Christianity still baffles me sometimes. Some members believe in psychics and ghosts, thinking they're sending messages from their families, and some swear they're real but evil. To some (most, in fact) Christians, life is a great cosmic battle between good and evil and they're actually terrified of Hell, and therefore the people they believe will go there either need desperately to be saved from suffering or are secretly evil. I've been an atheist for ten years, and it's funny because I "sin" less now than when I was Christian, and I'm so very much happier with my life.
I think you're lucky your friend is still talking to you at all. I'm in a touchy environment here in which most of my neighbors are Mormon, and many of them believe they'll go to Hell just for talking to me. I've never even said what religion I am or am not, but they know the age at which I had my first child and that I'm not a member of their parish church up on the corner. It sounds like your husband must go to a nice church. I went to several youth groups when I was a kid, and the Evangelicals in particular laid it on thick that my family was going to Hell for not coming to church each week and that they'd drag me down to evil with them. I think I've developed a major chip about that and the treatment of women and gays--and the infighting between sects of Christianity. I've got three sets of straight family members that various churches refused to marry because they belonged to different churches.
When the time comes that she starts asking questions, I don't know whether to expose my daughter directly to the nasty catfighting churches or to the Unitarians who are liberal and tolerant but are an unrealistic view of the world as a whole.
no subject
I think you're lucky your friend is still talking to you at all. I'm in a touchy environment here in which most of my neighbors are Mormon, and many of them believe they'll go to Hell just for talking to me. I've never even said what religion I am or am not, but they know the age at which I had my first child and that I'm not a member of their parish church up on the corner. It sounds like your husband must go to a nice church. I went to several youth groups when I was a kid, and the Evangelicals in particular laid it on thick that my family was going to Hell for not coming to church each week and that they'd drag me down to evil with them. I think I've developed a major chip about that and the treatment of women and gays--and the infighting between sects of Christianity. I've got three sets of straight family members that various churches refused to marry because they belonged to different churches.
When the time comes that she starts asking questions, I don't know whether to expose my daughter directly to the nasty catfighting churches or to the Unitarians who are liberal and tolerant but are an unrealistic view of the world as a whole.