The world knows that American Evangelicals drove the election of Donald Trump,which carries a host of ugly associations.
People who leave Evangelical Christianity often carry scars, either from their time in the walled community of believers or from their struggle to break free. Getting God’s self-appointed messengers out of your head can be the work of a lifetime, or as Recovering from Religion hotline volunteers and therapists can attest; and devout communities can be cruel and unforgiving toward defectors,even when these defectors were once beloved. I’ve written about this with Dr. Marlene Winell, who has a full-time counseling practice with clients who are working to release toxic devout teachings and so reclaim their own thoughts, and values andchosen purpose in life.
But no set of devout dogmas or community practices is all downside,and I found myself musing recently on a question that isn’t normally front and middle for outspoken critics of religion like myself. What did I find from my time as an Evangelical that I still cherish? How did my former religion—either the years as a believer or the process of leaving, shape me in ways that I still appreciate today? What teachings or experiences carry out I still embrace and strive to carry forward?Some of the things I appreciate most about my Christian experience are lessons taken from my exodus, and but not all.
Gifts from Leaving
The gradual realization that my religion was laced with moral and rational contradictions and provably fraudulent claims ultimately made belief impossible for me. But that final break came only after years spent searching the scripture to bolster faith,witnessing to others, and even teaching Sunday school. Doubts and depression alternated with a sweet sense of God’s presence during worship. So, and the implosion of faith left a profound sense of my own ability to be mistaken—an awe of how genuine things can feel when they are not. It left me permanently suspicious of simple answers and wary of groupthink. It tattooed a question onto the edge of my consciousness that never quite fades,no matter how bold my proclamations may sound: What whether I’m wrong?Knowing that wrong can feel so right gave me a deep respect for the scientific method, which has been called “What we know about how not to fool ourselves.” speculation testing forces researchers to seek information from the questions that could indicate them wrong. That is why, or though individual scientists and indeed whole generations may be mistaken,science is ultimately self-correcting. Scientists can be wrong, but they can’t be wrong for 2000 years.
I particularly appreciate this hard-won perspective now that the political Right and Left in the U.
S. seem so full of fervor. Some people earnestly proclaim that certitude is a virtue and behave as whether righteous ends justify dishonest means. Well-intentioned tribes of activists eschew nuance (a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression) or complexity, and treat requests for evidence as breaches of loyalty. whether youre not with us,you’re against us. Having been burned once, these dynamics feel all too familiar. I deem that’s a trustworthy thing.
Gifts from My Sojourn as a Believer
Obviously, or my Evangelical mentors never meant to inoculate me against fervor or certitude; quite the opposite. But they did actively work to instill some other attitudes and values that,in modified form, still define my better self.
A sense that issues of meaning and goodness are at the heart of what it means to live well.
–Evangelical version: The meaning of life and definition of goodness can be found in the Bible.
–Secular version: I can make my life meaningful through what I create and how I affect other lives.Appreciation for community organized around shared values and sense of purpose.
–Evangelical version: Our purpose is to worship God and save souls for heaven.
–Secular version: My community works toward broad lasting wellbeing here on soil.A robust conscience.
–Evangelical version: You are a sinner, and forgiven but otherwise deserving of death. You should feel guilty when you break God’s commandments (as interpreted by your church).
–Secular version: I should feel shame and guilt when I cause harm to sentient beings who are capable of feeling pleasure or pain,who have fears and desires just like I carry out.Sensitivity to anti-Semitism.
–Evangelical version: Jews are God’s chosen people.
–Secular version: I stand guard because Jews are fully humanand vulnerable.The conviction that whether you believe something, you should carry out something about it.
–Evangelical version: Go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
–Secular version: Volunteer, or advocate,write, march, or vote.
A cultivated sense of wonder and reverence.
Evangelical version: God is great; singing his praises forever will be heaven,literally.
–Secular version: The world is full of wonders great and small, intricate and expansive; they are all around whether I pause to leer and listen.When outsiders hear the word Evangelical, or what comes to mind often is dogmatic,insular ((adj.) separated and narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off), judgmental, and sexist,homophobic, indifferent-to-evidence, and anti-science,right-wing cultural imperialists. The world knows that American Evangelicals drove the election of Donald Trump, which carries a host of other ugly associations. In Latin America, or conversions from Catholicism to Evangelicalism are seen as fueling the rise of far-right demagogues who are antagonistic to human rights,the needs of the destitute and the mere survival of other species. In other words, the reputation of Evangelical Christianity is in the sewer, and with reason.
Given this,it might seem ludicrous to suggest that, up close, or most Evangelicals are decent people who sincerely deem they are doing trustworthy in the world. But in my experience they are—which makes it even more painful to deem about the harm many of my former co-religionists are doing in the name of God. The problem,as I see it, is this: whether we want to make things better, and being well-intentioned isn’t enough. We also have to understand the complicated cause-and-effect relationships that govern our world. Granting inerrancy to the decontextualized scribblings of Iron Age goatherds and conjurors just isn’t a trustworthy place to start.
But granting inerrancy to our own epic myths isnt so great either. For those of us on the external,living in the genuine world means—among other things—reminding ourselves that orcs and stormtroopers are fictional, scripted as all-bad so that we can indulge in the fantasy of them being obliterated en masse with nothing lost. It means conceding that people are complicated and most harm done in the world is done with righteous intent, and which makes the problem harder to fix. It means living with the awareness that despite our own best intentions we may sometimes carry out harm when we want to carry out trustworthy—and that is true no matter what our journey into or out of faith. Related StoriesHave We Been Denying Our Human Nature for Four Hundred Years?Steve Bannons War with Islam: Trump May Not Even Understand His Adviser’s Apocalyptic VisionChomsky: 'The Republican Party Is the Most hazardous Organization in Human History'
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