(December 24, 2015 at 9:59 pm)Delicate Wrote:(December 24, 2015 at 8:08 pm)Jehanne Wrote: That's not a fair assessment of who I was. I really tried to believe in Christian Biblical literalism; the religion itself did provide me with emotional and mental comforts, but yes, the social aspect was equally compelling. As I said, I used to read Josh McDowell (the "Evidence which demands a Verdict" series), and later on, Gary Habermas. I had a New International Version Charles Ryrie study bible and would memorize whole chapters of the Bible for Bible camp. I should mention that I was raised in Christian fundamentalism, but even as I began to drift away from it in high school and college, it was still very much an emotional and social experience for me, and it was, for a long time, hard to let go out it. It was almost like I was addicted to a drug, and I went through periods of withdrawal as I was coming off of it; a lot of mental anguish. Now, if I had married a Christian fundamentalist, I admit that I might still be with it, if only to please a potential wife, and in the process, save a potential marriage.
Trying to be x doesn't make you x though, right?
Well, I was raised as a Christian fundamentalist evangelical; attended a Biblical literalist church from before age 5 until I quit attending around my junior year in high school. By then, the doubts were almost insurmountable. Was drawn back into it during my college years, only to abandon it later on. While in college, it was like an old drug habit; I had been "clean" for a few years, but loneliness and depression drew me back into it. Christian fundamentalism is comforting and there are many social supports (including, meeting members of the opposite sex), which, from my experience, is magnetic for a lot of people. It certainly was for me, but in the end, bullshit is still bullshit.
