PatrickG Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 If I have any regrets, it is this the confusion that this doctrine caused in my life. Growing up, I was thaught by the church to separate myself from the world. When I got "saved", I was told that I could no longer hang out with friends who where not Christians. I was confused by this. I wanted friends and Christians just where not cool. This carried over into adulthood. I saw an eletist attitude in the church. I saw those that where not saved as being in need of Christ. If they did not have Christ then they could not understand what I was talking about. I was weird. A good while before I was willing to say things like, "Jesus is not coming Back", and "Jesus did not pay for anyones sins by his death", I saw the problems that this doctrine caused in my life. I repented while still a Christian. I became a universalist Christian. A lot of my life was spent in this "not belonging" mode. This doctrine in Christianity is one of the most destructive to young and old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franciscan Monkey Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 If I have any regrets, it is this the confusion that this doctrine caused in my life. Growing up, I was thaught by the church to separate myself from the world. When I got "saved", I was told that I could no longer hang out with friends who where not Christians. I was confused by this. I wanted friends and Christians just where not cool. This carried over into adulthood. I saw an eletist attitude in the church. I saw those that where not saved as being in need of Christ. If they did not have Christ then they could not understand what I was talking about. I was weird. A good while before I was willing to say things like, "Jesus is not coming Back", and "Jesus did not pay for anyones sins by his death", I saw the problems that this doctrine caused in my life. I repented while still a Christian. I became a universalist Christian. A lot of my life was spent in this "not belonging" mode. This doctrine in Christianity is one of the most destructive to young and old. I agree. Isolation is a means of control. It is much more difficult to leave the cult when your whole life revolves around it and all your friends believe as the cult wants you to believe. It's hard to challenge your beliefs when they are being so strongly reinforced and when contact with differing beliefs is prohibited. That should raise a warning flag that the merits of the belief are not very strong. Respectfully, Franciscan Monkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertBob Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I saw an eletist attitude in the church. There is a smugness, not only towards "the world" but towards other denominations / persuasions within the church. My tribe at least accepted them as fellow Christians but misguided, confused and ineffective ones who were in danger of becoming backsliders -- or already were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I empathize. The CoG I grew up in loved the "not of the world" thing, and I was therefore not allowed to "fit in" which is devastating in high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notazombie Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I empathize. The CoG I grew up in loved the "not of the world" thing, and I was therefore not allowed to "fit in" which is devastating in high school. My step-daughter is being raised in the CoG. Her grandfather is the pastor at her church and their whole life revolves around it. She also attends a small xtian school. I'm not really familiar with this demonination. They all know I'm an atheist, so I can't help but wonder what she's being told. She is fine when she is here but when she goes back to her mom, I get an immediate cold shoulder. Being a former CoG, do you have any advice on how to deal with her? Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galien Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I always thought the world was a shithole whether a christian or not. Some things just aren't worth fitting into. Church is no different from the rest of the world as far as I can see. Only problem with them is that they really can't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike D Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I was from CoG also. The rules, my god - don't do this, don't do that, blah blah blah, nag nag nag. The church actually made me feel very insecure about myself and my place in the world. Alienated, really. Because of that, I decided that I didn't really give a shit what the church said about who I could or couldn't hang out with. It wasn't their business. I was 16, and at that stage in my life I needed to feel secure. And my non-Christian, rowdy, partying, angry friends provided me with the security I so badly wanted. The world made me feel accepted when the church didn't, so that's the path I chose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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