Monday, May 5, 2014

Finding My Voice

I pulled out of the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement (and Christianity as a whole) in the fall of 2011 - that's roughly thirty one months ago. My beliefs have changed so much during that time frame. Who I am has changed, and I'm very thankful for that fact. I'm happier. I'm healthier. I'm more confident. My spirituality is more fulfilling. I've found my voice and am no longer afraid to use it. Life is better.

Christian fundamentalism greatly stunted my personal growth. I've only recently realized how greatly it stunted my ability to use my voice. For starters, fundamentalism did its best to prevent me from developing my individuality. Self-aware individuals don't conform to rigid rules and certainly don't do well with one-size-fits-all doctrine. Individuals realize the world doesn't fit into a box. Individuals use their voice to ask questions. Questions are dangerous if they remain unchecked. A child may except pat answers, but when that child grows up, his questions will not so easily be set aside. Fundamentalism prides itself in having the answer to everything, even if that answer is "God's ways are not man's ways" or "God knows best." Receiving an answer like that was very unsatisfying, but it usually was enough to shut me up because I didn't want to appear to be questioning God or the authority of the person whom I'd asked. Asking too many questions got you in trouble or, at the least, caused people to find you annoying and troublesome. I asked too many questions anyway, though, and didn't get enough answers.

I can recall puzzling through matters of theology as a college student. Homework assignments designed to help me better understand my faith only made it more puzzling. One particular event stands out in my mind. I had been studying the arguments for and against predestination and free will and thought I'd had a breakthrough moment of understanding. I wanted to share my discovery with other people so I did my best to put it into words (which was long and complicated to do) and then put in Facebook. Immediately I got backlash from fundamentalist friends who disagreed; ultimately I chose to take down what I'd written. I satw then and there that a hole-proof, Biblical argument that reconciled predestination and free will didn't exist. That was one of many things that I realized were not as hole-proof as fundamentalism declared/needed them to be. My faith was crumbling,