Ellinas Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Not necessarily that young, mind you, but everything is relative and I'm past the blush of youth. As ever, I accompanied Mrs E to church this morning. And there I once more had to listen to the contribution of one of our nephews (her sister's youngest). Basically, he went away to university, came into contact with Christians of his own age and has come back as "committed" as is humanly possible. As I listened to the treacly guff he was spouting about the "lovely" lord ("oh! what a saviour...", apparently) the thought that I could not get out of my head was "you will come to regret all this". Nothing I can do about it - I'm not really in a position to issue a challenge and if I did it would only entrench his position. But it seemed so interminably sad... Edit - that's odd... I thought I was posting this in "Rants" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 That is sad. It's like watching people go to a quack for a cure, and we've already been there a thousand times before figuring it out. But breaking through that wall of imaginary love is just about impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhim Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Sorry to hear that. It was also in college that I was convinced to believe in Jesus. I suppose the entrenchment of evangelical Christianity is quite insidious. I come from a completely separate religious background and never attended a single church service prior to my college education (save for a service at an extremely liberal Lutheran university I visited in high school), yet I was taken in by this cult. I further suppose that college, being the time when most young people are open to new ideas, is the most natural time to introduce them to Jesus. I hope that your nephew's belief in Jesus passes with a bit of age and wisdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightcore Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Liberal mushy christianity is a pretty big draw for a lot of people my age I've noticed. It's like a feel-good thing that you don't have to put a lot into but does enough so that you feel like you're "saved". I'm sorry, I hope he comes around. In the meantime though, I honestly think the best thing you can do is "show don't tell". Just keep on the way you are, and if he's drawn to it he'll ask. If that sounds like a missionary tactic, it's because it is in a way. But really the best thing to do is not to push it and just let your life be a testament. ...I don't know how to phrase this any other way so it sounds very Christian, I'm sorry. But that's how I was able to even break the ice with my siblings about it when I stopped going to church and stuck to my values. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamia Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Yep. I feel you. Yesterday I went to My older sisters bday party where she described a situation with one of her many children. They had just gone to a memorial service for their pastor at his church. My nephew, who is 5, asked where the pastor was, my sister said, in heaven, he asked, will I go to heaven, she said yes, if you ask jesus into your heart, she says he did, she explained that he can ask jesus to help him be good, and then he will go to heaven. He is now preaching to all of his siblings, and my sister, asking if they have jesus in their heart every time they "misbehave". He is already a questioner and a serious critical thinker. Constantly reasoning. So I really think that he will be ok in the long run, plus they aren't fundy or anything, I just look at her joy in the situation and cringe. It seems innocuous now, but things change as you get older, when the questions get harder to answer. I hope his road is not going to be like mine was... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blindsighted Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I hope he comes to regret all of it, because if he doesn't that means he never escaped. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith666 Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 His ideas about religion make him a little immature, at least in the thinking department, so calling him a youngster may not be far wrong. I don't think it's impossible to break out of the imaginary relationship with Jesus, as Fuego said. People are just more interested in the nice feelings they get from thinking about Jesus than in really knowing anything. They could break out if reality were more important to them than subjective feelings. I had to keep reminding myself of that while watching people get baptized yesterday at church: It's so frustrating that people delude themselves and keep others in the dark, but ultimately they are choosing to believe in that. They could read the bible and consider that god's so-called love doesn't match up with his genocidal habits, or decide that torturing people for having the wrong beliefs is immoral, or that punishing them for their ancestors' minor crimes that they themselves had nothing to do with makes no sense. But they don't. They just plug their ears, sing la la la la la and focus on Jesus being their friend. Anyone and anything that tells them differently is unsaved and must be ignored. That helps me deal with the thought that so many people are wasting their one and only life on rubbish. They're choosing to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dichotomy Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I have this with my nieces. It is ever so sad. I'll never forget when my eldest niece, who is now 13, came up to me aged 4 and proudly told me that she'd "given her heart to Jesus" my heart broke a little that day. My husband (they're his sister's children) and his brother find it *very* difficult visiting their nieces because they see their own childhood being replayed and they can't do anything about it. The one solace we have is that our children are quite clear in their disbelief in God and Jesus and have no issue telling their cousins.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellinas Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 Thankfully my son appears to be determined to think for himself. I just hope that continues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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