Jump to content
Goodbye Jesus

Just Now Processing This


Jenni

Recommended Posts

I left my last non-denominational Christian church more than 15 years ago, after trying to be the “perfect Christian” for almost 20 years, but my journey of being in a love/hate relationship with God started in 2001. I had been married 362 days before and had just left my emotionally and physically abusive husband. I hadn't yet been hit but had been hurt in other ways and knew, the night before, that if I didn't leave, I would be hit soon. I had married this man, after a whirlwind dating experience, 8 months after we had met. I was 29, a month shy of 30, when we married, and I was sure that God had hand-picked him out just for me. 

 

I was "born again" at 16, right around the time that Love Waits was touring the country. I made a decision at one of those rallies to wait until I was married to have sex. I had fulfilled that promise to God and had waited the almost 30 years I mentioned earlier by the time we married. I was also incredibly involved in church – had led the junior high youth group, hosted bible studies, was on the worship team, played music with other women on the worship team at retreats... I was IN, 100% IN. 

 

I met my, now, ex-husband on December 31, 1999 and danced with him well into January 1, 2000. The song "It's the End of the World (As We Know It)" played at midnight and the thought that ran through my mind was that it really wasn't ever going to be the same. I was right; I just had no idea the trajectory it would ultimately have. Of course, I later attributed that thought to God telling me he brought this man into my life. We had an instant familiarity because he was friends with my pastor's stepdaughter and her husband. The two men had been friends since they were 10 so I decided that meant he must be a good guy to still be friends after all of these years. I didn't see any of the red flags because I was so certain this was "of God". 

 

Fast forward 362 days. I had left my husband and was sitting with a very good friend from my church when her husband came home. I’m not even sure if he greeted me, but the exact words he said within about a minute of his arrival were that I was "spitting on the cross of Christ" for leaving my husband. No one knew of, or bothered to ask about, the abuses, of the assault that had shattered me, of the affair, or of the child pornography I had found. No one heard him screaming at me and then throwing up, because he had become so worked up, while I laid in bed. No one else had wondered that night if or when the cops might show up because a neighbor called 911. But apparently the only thing that mattered was that I had "spit on the cross of Christ" by leaving. In that moment and in the weeks to follow, I not only lost the dream of the perfect marriage, I had now also lost my all of friends (who sided with this man who was a church deacon), and my church home of seven years. I didn’t know it then but that was the beginning of the end of my relationship with God. 

 

I attended a new church, in a new town, after my marriage fell apart. I was there for about 3 years when that also fell apart because a new building changed the focus from people to money. The pastor’s mantra became about giving more money and then saying, "If you don't like it, you can leave, and 10 others will come in your place." I didn't like it, I didn't like the in-fighting, I didn't like being devalued week after week after giving so much of myself, and I didn't let the door hit me on the ass on the way out. I had friends tell me not to stay away too long - that I needed to be back among believers, but I never really made it back. I was disillusioned, heartbroken, lacked any trust in church leaders, and couldn't understand why God would allow any of that. Where was he?? 

 

Not too many years later, I moved to Washington, DC to work for a 3-letter agency, on a child exploitation task force and saw the absolute worst of humanity on a daily basis. I worked with an amazing team of people which made the work bearable but if something will make you ask questions about a "good, loving God", it's watching kids being abused in videos and pictures. The other things that contributed to my questioning a "good, loving God", was that, while I was in DC, I ended up losing my house in the collapse of the housing market, which caused me to go bankrupt, and in the same week, found out the man I had been in love with for four years, was married. So, where was God? I thought he had plans for me, promises for me: 

 

  • "plans for good and not for disaster, to give (me) a future and a hope" 
  • "all you who are weary and burdened, come to me and I will give you rest" 
  • "all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm" 
  • "whatever you ask in my name, this I will do" 
  • "if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

 

But none of those things actually happened. Since that time, I have been what my best friend calls, an angry agnostic. I have been so mad at God and at the people that were supposed to represent him, that even the mention of someone praying for someone or hearing a song that sounds “Christian” has made me angry. But on the other hand, I haven’t been able to say that there is no God. I just keep asking, “whose God? What makes the Christian God THE God”? But then two weeks ago, when talking with that same friend, I made an off-handed remark about there being no god and it was the first time I didn’t feel any guilt, no trepidation, no worry of being struck down, no fear of being wrong.

 

I don’t yet have an ending for this… I am just now processing it. I don’t know where I will land on any of this, but I do know that being angry hasn’t helped for the last dozen-plus years so I have let that go (with the help of an amazing therapist) and am now on a quest to figure out what faith means for me, if anything at all.

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just processing going from non-xtian to realizing there probably is no god - at least like the one portrayed in the Bible?

That was about 2 mos. for me.

 

Anyway, your story is one of millions where xanity or some other jacked up religions has destroyed, significantly impacted, or at least put someone's life on hold for years.

 

Side bar: I'd like to see a study of the percentage of control-freak xtians compared with the "normal" population. The study should probably only include the really strict xtians as those seem to be the abusive ones. Then again...maybe a chicken and egg thing? I wonder if Mrs. MOHO is so drawn to the abusive religion because she has a naturally abusive personality or vice-versa. Her son is the exact same way. Treats his wife and 3 daughters like absolute doo doo then screams at them that they are not "walking with the lard" when they push back. Acts like such a loving, godly, pure, hates people who swear, "bless this", "bless you" little goody too shoos at any other time.

 

Went off on a tangent there. Back to you...

 

Glad you're out of that situation and what a totally effed up reaction from MR. Fundy when you left your asshole husband. There is nothing lower that someone who would send an abuse victim back to the abuser.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for sharing... And Welcome!  I'm sorry for all that you endured - especially all of the judgment for leaving an obviously unhealthy marriage.

 

I, too, first lost faith in Providence.  I always believed IN SPITE of all of the mounting inconsistencies i kept observing within the Bible and between the Bible and reality.  But I chose to keep trusting despite my doubts.  Once my faith in providence crumbled, i no longer had reason to rationalize away my doubts in order to sustain belief...

 

I am a happy agnostic - fortunate to not be angry.  Something that helps me not be angry at "God" is that i am now 99.9999% sure that if some version of God exists, it's not the fundamental-evangelical-bible version that let me down - that god does not exist, so there isn't anyone to be angry at...  I hope that made sense.

 

Anyway, glad you are here.  I hope that, with time, your anger can pass - so that you can more fully enjoy this precious but fleeting existence. 

 

Maybe in a reply you can talk more about the details of your anger - get it all written out.  It can be healing.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Jenni...

I'm sorry that you had to go through all that adversity. Processing what you've been through can take time, for sure. Thing is, your healing started when you left the cult. Glad you found your way out. :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Jenni said:

, I have been what my best friend calls, an angry agnostic. I have been so mad at God and at the people that were supposed to represent him, that even the mention of someone praying for someone or hearing a song that sounds “Christian” has made me angry.

Wow, Jenni, you have been through a lot. A lot that you did not deserve to go through. I am glad you are in such a better position now. You have a lot to discover ahead of you!

 

FWIW a thought about the anger: Aristotle says it's a response to a perceived injustice. There is a lot of injustice in the whole bundle of Christianity as a system. I think it's legitimate for you to be angry against that and the people who profit from its injustices. That is enough to explain your anger, so I don't think you have to feel that you are "mad at God," the way Christians like to accuse ex-Christians of being. And I think you can say something like, "I defend A's right to belief and practice her/his faith, but I deny that Christians have the right to control everyone else, and their attempts to control the rest of us make me angry - and my anger gives me energy to resist!" Or something like that. 🙂

 

Hope to hear more from you, F

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, ficino said:

And I think you can say something like, "I defend A's right to belief and practice her/his faith, but I deny that Christians have the right to control everyone else, and their attempts to control the rest of us make me angry - and my anger gives me energy to resist!" Or something like that.

BINGO!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad you had the courage to get out of your situations.  I also observed deacons, even elders, who were abusing wife and children and getting away with it.  It was sickening.  HANG IN THERE!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super Moderator
On 5/25/2020 at 6:56 PM, MOHO said:

Side bar: I'd like to see a study of the percentage of control-freak xtians compared with the "normal" population. The study should probably only include the really strict xtians as those seem to be the abusive ones. Then again...maybe a chicken and egg thing? I wonder if Mrs. MOHO is so drawn to the abusive religion because she has a naturally abusive personality or vice-versa. Her son is the exact same way. Treats his wife and 3 daughters like absolute doo doo then screams at them that they are not "walking with the lard" when they push back. Acts like such a loving, godly, pure, hates people who swear, "bless this", "bless you" little goody too shoos at any other time.

 

 

I cannot remember who said it originally, but Dr. Robert Price discussed this idea that the Christian God is described as holding the characteristics of those who are claiming him. As you mentioned, your wife has an abusive personality, so I bet she throws that same sheet onto her idea of God, same with your step-son(?). Other examples are God is a feminist, a vegan, a war-monger, a hippie, i.e., whatever people want him to be because that is what they are. In the end, the Bible turns into a ventriloquist dummy for whatever doctrine suits their needs.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.