Followup to: Crisis of Faith
I thought this comment from "Jo" deserved a bump to the front page:
"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?"
Unfortunately, the term 'Christian' was appropriated by people in the early church who claimed to be following Jesus, but had never actually met the man, and who came up with some truly 'imaginative' doctrines that probably would have left him (a good orthodox rabbi) incredulous.
I know it's rude to point readers to another site, 'Jo,' but you might take a look at some of the posts listed in the right-hand column of my Web site, The Questioning Christian. You might find the ones under the heading 'Some Inconvenient Difficulties with Traditionalist Christianity' to be of particular interest.
Hang in there -- just because you don't buy all the doctrinal barnacles doesn't mean you're a non-Christian, no matter what the ideologues might say. A 'Christian' is simply someone who strives to give the Creator his due — and that includes using one's gifts of memory, reason, and skill with as much intellectual honesty as possible — and who seeks the best for others as for him- or herself. If we're to believe Luke's gospel (10.25-37), Jesus said, do this and you will live [eternally].