"Deconstructing" to convert was the best thing I could ever have done. I'm a much more compassionate, loving, more fulfilled human today than I ever was as a Christian. Not "undone" whatsoever.
I think I will grab this book! I'll say this, I'm appreciate to Dr. Rauser in so many ways. Firstly, challenged me to recognize the inconsistencies in Oneness Pentecostalism. Secondly, this is more indirect - but motivated me to pursue my PhD (which I'm doing now). Man, I wished I could have asked you to be a part of my committee (lol). Good discussion btw.
I walked away from Christianity in the late 1980s. My sexuality was a big reason, but not the only one. It just didn't work for me anymore. I was burnt out trying to make it all work. I was always gaslighted: the problem is YOU. You need to pray more, read the word more, witness to people more, be ready for the end times etc. I was constantly confessing thought sins and just feeling like crap in the end. I now follow the way of Jesus in love. I call the fear based gospel of my past "Biblianity", since the Bible was virtually deified and used to instill compliance through fear. My relationship is with God now; not a book. God bless xx
I'm shocked that so few men have been affected by the misogyny aspect. I was a devout Conservative Evangelical for 30 years, and the main issue that finally broke my faith in the moral authority of my own religious leaders was their reaction to the MeToo / ChurchToo discourse, as well as their continued support for exposed predatory debauchees like Trump, Kavanaugh, Falwell, Gaetz, etc. I guess most "men" didn't react to that situation by coming out as trans, but I felt it was necessary to truly repent from my own participation in that culture of legalism, hypocrisy, and uncharitable condemnation of certain "sinners", but not others.
You notice a pattern when you watch deconstruction videos. The person sees something in the Bible that they disagree with, or they see actions by a pastor, and/or congregation that they find questionable, and it starts the person to question their beliefs. Once that begins, it's only a matter of time until it's all over. Very quickly the person realizes that there were never any good reasons to believe in the first place.
The attraction to fundamentalist doctrines in Christianity and Islam, their discipline, their simplicity,, focusing on and defending one book understood literally, cover to cover, strict rules, a simplistic history of humanity from start to finish, and eternal accountability/coercion, as well as the all-too-humanness of power brokerage in religion, seems obvious. Consider reading my book of ex-fundamentalist testimonies, Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists which includes a chapter on the history of Christian views and how they have changed over the centuries.
Former Reformed Baptist here. Out of Institutional Church for almost 5 years now. My faith was saved. No one ever came after me... and I was a major player! I would have considered myself a heretic. I've never loved Jesus so deeply. My wife, too. My daughter was the one that held my feet to the fire... I guess us leaving saved her faith as well.
All of the problems with Orwellian Christianity, all of the self-serving doublespeak, the epistemic militarism, the othering with an ontological beginning and eschatological permanence proceeding from a “mysterious” moral fragmentation in the heart of God (I would say the trinity, but that’s just an abstraction for evangelicals) can only be healed by returning to the faith most clearly articulated by Gregory of nyssa. (Ie the one most violently despised by evangelicals today.)
Can you Christians please stop labeling abuse as "church hurt". It's this phrase that makes those who are truly awake to the corrupt systematic church abuse want to walk away for good. STOP minimizing this evil. Just STOP. I came to this channel to better understand what is really going on with deconstruction at a broader level. This itself tells me all I need to know about your approach.
An excellent discussion. One thing that I have observed in Canada is the changing racial/ethnic makeup of the church membership. In cities especially, the only 'white', born in Canada, parishioners are 65 or older. If it were not for immigrants, the churches would close. Given that the 3 largest denominations in Canada are Catholic, Anglican and United Church, there has never been a large Evangelical community in Canada. Consequently, when fundamentalist Christians in Canada are speaking out against the LGBTQ+, etc., it is largely coming from a racial/ethnic minority. This highlights existing racial/ethnic tensions, and the "go home if you don't like Canadian society" sentiment. I would be curious if you have observed the racial/ethnic makeup of the church in Canada, and if you have any conclusions on its impact.
Good points. In listening to this conversation, I was wondering how large the very conservative evangelical community is in Canada. I wished that the speakers had placed their work in greater perspective, letting us know exactly what kind of Christian community they were targeting, and why they focussed on just this community. Perhaps it is the community they come from, and reflects their understandable concern with their own people. However, it's really not that helpful to those who are outside that community.
@elizabethmorton4904 It was a strange choice. The Evangelival community in Canada is less than 5%. And it is probably larger now than it has ever been. Mainstream churches (Catholic, Anglican, United/Methodist) are dropping significantly. Just under 1/2 of Canadians are religious of any faith. All mainstream and evangelical churches are reliant on immigrants. I was raised Catholic, and attended Catholic elementary school. However, none of my white friends or family attend church anymore. I left when I was 14. The reason I find the ethnic/racial dynamic interesting is the way we communicate on social issues. Contrary to the US, it is not the stereotypical white man preaching against the LGBT, or for traditional family values. It is more likely someone from China, India or the Phillipines. There is a steep rise in anti-Asian hate crime, but it is hard for me to be sympathetic when they are attacking me, a member of the LGBT community.
Religion doesn't get to own the positives about this. I converted narratives. I'm not deconstructing...but reconstructing a much healthier narrative for myself. And just because the bible makes an observation about humans that they have to often shake things to make things doesn't offer it a second's legitimacy for its relentless violence, misogyny, slavery, and simple contradictions.
True beliefs don’t need to be shielded from any amount of questions or scrutiny. Only false beliefs require that protection.
"Deconstructing" to convert was the best thing I could ever have done. I'm a much more compassionate, loving, more fulfilled human today than I ever was as a Christian. Not "undone" whatsoever.
"Deconstructing" (aka "de-converting") was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I think I will grab this book! I'll say this, I'm appreciate to Dr. Rauser in so many ways. Firstly, challenged me to recognize the inconsistencies in Oneness Pentecostalism. Secondly, this is more indirect - but motivated me to pursue my PhD (which I'm doing now). Man, I wished I could have asked you to be a part of my committee (lol). Good discussion btw.
I walked away from Christianity in the late 1980s. My sexuality was a big reason, but not the only one. It just didn't work for me anymore. I was burnt out trying to make it all work. I was always gaslighted: the problem is YOU. You need to pray more, read the word more, witness to people more, be ready for the end times etc. I was constantly confessing thought sins and just feeling like crap in the end. I now follow the way of Jesus in love. I call the fear based gospel of my past "Biblianity", since the Bible was virtually deified and used to instill compliance through fear. My relationship is with God now; not a book. God bless xx
I'm shocked that so few men have been affected by the misogyny aspect. I was a devout Conservative Evangelical for 30 years, and the main issue that finally broke my faith in the moral authority of my own religious leaders was their reaction to the MeToo / ChurchToo discourse, as well as their continued support for exposed predatory debauchees like Trump, Kavanaugh, Falwell, Gaetz, etc. I guess most "men" didn't react to that situation by coming out as trans, but I felt it was necessary to truly repent from my own participation in that culture of legalism, hypocrisy, and uncharitable condemnation of certain "sinners", but not others.
You notice a pattern when you watch deconstruction videos. The person sees something in the Bible that they disagree with, or they see actions by a pastor, and/or congregation that they find questionable, and it starts the person to question their beliefs. Once that begins, it's only a matter of time until it's all over. Very quickly the person realizes that there were never any good reasons to believe in the first place.
The attraction to fundamentalist doctrines in Christianity and Islam, their discipline, their simplicity,, focusing on and defending one book understood literally, cover to cover, strict rules, a simplistic history of humanity from start to finish, and eternal accountability/coercion, as well as the all-too-humanness of power brokerage in religion, seems obvious. Consider reading my book of ex-fundamentalist testimonies, Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists which includes a chapter on the history of Christian views and how they have changed over the centuries.
Former Reformed Baptist here. Out of Institutional Church for almost 5 years now. My faith was saved. No one ever came after me... and I was a major player!
I would have considered myself a heretic. I've never loved Jesus so deeply. My wife, too. My daughter was the one that held my feet to the fire... I guess us leaving saved her faith as well.
Former RB here as well. I left for a number of years and it saved my faith as well. I came back to church in 2020 but not a RB church.
All of the problems with Orwellian Christianity, all of the self-serving doublespeak, the epistemic militarism, the othering with an ontological beginning and eschatological permanence proceeding from a “mysterious” moral fragmentation in the heart of God (I would say the trinity, but that’s just an abstraction for evangelicals) can only be healed by returning to the faith most clearly articulated by Gregory of nyssa. (Ie the one most violently despised by evangelicals today.)
Can you Christians please stop labeling abuse as "church hurt". It's this phrase that makes those who are truly awake to the corrupt systematic church abuse want to walk away for good. STOP minimizing this evil. Just STOP. I came to this channel to better understand what is really going on with deconstruction at a broader level. This itself tells me all I need to know about your approach.
An excellent discussion. One thing that I have observed in Canada is the changing racial/ethnic makeup of the church membership. In cities especially, the only 'white', born in Canada, parishioners are 65 or older. If it were not for immigrants, the churches would close. Given that the 3 largest denominations in Canada are Catholic, Anglican and United Church, there has never been a large Evangelical community in Canada. Consequently, when fundamentalist Christians in Canada are speaking out against the LGBTQ+, etc., it is largely coming from a racial/ethnic minority. This highlights existing racial/ethnic tensions, and the "go home if you don't like Canadian society" sentiment.
I would be curious if you have observed the racial/ethnic makeup of the church in Canada, and if you have any conclusions on its impact.
Good points. In listening to this conversation, I was wondering how large the very conservative evangelical community is in Canada. I wished that the speakers had placed their work in greater perspective, letting us know exactly what kind of Christian community they were targeting, and why they focussed on just this community. Perhaps it is the community they come from, and reflects their understandable concern with their own people. However, it's really not that helpful to those who are outside that community.
@elizabethmorton4904
It was a strange choice. The Evangelival community in Canada is less than 5%. And it is probably larger now than it has ever been. Mainstream churches (Catholic, Anglican, United/Methodist) are dropping significantly. Just under 1/2 of Canadians are religious of any faith. All mainstream and evangelical churches are reliant on immigrants. I was raised Catholic, and attended Catholic elementary school.
However, none of my white friends or family attend church anymore. I left when I was 14.
The reason I find the ethnic/racial dynamic interesting is the way we communicate on social issues. Contrary to the US, it is not the stereotypical white man preaching against the LGBT, or for traditional family values. It is more likely someone from China, India or the Phillipines. There is a steep rise in anti-Asian hate crime, but it is hard for me to be sympathetic when they are attacking me, a member of the LGBT community.
Religion doesn't get to own the positives about this. I converted narratives. I'm not deconstructing...but reconstructing a much healthier narrative for myself. And just because the bible makes an observation about humans that they have to often shake things to make things doesn't offer it a second's legitimacy for its relentless violence, misogyny, slavery, and simple contradictions.