out over the past few weeks because I've finally begun to wonder whether I believe things just because I was raised with them. Our family is surrounded by genuinely wonderful people who have poured their talents into us since we were teenagers, and our social structure and business rests on the tenets of what we believe. I've been trying to work out how I can 'clear the decks' and then rebuild with whatever is worth keeping, yet it's so foundational that it will affect my marriage (to a pretty special man) and my daughters who, of course, have also been raised to walk the Christian path.
Is there anyone who's been in this position - really, really invested in a faith and then walked away?"