Feeling squeezed - Walk Away from Fundamentalism

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Title: Feeling squeezed

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immaudest	\| Move to Bottom Author
Rank:none Status: Score: 0 Posts: 16 From: Registered: 02/04/2006 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:02/04/2006 08:17:00) Ten years after leaving asmall sectwith Plymouth Brethern underpinnings (though theyseem loathe to admit it - both my leaving and the underpinnings,) I'mslowly shedding thebrimstone terror, but stillawash with anxiety about how to maintain a meaningful relationship withfamily members. Most of all, I resent the impossibility of it all. Theykeep holding out hope and I'm unwilling to torch our tentatively positive rapportthatdepends on (1) themavoiding the subject and (2)me providing convincing excuses for not attending evangelical meetings. It's precarious to say the least. And now that they are stepping up the pressure to go for more than an annual 'dinner and some gospel' (at the church hall,) our house of cards is swaying ominously. They are the dearest people. My bitterness (which seems inexhaustible at present) doesn't target them, but my sympathy does, with a condescension that disturbs me. And now I'mirritated that they aren't holding up their end of the unspoken truce, though it's obvious why they can't (eternal torment for their loved one and all...)I've visited walkaway off and on for several years now, and been been soothed by the more venomous anti-fundie postings,fascinated by thelurid stories of fundie extremes, buttimid aboutdoing any venting myself. Now I'm looking forward to it.Best to everyone!

snakechic	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 1#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:3507 From: Registered: 11/02/2004 Time spent: 6158 hours	(Date Posted:02/05/2006 04:43:29) Hiya...feelings squeezed is exactly how it was for me as well! So glad you decided to take the plunge and dip your toes in .....Venting is fun! Its very good for the person who's been squashed or squeezed. look forward to your post...the water's not too cold here! I was shy at first but ...I haven't been kicked out yet for my spelling or typo's.! -------------------------------------------------------------- In exchange for obedience, Christianity promises salvation in an afterlife; but in order to elicit obedience through this promise, Christianity must convince people that they need salvation, that there is something to be saved from. Christianity has nothing to offer a happy person living in a natural, intelligible universe. If Christianity is to gain a motivational foothold, it must declare war on earthly pleasure and happiness, and this, historically, has been its precise course of action. In the eyes of Christianity, woman(man) is sinful and helpless in the face of God, and is potential fuel for the flames of hell. Just as Christianity must destroy reason before it can introduce faith, so it must destroy happiness before it can introduce salvation. -- George H Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God

imZoe	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 2#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:11 From: Registered: 07/17/2005 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:02/05/2006 04:48:40) Hello

immaudest	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 3#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:16 From: Registered: 02/04/2006 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:02/06/2006 06:45:41) Reply to : imZoe Hello Snakechic and imZoe (yay Canada!), thanks for the welcome. This community, though polemical bytimes is incredibly supportive from what I've observed, presenting a satisfying contrast with the fundy message boards I visit from time to time - for a shudder and a laugh. They ALWAYS seem to dissolve into dispute over the finer points of doctrine...and it gets nastily personal! (Though always concluded with the obligatory "your brother in Christ..." discussants inevitably being men - women only ask the questions and offer affirmations.) For all the scathing barbs that speckle this site, it's delightfully rare that they are flung at fellow posters. Just wondering (and too lazy to do the research right now!) if anyone has ever done a summary of member's fundie origins - what denomination/sect/cult etc are represented here? Is there a poll or some stats out there? I'm especially interested in the most obscure little churches. How about "Christians Gathered to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ," aka the Gospel Hall? Anyone heard of it? I'll probably have to re-post this question elsewhere for visibility...

Jezebel Rising	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 4#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:338 From: Registered: 09/18/2005 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:02/06/2006 22:37:50) Hey there! I'd like to wish you a heartfelt welcome to our forum. I personally know what it's like to be "in the closet", that's where I am right now. I've been testing the waters now and then to let them know what I truly think, but since these people are now my primary social group I'm too afraid of losing them. After all, they are still my friends and they've helped me out of a lot of rough spots. They'll eventually figure out what I was really up to one day when I skip town with a heathen and take a cross-country road trip and disappear from Virginia forever. -------------------------------------------------------------- "I"m not a witch, but I wish I was. If I live I"d be a witch now after what they have done. I"ll burn their crops and kill their animals. I"ll stir up such storms. I"ll scatter their ships across the world. If I could meet with the devil right now, I would give him anything for power, for he is the only way to power for women in this world. I shouldn"t have been afraid of Ellen, I should have learnt. Oh, if I only had magic, I"d make them feel it." Caryl Churchill, "Vinegar Tom" "It might be the greatest thing ever invented, but if it"s invented, then it"s not worth dying for." Taj Bachmann, former missionary

Shadowself	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 5#
Status: From: Registered: 01/16/2004 Time spent: 1773 hours	(Date Posted:02/07/2006 22:12:54) Reply to : immaudest Just wondering (and too lazy to do the research right now!) if anyone has ever done a summary of member's fundie origins - what denomination/sect/cult etc are represented here? Is there a poll or some stats out there? I asked this question in October of '04 under the title "What Denomination Did You Leave?" http://aimoo.com/forum/postview.cfm?id=319472&CategoryID=11636&startcat=276&ThreadID=1725380 We're a diverse bunch of people according to former denominations, but fundamentalism brought us together on common ground. And as a side point, I think I've learned more about the different factions of Christianity since I've joined this forum; more so than I knew even while a Christian! While I've heard of the Plymouth Brethern, Gospel Hall is unknown to me. Kingdom Hall, yeah (Don't you just love it when the JW's come knocking at your door?). Oh, and welcome to the forum. -------------------------------------------------------------- A big revelation in my professional training was that humans can learn skills for living and relating. We don"t have to be desperate for a miracle of God to make us decent.--Marlene Winell

immaudest	\| Move to Top 6#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:16 From: Registered: 02/04/2006 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:02/07/2006 23:39:39) Reply to : Shadowself Thanks for the informative and breathless tour of fundy varieties! It's great to be reminded how many "non-denom" types are out there, all with a monopoly on the truth. The "we don't take a name" game is particularly pernicious, though accountability doesn't seem to be a strong point in the more organized churches either! Justine23: I've been wondering lately about the 'vibes' I'm sending to the folks. I mean, clearly I've left the church. Do I SEEM like I'm searching, and therefore ripe for the picking? Ready to come back to the fold? It's been a long stretch of silence on the matter, which to me represented truce. I wish I knew what it meant to them. It seemed that they knew better than to bring it up and threaten our rapport. Not so much anymore. I've always responded to any religious small-talk (y'know, what this ol' world needs right now, how much prayer helps, etc, etc) with a clearly noncommittal (mmm hmm), followed by a jarring subject change. They are not my primary social group, so I don't have to walk on the eggshells that you do. How do you find a balance, when your conversations must be constantly in danger of turning fundy! Sounds impossibly tricky... How do they see you now?
	Welcome to The Collection of Flashlights!Wolf-eyes ,your eyes break the darkness!

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