Don't you just hate it when people (especially family) ask "What religion are you?"
Well crud, I've only been to church for weddings and funerals for the past 36 years. THAT means for the first fourteen years of my life I was Christian. We're talking bible thumping, no dancing, Evangelical Southern Baptist. One morning, somewhere in my fourteenth year, my mom tried to nudge me out of bed for Sunday service.
I'd HAD it !! Maybe PMS helped me get my point across to mom. I wasn't going to go!! My parents regularly drove me to the door of the church and pushed me out of the car...then off they'd go. At some point I realized they ducked church almost every week.
I read an article on CNN this week about how today's youth are acquiring a watered down version of Christianity. Between you and me, it's the only way they're going to keep these youths close to church in modern times.
In Sunday school we were told the easy bible stories. Even Noah's Arc had pretty pictures and it was about saving the special ones chosen by God and how aren't we lucky to be choosen? Well, unless you got the scary Sunday school teacher who emphasized the people in the water with arms wildly flailing (it was the 60's and a Baptist church, so arms flailed). THAT teacher would always comment - "see what could happen if you don't follow God?" Seems to me if we feel like one of God's "chosen" sooner or later that just leads to religious arrogance. The only other option was eternal death.
So damn straight I always said Christian when people asked about it. Note I did NOT say Southern Baptist. I decided to study other religions. You name it, I considered it. Initially all that reading and studying lead to religious frustration. Lordy, (yes, I curse on my secret blog) why couldn't I take all the bits and pieces that I liked from all the religions I'd looked into and make my own? I could call it Eclectic something or other... Just me and God.
For many years I was a closet Agnostic. Words like that just scare my family, so I nodded my head and still said "Christian" when asked. Besides, I was still scared of eternal damnation if I didn't believe the whole Christian thing. If I said the wrong answer out loud it would just make it all so...final and real....hell was nipping at my heals!!!
Even to this day if my sister asks (because she picks up my odd religious vibes) I still say Christian.....BUT, between you and me .... the answer isn't so simple at all.
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